Broadway is back! And one of the first shows to open is one of my favourite musicals, Hadestown. Hadestown is one of those rare musicals that I can always listen to; it is so incredibly evocative. I’ve never connected with a traditionally “invisible” character as much as I do with Hadestown’s Eurydice, and she always inspires me to read. So, today I’m sharing the best books to read if you love Hadestown!
What Is Hadestown?
If you don’t know what Hadestown is, it is a Broadway musical that intertwines two mythological stories. We have the God of the Underworld, Hades and his wife, Persephone, the Goddess of Agriculture, who meet Orpheus, a musician, and Eurydice, his beloved. It is set in the era of the Great Depression, and is a mixture of folk and blues.
Here is one of my favourite songs from the show, “Way Down Hadestown”!
The Best Books To Read If You Love Hadestown
The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood
In Homer’s account in The Odyssey, Penelope—wife of Odysseus and cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy—is portrayed as the quintessential faithful wife, her story a salutary lesson through the ages. Left alone for twenty years when Odysseus goes off to fight in the Trojan War after the abduction of Helen, Penelope manages, in the face of scandalous rumors, to maintain the kingdom of Ithaca, bring up her wayward son, and keep over a hundred suitors at bay, simultaneously. When Odysseus finally comes home after enduring hardships, overcoming monsters, and sleeping with goddesses, he kills her suitors and—curiously—twelve of her maids.
In a splendid contemporary twist to the ancient story, Margaret Atwood has chosen to give the telling of it to Penelope and to her twelve hanged maids, asking: “What led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really up to?” In Atwood’s dazzling, playful retelling, the story becomes as wise and compassionate as it is haunting, and as wildly entertaining as it is disturbing. With wit and verve, drawing on the story-telling and poetic talent for which she herself is renowned, she gives Penelope new life and reality—and sets out to provide an answer to an ancient mystery.
Why You Should Read This….
I enjoy Margaret Atwood’s works, but I find I often have to pace myself. She touches on some of the darkest themes of humanity, and sometimes you need to sit with it. However, I could not put The Penelopiad down. While it is still an incredibly dark story, her sense of humour and satire is second to none. (The courtroom scene where Odysseus is tried for murdering her maids is brilliant.) Atwood uses the form of the Greek chorus to tie it to its ancient origins, and it works well to make that connection without feeling difficult to read. This novella always makes me think of Hadestown immediately!
The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker
The ancient city of Troy has withstood a decade under siege of the powerful Greek army, which continues to wage bloody war over a stolen woman—Helen. In the Greek camp, another woman—Briseis—watches and waits for the war’s outcome. She was queen of one of Troy’s neighboring kingdoms, until Achilles, Greece’s greatest warrior, sacked her city and murdered her husband and brothers. Briseis becomes Achilles’s concubine, a prize of battle, and must adjust quickly in order to survive a radically different life, as one of the many conquered women who serve the Greek army.
When Agamemnon, the brutal political leader of the Greek forces, demands Briseis for himself, she finds herself caught between the two most powerful of the Greeks. Achilles refuses to fight in protest, and the Greeks begin to lose ground to their Trojan opponents. Keenly observant and coolly unflinching about the daily horrors of war, Briseis finds herself in an unprecedented position, able to observe the two men driving the Greek army in what will become their final confrontation, deciding the fate not only of Briseis’s people but also of the ancient world at large.
Briseis is just one among thousands of women living behind the scenes in this war—the slaves and prostitutes, the nurses, the women who lay out the dead—all of them erased by history. With breathtaking historical detail and luminous prose, Pat Barker brings the teeming world of the Greek camp to vivid life. She offers nuanced, complex portraits of characters and stories familiar from mythology, which, seen from Briseis’s perspective, are rife with newfound revelations. Barker’s latest builds on her decades-long study of war and its impact on individual lives—and it is nothing short of magnificent.
Why You Should Read This…
If anyone ever makes a “books to read if you love Hadestown” list and it doesn’t include The Silence of the Girls, I will be shocked. And for good reason- this book is incredible. It can sometimes be brutal and sad. Greek myths and legends don’t tend to spend a lot of time on the devastation and destruction left behind, so when you do read it here, it is heavy. But it is a brilliant novel that highlights a common female experience of war, and gives these women agency. I can absolutely “see” Eurydice and Persephone in this book!
Till We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis
In this timeless tale of two mortal princesses- one beautiful and one unattractive- C.S. Lewis reworks the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche into an enduring piece of contemporary fiction. This is the story of Orual, Psyche’s embittered and ugly older sister, who posessively and harmfully loves Psyche. Much to Orual’s frustration, Psyche is loved by Cupid, the god of love himself, setting the troubled Orual on a path of moral development.
Set against the backdrop of Glome, a barbaric, pre-Christian world, the struggles between sacred and profane love are illuminated as Orual learns that we cannot understand the intent of the gods “till we have faces” and sincerity in our souls and selves.
Why You Should Read This…
Interestingly, Lewis considered this to be his best work. I will say, I do find Till We Have Faces to be the outlier in this list, but I still wanted to include it. Psyche and Cupid is one of the lesser-known Greek myths, but is well worth reading. I read this book while I was in high school, and it was rather novel to me- looking at these mythological figures as real people with as many emotions and thoughts as we have. (Give yourself time to read this, though- it isn’t a “fly through it” type book.)
A Thousand Ships, Natalie Haynes
From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves, and rivalries were forever altered by this long and tragic war.
A woman’s epic, powerfully imbued with new life, A Thousand Ships puts the women, girls and goddesses at the center of the Western world’s greatest tale ever told.
Why You Should Read This…
If you are fairly new to Greek mythology, A Thousand Ships is a fantastic book to start with in this list. And that isn’t to say that if you do know your mythology you will be bored- you won’t, but it doesn’t assume any knowledge. I love that this book takes the same approach as Pat Barker, but covers many more of the female voices throughout. It’s also a fun touch to include deities, as well! One of the reasons I love Hadestown is the oh-so-dramatic Hades and Persephone, so I thought Haynes’ inclusion of gods and goddesses particularly fitting.
Ariadne, Jennifer Saint
As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur – Minos’s greatest shame and Ariadne’s brother – demands blood every year.
When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods – drawing their attention can cost you everything.
In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne’s decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover’s ambition?
Ariadne gives a voice to the forgotten women of one of the most famous Greek myths, and speaks to their strength in the face of angry, petulant Gods. Beautifully written and completely immersive, this is an exceptional debut novel.
Why You Should Read This…
If you have ever wondered about the Minotaur myth, Ariadne is the book for you. While Ariadne is not the same character as Hadestown’s Eurydice, I found both incredibly fascinating. Where the stories diverge is the length- Ariadne covers Ariadne’s whole life, whereas we only see a snippet of Eurydice’s story on stage. Much like Orpheus, Thesus is a flawed hero and I am here for people recognising it!
If you want more theatre-inspired reading, I’ve shared my favourite books to read if you love Anastasia!
What would be on your list of books to read if you love Hadestown?
Cheers,
The Historian
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