Ferdia Lennon
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon is set in Syracuse, Sicily, in 412 BCE. The Athenians have been thwarted in their attempts to invade the island. Although many Athenians escaped, many thousands were captured as prisoners. Because Syracuse had no structures large enough to house that many Athenian prisoners, it was decided to entrap them in a rock quarry, deprive them of food, and bind them with chains with no hope of escape. The intent was to eventually starve them to death.
Along come two intrepid Syracuse potters, Lampo and Gelon. Their love for Greek theatre, especially Euripides’ Medea, spur them to hatch a seemingly preposterous plan—to put on a performance of the play in the quarry using the Athenian prisoners as their actors. From the emaciated prisoners, they select those who know how to act and who are familiar with the play. Using food and wine as incentives, they convince them to participate in the production. Rehearsals begin. Our plucky directors persuade a wealthy trader to fund the project. They commission elaborate costumes and scenery and solicit a bevy of children to run errands. At the suggestion of one of the Athenian actors, they decide to make it a double billing and include a performance of Euripides’ The Trojan Women. On opening day, the Athenian audience shows up in droves to view the performance. All goes according to plan—until it doesn’t.
The novel unfolds in the first-person voice of Lampo, a delightful and likeable narrator. His narrative voice sparkles with life. His unmistakable Irish vernacular would be quite at home in a contemporary Irish novel. He is funny, poignant, sensitive, compassionate, moving, and profoundly loyal. His friendship with Gelon stems from their childhood and a shared love for Greek literature. But the two could not be more different. Their relationship echoes that of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Gelon is the dreamer. Despondent over the death of his son and missing wife, he wants to escape his sorrows through literature. Lampo is earthy, practical, and willing to ride on the coattails of Gelon’s vision. Their banter is the stuff of comedy.
The novel clips along at a face pace. The setting is immersive; the imagery, effective. The diction is so convincing and immediate that it’s as if the action unfolds before our eyes. Peppered throughout are phrases from Homer and a couple of subplots.
The main theme of the novel is the power of art to potentially heal former enemies. Lampo and Gelon form relationships with the Athenian prisoners, learn their back stories, their pain, their losses, and their suffering. Former enemies connect with one another and recognize their shared humanity through the vehicle of art. Of course, not everyone in Syracuse shares that sentiment or can transcend the anger and hatred felt for those responsible for killing family and friends. But Euripides, whose plays give voice to the oppressed and marginalized, and who attempted to warn of the dangers of cruelty and lack of compassion, may be smiling in his grave to find a 21st century novel using the performance of one of his plays as the vehicle to transcend the hatred felt by former enemies.
Kudos to Ferdia Lennon for this his debut novel. It was engaging, funny, brilliantly imaginative, entertaining, original, well-executed, poignant, and harboring a profoundly important message.