Troy is a Young Adult novel by Adèle Geras, published in 2000. It is a modern retelling of Homer’s Iliad, telling the events from the perspective of two sisters living in Troy during the Trojan War as they encounter and are manipulated by various gods, including Aphrodite. The story opens in the tenth year of the Trojan War, which began when the goddess Aphrodite promised Paris the Trojan the heart of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, and then caused Helen to fall in love with him. Paris took Helen away and King Agamemnon invaded from Greece to get her back. Xanthe and Marpessa are orphans who live and serve in Priam's palace in Troy; Xanthe is servant to Andromache, King Hector’s wife, and cares for her son Asyntax, and Marpessa serves as Helen’s maid. Helen and Marpessa are very close, and Marpessa regards the beautiful woman as something like a mother to her. The city of Troy is suffering after a decade of siege. Food is running out and the number of men fit for fighting has dwindled. Xanthe works in the Blood Room, where the injured soldiers are brought. She is worried about the increasingly aggressive behavior of a man named Boros, and she hopes the fighting keeps him away. Marpessa witnessed Paris and Helen’s love and knows it is real, but also witnessed Paris being unfaithful to Helen. There are also rumors that Paris abandoned a wife and child in Greece in order to be with Helen, and Paris is criticized for being unwilling to leave the palace and fight while his brother, Hector, serves side-by-side with the soldiers working desperately to keep the Greeks out of the city. The gods frequently meddle in human affairs, appearing to the mortals and punishing them, blessing them, or simply confusing them—but no one ever remembers these interactions afterwards. The gods often appear in shadows and corners, startling people, and then fade into mist when they leave. The entire Trojan war is Aphrodite’s fault, and now all the gods are tired of the war and the endless fighting, but do not seem to have any realization that their bored meddling is what causes these problems. Marpessa is the only one able to remember the gods after these visits, but she keeps this ability secret for fear of being ostracized like Hector’s sister Cassandra. A young man named Alastor wishes to be a hero and wants nothing more than to be brave and fight well in his first battle of the war. Once he arrives on the field of battle, however, he finds that war is much different than he expected—confused and terrified, he is easily struck down and stabbed. He is brought into the Blood Room, where Xanthe cares for him. Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, has grown bored with the war that she started, and decides to find new entertainment. She induces Eros to cause Xanthe to fall in love with Alastor. Meanwhile it is revealed that a boy named Iason who works in Hector’s stables is secretly in love with Xanthe, and their mutual friend Polyxena is in love with Iason; all three friends despair of ever being happy. Aphrodite, seeing an opportunity to cause more mischief, directs Eros to make Alastor fall in love with Marpessa. Marpessa, able to remember her encounter with Aphrodite, knows of the plan, but is helpless to resist. Marpessa and Alastor begin a love affair in secret, mirrored by Andromache’s attempts to seduce Paris away from Helen; meanwhile Hector, who aspires to be a good man, struggles with his growing attraction for Helen. Paris’ son arrives and confirms the rumors about his wife Oenone, but Paris kills his own son in a rage. The war rages on; King Hector is killed, and shortly afterwards Paris is mortally wounded and is brought to Oenone to be healed, but Oenone refuses, and Paris dies as well. Troy falls into despair. But then the Greeks seem to suddenly retreat, leaving behind a large statue of a horse, and hope returns; the Trojans believe the horse is a sacrifice to the gods and a sign that the gods have interfered on their behalf. Marpessa discovers that she is pregnant with Alastor’s child. The horse, of course, is the famous Trojan Horse, and the Greeks use the ruse to get inside the city walls. Troy falls to Greece in a bloody battle, and Alastor is killed during the battle. Polyxena and Iason begin an affair, and fall in love, allowing Iason to forget about Xanthe. The Greeks come to take Helen and her entourage back to Greece, and she brings Xanthe and Marpessa with her, where they go on to be very happy, far away from the complications of their lives in Troy and free, finally, from the machinations of the bored, fickle gods.

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Adèle Geras

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