Revenge in Athens

"Revenge in Athens" is the second novel by Rick Garnett, the author of "I, Paris", a critically acclaimed retelling of the story of Helen of Troy. Set in Athens in the turbulent years immediately following the war with Sparta, "Revenge in Athens" recounts the efforts of Lysias, the greatest of contemporary Athenian "lawyers", to defend a poor farmer accused of killing Eratosthenes, the aristocratic lover of his beautiful young wife. Beginning with two of the most dramatic of Lysias' surviving works, the book draws on numerous other sources, and on the author's imagination, to paint a non-idealized picture of a radically male-dominated society filled with passionate antagonisms and litigious zeal. In this framework Lysias, strives to extricate his client from the deadly toils of the complex Athenian legal system, and thereby also to achieve partial revenge for the death of brother at the hands of the same Eratosthenes. Lysias is aided in this effort by Timon, his skillful man-Friday, and his alluring, perspicacious mistress, Metaneira. Throughout the story the author weaves informative set pieces, revealing vignettes of often-neglected aspects of Athenian society, and vivid glimpses of the inner lives and relations of his characters, leading to a surprising finale.

"Revenge in Athens" is the second novel by Rick Garnett, the author of "I, Paris", a critically acclaimed retelling of the story of Helen of Troy. Set in Athens in the turbulent years immediately following the war with Sparta, "Revenge in Athens" recounts the efforts of Lysias, the greatest of contemporary Athenian "lawyers", to defend a poor farmer accused of killing Eratosthenes, the aristocratic lover of his beautiful young wife. Beginning with two of the most dramatic of Lysias' surviving works, the book draws on numerous other sources, and on the author's imagination, to paint a non-idealized picture of a radically male-dominated society filled with passionate antagonisms and litigious zeal. In this framework Lysias, strives to extricate his client from the deadly toils of the complex Athenian legal system, and thereby also to achieve partial revenge for the death of brother at the hands of the same Eratosthenes. Lysias is aided in this effort by Timon, his skillful man-Friday, and his alluring, perspicacious mistress, Metaneira. Throughout the story the author weaves informative set pieces, revealing vignettes of often-neglected aspects of Athenian society, and vivid glimpses of the inner lives and relations of his characters, leading to a surprising finale.

Rick Garnett, a retired lawyer,graduated from Swarthmore College in 1965 with a degree in Classical Greek . In the ensuing 42 years, while practicing law in Alaska and Arizona, he continued to indulge his love for the classics by daily readings in the original Latin or Greek. His previous writing experience include two youthful summers as a newspaper reporter and columnist in Opelousas, Louisiana, occasional sonnets, and many legal briefs and memoranda, sometimes featuring such gems as "mutatis mutandis" and "Penelope's web." "I, Paris" is his first novel. In 2006/2007 Mr. Garnett spent a year teaching Latin at a local charter school, a time he views as a high point. His other interests include blues jams, tennis, and an endless series of on-line chess games with his son-in-law. Mr Garnett and his wife Catherine, parents of four and grandparents of ten, divide their time among Scottsdale and Bisbee Arizona, and visits to offspring in Boston and South Bend. Show Less