Atalanta
Jennifer Saint
There are too many men in Atalanta’s life
Although I am by no means a scholar of Greek mythology, I know the common stories that everyone knows -- indeed, I have read Robert Graves' famous compilation of The Greek Myths. Yet before I started this novel the name Atalanta meant nothing to me. (To be fair, Atalanta does appear in Graves, but mainly as a participant in the hunt of the Calydonian Boar, not as the protagonist of a story of her own, and I had not remembered her.) That, clearly, is the problem Jennifer Saint has set herself to solve. Strong female characters are not absent from Greek myth -- indeed, Athena is a warrior and famous for wisdom, and there are examples even among mortal women. But it is fair to say that the men are the heroes.
Saint clearly wants to redress this imbalance. She has already published novels about Ariadne and Elektra. Here we get the story of Atalanta, told by herself in the first person.
I was disappointed because, although Atalanta is clearly the protagonist, far too much of the story is about the men in her life. She is, to a large extent, defined by them. For instance, Atalanta was the only female member of the Jason's Argonauts, the band of heroes who traveled to Colchis to steal the Golden Fleece. Atalanta is the best of the Argonauts -- the strongest, the fastest, the one who wins every contest. But you see the trap here. If Atalanta distinguishes herself as the woman who is better than all the men, she is still defining herself in terms of the men.
Another woman, the witch Medea, who has only a small part in this novel, nevertheless came across as far more interesting to me. If Saint writes a novel about Medea I will read it.
06-Jun-2023: I just re-read Roger Zelazny's novel This Immortal, which is included in the collection Power & Light. At one point the hero is asked to list the Argonauts. I am sorry to say that Atalanta doesn't get a mention.