''Mary Renault''s portraits of the ancient world are fierce, complex and eloquent, infused at every turn with her life-long passion for the Classics. Her characters live vividly both in their own time, and in ours'' Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe ''Mary Renault is a shining light to both historical novelists and their readers'' Hilary Mantel, bestselling author of Wolf Hall ''This brilliant retelling of the story of Theseus, the king of Athens, brings Greek mythology vividly to life and remains "one of the truly fine historical novels of modern times"'' New York Times Theseus is the grandson of the King of Troizen, but his paternity is shrouded in mystery - can he really be the son of the god Poseidon? When he discovers his father''s sword beneath a rock, his mother must reveal his true identity: Theseus is the son of Aegeus, King of Athens, and is his only heir. So begins Theseus''s perilous journey to his father''s palace to claim his birthright, escaping bandits and ritual king sacrifice in Eleusis, to slaying the Minotaur in Crete. Renault reimagines the Theseus myth, creating an original, exciting story.

Autorentext

Mary Renault (1905-1983) was born in London and educated at St Hughs, Oxford. She trained as a nurse at Oxford's Radcliffe Infirmary, where she met her lifelong partner, Julie Mullard. Her first novel, Purposes of Love, was published in **1937. In 1948, after North Face won a MGM prize worth $150,000, she and Mullard emigrated to South Africa. There, Renault was able to write forthrightly about homosexual relationships for the first time - in her masterpiece, The Charioteer (1953), and then in her first historical novel, The Last of the Wine (1956). Renault's vivid novels set in the ancient world brought her worldwide fame. In 2010 Fire From Heaven was shortlisted for the Lost Booker of 1970.

Klappentext

**INTRODUCED BY BETTANY HUGHES

I know I thought of many things: of death, and fate, and what the gods want of man . . .**

The true parentage of Theseus, grandson of the King of Troizon, has always been shrouded in mystery. Rumours swirl that his father is Poseidon himself. But when he learns the truth - that he is the son and heir of Aegeus, King of Athens - Theseus sets out on a quest to claim his birthright. But his journey is a perilous one, from encounters with bandits to marriage to the Queen of Eleusis, whose consort is sacrificed each year, and, finally, to the labyrinthine palace of King Minos on Crete. There Theseus must enlist the help of high priestess Ariadne in a darling plan to slay the Minotaur - and free his people.
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'Fierce, complex and eloquent' MADELINE MILLER

****'All my sense of the ancient world - its values, its style, the scent of its wars and passions - comes from Mary Renault' EMMA DONAGHUE

'This brilliant retelling of the story of Theseus, the king of Athens, brings Greek mythology vividly to life' *New York Times