Over the Wine-Dark Sea, by H. N. Turteltaub. Book review
Tom
Doherty Associates, 2001. ISBN 0-312-87660-2. 381 pages.
Over the Wine-Dark Sea is set in the
Eastern Mediterranean in spring to autumn of 310 BC. According to the
Historical Notes, one of the two central characters, Menedemos, is a historical
figure, as is Antandros of Syracuse who makes a brief appearance. All the other
characters who appear in the novel are fictional.
In
spring 310 BC, Menedemos and his cousin Sostratos, two young merchants from
Rhodes, are eager to put to sea for their summer trading trip to Great Hellas,
the Greek colonies and city-states of Sicily and mainland Italy. Their ship,
the Aphrodite, jointly owned by their
fathers, is a merchant galley with forty rowers as well as a sail for
propulsion. Unlike the broad sail-only trading ships, the Aphrodite does not need to wait for a favourable wind; the rowers
can take her wherever her captain wants to go. But this also means she is
expensive to run, as the crew have to be paid wages, and her cargo space is
limited. So the Aphrodite carries
luxury goods, perfume, silk, fine wine, dye, papyrus, ink – and peafowl, exotic
birds from India that have never before been seen in Great Hellas. Menedemos
and Sostratos will need their wits and a shrewd eye for a deal to cover their
costs and bring back a profit. But as well as business risks and the
ever-present danger of pirates and bad weather, several wars are raging along
the Aphrodite’s intended route:
between Syracuse and Carthage; between an obscure Italian tribe called the
Romans and their neighbours to the south; and between the various generals who
inherited parts of the empire of Alexander the Great after his death a decade
ago and are now fighting each other in Egypt, mainland Greece, Asia Minor and
the seas in between. One miscalculation could see Menedemos, Sostratos and all
their crew dead or for sale in a slave market – and on top of this, there is
Menedemos’ liking for other men’s wives...
Over the Wine-Dark Sea is a highly entertaining
travelogue of the varied cultures and geography of the Eastern Mediterranean in
antiquity. It doesn’t really have a plot as such – Menedemos and Sostratos
travel from one island or port to the next, buy things, sell things, get into
and (hopefully) out of trouble, and hope to return home safely and profitably.
That isn’t necessarily a bad thing (after all, the same sort of comment could
be made about The Odyssey). Their
journey is colourful and varied enough, and the cousins’ contrasting characters
amusing enough, to make Over the
Wine-Dark Sea great fun to read. The cousins’ bickering is often witty, and
there are a few knowing jokes, like the various Hellenes who solemnly opine
that the obscure barbarian tribe called the Romans will never amount to
anything much. The difficulties of managing a peacock, five peahens (and in due
course a multitude of chicks) in the cramped confines of the ship form a
running joke for most of the book.
Over the Wine-Dark Sea is also immensely
informative about the ancient world. Each of the ports, harbours and towns is
described, often with snippets of its history and layout. Different types of
ships are described and named, along with their development over time and the
various uses for the different types. Hellenic social conventions and customs
are described and shown in detail; haggling over a business deal; the correct
format for a symposion (a drinking party for wealthy men, a sort of cross
between a dinner party and a stag do); the names of different courses in a
meal; conventions about which hand to eat with and how many fingers to use for
different types of food; sports activities at the gymnasion. All of these are
restricted to men, of course. The confined life imposed on women is
acknowledged (and Sostratos is sensitive enough to feel just a little bit
uncomfortable about it occasionally), but women don’t get much of a role except
as possessions for men to squabble over.
Both
Menedemos and Sostratos are familiar with Homer and like to relate the places they
see to the poetry – could the whirlpool they see in the Straits of Messina be
the original Charybdis, could this or that island be where Odysseus encountered
the Sirens or the Cyclops? Sostratos also has aspirations to be a historian and
likes to collect obscure facts, such as two different theories about how the town
of Rhegion got its name, or the correct way to wear a toga. All this
information has an undeniable tendency to slow down the plot, and I can imagine
that some readers might find it annoying, although I quite liked these obscure
excursions. For readers who want to imagine what it might have been like to
trade luxury goods around the Aegean and Italy in the ancient world, what items
came from where, and how money and coinage worked, there is much to enjoy.
The
book is written throughout in straightforward modern English (with American
spellings). Some of the different cultures are given different accents or
dialects to distinguish them from one another; one region of Greece drops ‘H’s,
Macedonia has an archaic dialect, and a slave girl kidnapped from Cisalpine
Gaul in the distant north of Italy is given an Irish accent and turn of phrase
to emphasise her foreignness.
A
brief Historical Note outlines the historical events that form the background
to Menedemos’ and Sostratos’ journey, and there is a very useful note at the
front about weights, measures and units of money. This is well worth
bookmarking, as the characters refer to these units constantly and it is very
useful to be able to flip back quickly to see whether a minai is a small
fortune or small change. An excellent map at the front is very useful for
following the Aphrodite’s journey.
Colourful
and entertaining account of the episodic adventures of two young traders
shipping luxury goods around the Eastern Mediterranean in 310 BC.
3 comments:
i thoroughly enjoyed Turteltaub/Turtledove's adventures of the two Rhodian merchant cousins bickering and dickering their way around the Mediterrean. "Wine Dark sea" is the first in a set of four novels, each of which explores a different geopolitical area, and together they comprise a travelogue of the ancient world at a time of change - those voracious Romans are just starting to make their presence felt, and the world is still being rocked by the turmoil following the death of Alexander the Great.
As you note, there is no tight plotline, the stories meander along in the manner of a voyage, with drama, entertainment, and interaction between the various characters provided by response to events as they happen along the way.
Strangely, this quartet seems to have dropped below the historical fiction radar - a shame as it's well worth a read.
Read this a while ago, Carla, and loved it! Hope you're OK
Annis - Yes, I hadn't heard of these until someone recommended them to me. I'm surprised they aren't better known, they are great fun if you don't mind the meandering narrative.
Dave McCall - thanks for your good wishes.
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