Ransom ~ David Malouf

Ransom is a beautifully written re-imagining of one of the stories from The Illiad.  

Patroclus is dead and the grieving Achilles, who has taken his revenge on Hector, is tormenting Hector's father King Priam by dragging the body behind his chariot around the walls of Troy.  Each night the gods restore Hector's body so that Achilles must repeat the process day after day.

There is no honour in what Achilles is doing, the body should and must be given up for decent burial rites but Achilles is in deep distress and feels that the gods are mocking him by restoring Hector's defiled flesh each night.

King Priam cannot stand to see his son so treated and decides to talk to Achilles face to face, man to man, and ransom Hector's body.  At first his advisors are against this, feeling that someone should go in his stead, but this is something Priam must do  himself, and not as a King but as a father.  He decides to remove all trappings of his wealth and wear just a white robe; a simple carter, his wagon, and his two donkeys are hired to carry Priam and his ransom to Achilles.

What happens on the way is no less a surprise to Priam than it is to Somax the carter, which gives him a story to tell his grandchildren and great grandchildren in the years to come after Priam has fallen at the hands of Achilles' son.

I absolutely loved this little novella. Having read The Illiad a couple of years ago, it was wonderful to find myself back in this classic story.

Maxine