Mary Renault Libros

In myth, Theseus was the slayer of the child-devouring Minotaur in Crete. What the founder-hero might have been in real life is another question, brilliantly explored in The King Must Die. Drawing on modern scholarship and archaeological findings at Knossos, Mary Renault’s Theseus is an utterly lifelike figure—a king of immense charisma, whose boundless strivings flow from strength and weakness—but also one steered by implacable prophecy. The story follows Theseus’s adventures from Troizen to Eleusis, where the death in the book’s title is to take place, and from Athens to Crete, where he learns to jump bulls and is named king of the victims. Richly imbued with the spirit of its time, this is a page-turner as well as a daring act of imagination.

Esta novela completa la recreación del mito de Teseo que la autora, inspirada en las viejas leyendas áticas, inició con «El rey debe morir». Teseo, el legendario rey de Atenas, hijo de Egeo o Poseidón y de Etra, es uno de los personajes más controvertidos y fascinantes de la Grecia clásica. Destructor de Cnosos, residencia real de la dinastía minoica, fundador de la dinastía ateniense, reformador religioso, gran navegante y pirata, a él se atribuye el sinecismo ateniense (reunión de varios pueblos en una ciudad, con igualdad de derechos entre todos los habitantes e instituciones políticas y religiosas unificadas) tras haber conquistado gran parte del Ática. En «Teseo, rey de Atenas» el héroe ya ha logrado volver a Atenas, después de salir victorioso del combate con el Minotauro de Creta. La novela relata, a un tiempo, cómo se convierte en rey del Ática y de Creta y sus expediciones guerreras, sus acciones como gobernante y sus amoríos con Ariadna, Hipólita —reina de las amazonas— y Fedra.

"In her inventive novels of ancient Greece, Mary Renault performs the alchemical feats of fashioning from the myth of Theseus a convincingly flawed hero and of weaving a thrillingly plausible account of the events that inspired the fantastical tale of the Labyrinth and the Minotaur. The King Must Die follows young Theseus from his mystery-shrouded birth and youthful insecurity about his small size, through his growing strength and ingenuity to a dawning belief in his destiny. When teenaged Theseus sets out to join his true father, the King of Athens, he is delayed by unforeseen adventures: first by a perilous forced sojourn in the matriarchal society of Eleusis and next when he volunteers to join the annual tribute of Athenian youths sent to be sacrificed to a bull-worshipping cult on the island of Crete. Once trapped in the labyrinthine palace of King Minos, Theseus enlists the help of the high priestess Ariadne in a daring plan to free the Athenians forever from the dominance of Crete. The Bull from the Sea begins after Theseus's triumphal return to Athens, where he finds that his father has died and he is now king. But his confidence in his divinely ordained destiny will be shaken by the adventures yet ahead of him: a life-changing encounter with Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons; the birth of a son who will insist on choosing his own path; and the tragic results of his wife Phaedra's treachery. Combining her deep understanding of the cultures of the ancient Greek world with inspired speculation, Renault brings the heroes and monsters of legend enthrallingly to life."-- Provided by publisher

Subtitled, The Heroic Battles of the Greeks and Persians at Marathon, Salamis, and Thermopylae, this is a great retelling of those epic ancient battles which shaped the course of Western Civilization. All the great characters are there: Darius and Xerxes, the Persian Kings; the Greeks Themistocles, Alcibiades, and the Spartan for whom the book is named, Leonides, and many others. The book begins with the historical roots of the people of Ancient Greece and how they came to love their freedom more than anything else. Recommended for ages 9 - 12.

In this award-winning novel, Mary Renault explores the relationship between a doctor and her young lover.

The Persian Boy traces the last years of Alexander’s life through the eyes of his lover, Bagoas. Abducted and gelded as a boy, Bagoas was sold as a courtesan to King Darius of Persia, but found freedom with Alexander after the Macedon army conquered his homeland.Their relationship sustains Alexander as he weathers assassination plots, the demands of two foreign wives, a sometimes-mutinous army, and his own ferocious temper. After Alexander’s mysterious death, we are left wondering if this Persian boy understood the great warrior and his ambitions better than anyone.

Kit Anderson's marriage to the narcissistic Janet has grown cold, prompting him to find solace in his work as a doctor. When he meets the warm and lively Christie while attending to a dying patient, he experiences the passion missing from his life. The novel explores the complexities of their affair and Kit's true intentions.