This sanctuary, they say, was made by Alexandros. On the mainland opposite the island is a sanctuary of Aphrodite Migonitis (Sexual Union), and the whole place is called Migonion. 'Before Gythion (Gythium) lies the island Kranae (Cranae), and Homer says that when Alexandros (Alexander) had carried off Helene he had intercourse with her there for the first time. They tie into the story of Helen and Paris and Menelaus. The Praxidikai are similar to the Erinyes or Furies. įor no particular reason except the ending of 'Ithaca', I like to think of the triumvirate of Queens in Helen, Penelope and Electra (formerly Clytemnestra) and how in Thebes first Queen was the goddess Harmonia who may have been tied into the goddesses tied into the Praxidikai - Homonoia. And watching over them all is the goddess Aphrodite, who has plans of her own.Įach woman has a secret, and their secrets will shape the world.

Her only allies are Elektra, desperate to protect her brother, and Helen of Troy, Menelaus' wife. Trapped between two mad kings, Penelope must find a way to keep her home from being crushed by the machinations of a battle that stretches from Mycenae and Sparta to the summit of Mount Olympus itself. His uncle Menelaus, the blood-soaked king of Sparta, hungers for Orestes' throne-and if he can seize it, no one will be safe from his violent whims. Penelope knows destruction will follow in his wake as surely as the furies circle him. But a king cannot be seen to be weak, and Elektra has brought him to Ithaca to keep him safe from the ambitious men of Mycenae. Now, wracked with guilt, he grows ever more unhinged. Not so long ago, the son of Agamemnon took Queen Clytemnestra's life on Ithaca's sands. Orestes' hands are stained with his mother's blood. In his absence, Penelope uses all her cunning to keep the peace-a peace that is shattered by the return of Orestes, King of Mycenae, and his sister Elektra. Many years ago, her husband Odysseus sailed to war with Troy and never came home. On the isle of Ithaca, queen Penelope maintains a delicate balance of power. In the palace of Odysseus, a queen lies dreaming. House of Odysseus is the follow up to award-winning author Claire North's Ithaca 'a powerful, fresh, and unflinching' reimagining (Jennifer Saint) that breathes life into ancient myth and gives voice to the women who stand defiant in a world ruled by ruthless men.

House of odysseus claire north