Stealing Athena is a wonderful comparison of the differences and similarities of the lives of women in ancient Greece and the world of nineteenth century Great Britain, but through the narrative stories of two women who are as alike as they are different. The novel gives a taste of European and Middle Eastern affairs during Napoleon's exercises in Imperialism, the philosophic age of ancient Athens, and the troubles women faced in both. I was highly entertained reading this novel, and hope others will be as well.
The novel is divided between two women: Aspasia, who is the courtesan of Pericles, and Mary Nisbet, who becomes the wife of Lord Elgin, a British ambassador. Aspasia lives in a unique time when the great buildings and temples of the Acropolis are just being built, and philosophy, logic, and democracy are the highlights of Grecian society. She becomes Pericles's lover when she is basically sold by her brother in law to Pericles as a concubine. Luckily for Aspasia, Pericles is not the brute that her brother in law is, and she comes share a loving relationship with the most powerful man in Athens.
Yet, Aspasia is unique, because she studied with a well-known philosopher, and is a woman who will speak her mind, and her mind is filled with some of the sharpest logic Athens had ever seen. This causes problems that bring forth the conflict in her tale. Through all this, Aspasia sees the cultural standards of the treatment of women in her new city of Athens. She is appalled that women are expected to be silent and anonymous, regardless of their intellect or worth. Even well-born women are kept at home, almost the same as the women in Turkey's harems were in Mary's time.
Speaking of Mary, there is a tragic story to tell. Life began for Miss Nisbet as happily as it possible could have. She was beautiful, intelligent, clever, and ridiculously rich, and she was content with her life. Mary knew that her duty to her family was to marry and have children, and this was something she did aspire to. Her life led her to Lord Elgin, who lived just over the hill. He wooed her and married her just in time to take her to Constantinople for his next ambassadorial assignment, while she was pregnant with their first child. This woman went through more pain, discomfort, and bizarre circumstances than any noble woman would be expected to, and oddly enough, she handled it much better than her new husband.
Unfortunately for Mary, her happy life was not to be happy forever. Constantinople brought the Elgins to financial difficulties due to the upkeep of the embassy, and Lord Elgin's personal belief that he would be the savior of the Fine Arts in Britain by bringing home some of the most celebrated art in Athens: the Parthenon's artistic treasures, Acropolis temples, and other works by the master Phidias. Lord Elgin spends money left and right because he believes he has the money to spend. Little does he know that Mary's father planned for just such a possibility, and didn't give Elgin any control over Mary's inheritance.
This is when their relationship starts to fall to pieces, but the story continues with other interesting adventures for all parties. Aspasia is prosecuted, Mary finds true love, and Pericles learns to respect women, even if he only listens to Aspasia. Stealing Athena brings two eras and two cultures together by linking them with time-tested truths: money always divides people, women will forever be considered inferior (even if they are declared equals), and you should always pick which battles you fight. Still, it's always painful to read about the strange ways past societies treated their citizens, even when that history isn't too far in the past. It makes me grateful to my recent predecessors that I am not forced to be dependent on marriage or friendly, albeit distant, relations. If Aspasia and Mary could have lived lives without such dependencies, I wonder how their lives would have differed.
Stealing Athena was a lot of fun to read, both for the historical aspects of it, and for Essex's imagination of Aspasia's and Mary's fortitude and character. A story lost to the memory of time is brought back to light, and a controversial acquisition forgotten in shame is remembered through one woman's perseverance. Athens rises again in this tale of love, politics, money, and exotic travel that seems to be a hope for a better future. For my part, I hope Lord Elgin rots in whatever grave he was put in for his crimes against his friends and against history.
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