By Shantell Powell
Content warning: homophobic slurs, misogyny, slavery, racism
Wrath Goddess Sing is the debut novel of Maya Deane, a graduate of the Rutgers-Camden MFA program in creative writing and has been a fan of The Iliad since she was six years old. Wrath Goddess Sing is a retelling of the story of the Trojan War from the perspective of Achilles as a trans woman.
I was looking forward to reading this novel. As a Classics graduate, I have long been fascinated by Greek mythology. When I learned this novel depicts Achilles as trans, I was sold. This interpretation has bones. I can easily see how the story can be viewed in this way, and I was excited to read the tale of Achilles as written by a trans woman. That being said, I unjustifiably presumed this rendition would be retold in a similar vein to Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles, which takes a more capital-L literary approach to the story. Instead, Wrath Goddess Sing reads more like an adventure story with a plucky, female protagonist who is overflowing with sass. Okay. I can dig it.
However, the story threw me a few stumbling blocks. The biggest problem I have with it is the rampant homophobia in the setting. This is orthogonal to my understanding of ancient Greek culture. Ancient Greece is notable for being queer as all get-out, with queer relationships considered par for the course. Same-sex relationships were not at all unusual and were frequently encouraged within the military based on improving morale. The Olympian gods and heroes had same-sex relationships, too, with such examples as Zeus/Ganymede, Herakles/Hylas, and Achilles/Patroclus.
In the alternate history of Wrath Goddess Sing, homophobia and gay bashing are rampant. I have a much easier time seeing Achilles looked down upon for presenting as female than I do for presenting as a gay or bisexual man. It seems strange to me that the character of Achilles is derided more for being gay than for being a woman. Generally speaking, women had a much rougher go of it in ancient Greece than homosexual/bisexual citizens.
A lot of liberties are also taken with other relationships of Achilles. His parentage is changed, and so is his relationship with Agamemnon. I found the sexual relationship between Achilles and Agamemnon to be bizarre. In The Iliad, Agamemnon is jealous of Achilles and treats Achilles abhorrently. In Wrath Goddess Sing, Achilles swims through a storm to seduce Agamemnon on his ship. Perhaps this was done in the book to show Achilles’ dominance over the king. But then Achilles swims back to her own ship to take care of her chariot horses.
The clincher that made me unhappy with this book was when Achilles’ horses were seasick and had vomited everywhere. Horses cannot vomit. I dearly wish an editor had caught this. This was the final straw for me, and I found myself unable to finish reading the book.
If alternate history/zoology/mythology appeals to you, and if you like sassy, girl-boss protagonists in a swords-and-sandals setting, this may be the book for you. It was not the book for me.
Thank you, HarperCollins, for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.