Rainbow Reviews: House of the Muses 1
on 2010/07/11 at 9:22 am
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House of Muses Book 1: The Phokaian by Pam Harrison
Lesbian Book Reviews » Comics, Lesbian Book Reviews » Historical
TITLE: House of Muses Book 1: The PhokaianAUTHOR: Pam Harrison
ISBN: 978-0-9816-5000-5
PUBLISHER: Sword & Labrys Productions
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Review by ChrisP
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BOOK BLURB:
Mnasidika of Sparta, adopted into the house of Athenaios, witnesses the goings on at a Symposium welcoming Peisandros, Athenaios’ banished nephew, back into the family as a business partner. The welcome turns sour when Peisandros hints that his uncle is instead the responsible party for the murder that got him banished from Athens, and only welcomes him home now to ease his guilt. Athenaios and Isthia’s plans for Dika’s marriage are threatened when she meets the lovely Timas of Phokaia, an unexpected guest at the Symposium.
BOOK REVIEW:
Harrison has presented a tale of historical fiction. The story begins in ancient Greece when Sapphos was writing her Ennead. Mnasidika, Dika, as she is nicknamed in the book, is the author of a poem found among Sapphos’ work. According to the introduction, the work is destroyed by the church for its immoral content. The poem is about an immortal love between two women. Harrison uses that premise to weave the plot in this 9 part graphic novel.
“The Phokaian” is the first in the 9 part series. Harrison introduces Dika as the principle character and the Phokaian, Timas, is introduced in this book. Through a series of flashbacks and memories, Dika deals with a promised betrothal with a business associate of Athenaois, Dika’s guardian. She meets Timas during a business visit from another associate of Athenois, all this while dealing with her preference for female lovers and despising the male candidate, Euripates. Her slave, Niobi, is a foil for more of her discoveries detailed in several pages of monologue relating the experiences that made Dika what she is today.
The society depicted here demonstrates many relevant issues for teens and twenties today, some of interest to students of Ancient Greek history. There is open slavery, sexuality and homosexuality. However, the characters deal with the same issues of abandonment, self-respect and self-esteem that a modern western teenager would deal with (Dika is almost 15 years of age in the story).
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