A Thousand Ships

“How much epic poetry does the world really need?”

In the opening chapter, the Muse of epic poetry, Calliope, chides the epic poet who calls on her for inspiration. Haynes is writing not an epic poem but an epic narrative, in the modern sense, a large-scale story. In archaic and classical Greek-speaking world, however, epic poetry was not merely to entertain; it was how stories with sacred meaning were transmitted. These stories educated Greek-speakers about human nature, the human condition, and the proper stance towards superhuman forces. 

“The Greeks were being punished for their impiety, for their senseless refusal to accept that Troy would not fall, could not fall to mortal men. Not to men like these, these arrogant Greeks with their tall ships and their bronze armour, glinting in the sun because not one of them could tolerate the notion that he should labor in obscurity, unseen and unadmired.”

Creusa describes the jubilant mood in Troy after the Greek forces had seemed to depart. The passage sets the tone for the contempt with which the Greek warriors will be treated across the novel, by both Trojan and Greek women. The idea that these warriors do not want to “labor in obscurity, unseen and unadmired” seems to be mocking the concept of kleos, meaning achieving fame by having an epic sung about you (8). In the Homeric epics, warriors fight on behalf of their friends and families. The Muse records their deeds, and bards sing about them. Their songs are mediums for cultural memory.