In Beyond the Battle of Naupaktos, in 430 BC, by Arion’s courageous response to the pirate attack north of Kaphereos Promontory, he earns back some of the trust and goodwill that he lost when he tried to escape his servitude. Then, from 430 BC - 428 BC, come several naval battles and the plague: dangerous times, but times for a man of courage. If Arion has learned enough of patience and subservience, can he hope for a generous manumission? And then comes the revolt of Lesbos in 428 BC, which tests Arion’s patience and that of Athens. Maybe he has waited too long.
To assist potential readers in making good choices about whether or not to purchase any of the four volumes of Arion’s Odyssey, I offer the following additional information about this tetralogy, which is set in Classical Greece, with the city-state (polis) of Athens as one protagonist and Arion (a human) as the other.
Each volume of Arion’s Odyssey is a combination of historical novel, ancient travelogue, ancient poetry, mythology, religion, and history. If you would enjoy a saga as detailed as Melville’s Moby-Dick, as kaleidoscopic as Michener’s Iberia, and as expansive as Hugo’s Les Misérables, you might love this tetralogy.
Regarding Athens and its empire, the following portion of each novel is similar to an ancient travelogue: one third of Life After Death at Ipsambul (volume 1); one fifth of Aegean Fire (volume 2); one tenth of Beyond the Battle of Naupaktos (volume 3); one tenth of Return to Lesbos (volume 4).
Set in the ancient Mediterranean world, Arion’s Odyssey is an adult story about Arion, a sensitive Greek (boy becoming a man) from a wealthy mercantile family on the Greek island of Lesbos. It begins fourteen years prior to the inception of the Peloponnesian War, and ends during that war: it spans the period from 445 BC to 427 BC.
If you would like to experience life in the ancient Mediterranean world, then you will probably enjoy this adult story about coming-of-age there.
A seafaring slave faces pirates and other dangers in this third installment of a historical fiction series set in ancient Greece.
It is 430 B.C. and a young man named Arion finds himself in a perilous situation. He is an oar-rowing slave onboard a merchant ship that is hastily pursued by pirates. An Athenian triaconter is near his ship but there is no telling whether it will be able to help before the pirates inflict their damage. In the violence and ship ramming that ensues, Arion is wounded, though he performs his duties bravely. The pirates are deflected; their captain is executed; and Arion is granted “freedom from fetters” upon returning to shore. Arion is still a slave, albeit one that has risen greatly in the eyes of his master, Artontes. Another person who takes notice of Arion is Artontes’ wife, Melissa. She would like nothing more than a sexual relationship with Arion but the young hero is hesitant. It is a tough time for love with a plague taking many lives in Athens and the unfolding Peloponnesian War set to claim more. It is not long before Arion is back at his oar en route to the Gulf of Corinth to engage in more maritime action. Information about the ancient world is interspersed at every corner in this chain of events. At one point, Arion takes a long stroll to the Parthenon, where the “aura of its architectural artistry envelops him.” While such portions certainly fail to accelerate the plot, they give the reader a more thorough sense of the magnificence of the time period. But other interactions, usually between two characters, tend to slow the book’s progress without providing much in return. A description of Melissa and Arion conversing unhelpfully asserts: “When she sees or senses his hesitation, she gives him long enough to absorb what she is saying, but watches that she may continue before he is ready to speak.” Sten’s (Return to Lesbos, 2017, etc.) story nevertheless delivers a glimpse of ancient Greece’s many facets. Arion’s journey helps to paint a vivid image of the past, whether exploring the complex rules governing slaves or presenting the details of striking monuments.
This vibrant adventure exploring a bygone era offers both stunning and mundane scenes.
