Asterion: A Tale of the Monster of Crete (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798556995789)

Asterion is a Prince of the Realm, whose exalted name means "star-like." He is also a hideous freak, forced to live on human flesh in the Labyrinth beneath the Royal Palace of Knossos. While everyone in the palace believes he is a mindless brute with the head of a bull, the product of a perverse union between Queen Rheia and a mysterious creature from the sea, Asterion aspires to a more exalted condition. Baffled by his own existence and fascinated by the splendid life that is denied to him, he recounts the story of his fantastic birth and the revolt that upends the cosmic balances of the Goddess-worshipping Queendom of Knossos. The story opens with the Cretan island realm under the rule of the divinely-descended Priestess-Queen Rheia. Constantly at odds with her upstart Royal Consort Minos, who chafes at his subordinate role, Rheia devotes herself to the maintenance of age-old cosmic balances, cultivating medicinal herbs that grow from the flanks of her beloved "Body Earth." Meanwhile, the ideas of the mainland Akhaian Greeks are slowly infiltrating Cretan culture, especially in the form of Daidalos, the Athenian artist who has been engaged to embellish the sprawling Palace of Knossos. The arrival of a mysterious bull on the beach throws the whole palace into confusion, leading to intense speculation as to which god might have sent it, or if the creature itself might even be a god. All this is recounted and commented upon by Asterion, the beast in the basement who yearns only for light, love, companionship and fine food, although, as he often tells us, he would not object to some acclaim for his creative talents as well. Locked away in his filthy prison, Asterion amuses himself by learning to write and observing palace life through cracks in the floors and walls. Eventually he finds a way to bond with his athletic sister Narkissa, who excels at the sacred Minoan sport of bull-leaping. When Minos usurps power in Crete by winning an astounding naval victory over the Akhaians and achieving his dream of ruling like a Mycenaean-style king, the princess finds herself imprisoned and condemned for her forbidden love affair with the poet Aiginthos, a man of lowly origin. At the climax of the tale, Asterion's wretched life takes on a new sense of purpose as he contemplates escape from the Labyrinth in the company of his sister. "Asterion: A Tale of the Monster of Crete" brings to life the clash of cultures that lies at the base of European civilization, between the matrilineal, matriarchal Minoans and the warlike, hero-adoring Akhaian Greeks, who have brought their brooding gods from the north "to drive the Goddess from the land." As in the case of most literary treatments of mythology, the aim here is to transcend the bounds of ancient times and attitudes in order to illustrate timeless truths about human nature. Asterion's metafictional story, concerning exploitation, degradation and abuse of power, as well as the desire to perpetuate the self through art, includes existential elements that recall John Gardner's "Grendel," and also Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," in which a deformed, despised monster seeks to validate his humanity by observing family life through holes in a wall. The protagonist of this novel serves to communicate the notion that there is something of Asterion in all of us, as we strive to control the ways in which we are regarded by others, and give voice to the tumult inside our heads. Enclosed in his prison and unable to resist the insidious invaders, Asterion realizes that his story, as well as that of the Minoans as a whole, will be appropriated by a people who will put them to their own nefarious uses. In fact, the name "Minotaur," eventually to be imposed on the Minoan Prince Asterion by the derisive Greeks, is never mentioned in this novel. Asterion's voice is presented as the last to survive of a people doomed to obliteration at the hands of our ancestors.

Author: Christopher Karl Nissen
ISBN-10: 8556995780
ISBN-13: 9798556995789
Publisher: Independently Published
Language: English
Published: 01/13/2021
Pages: 236
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.71lbs
Size: 9.02h x 5.98w x 0.50d