Female Survival in the Trojan Aftermath: Andromache in the Fiction of Pat Barker and Natalie Haynes

Abstract

In both the archaic epic tradition and classical tragedy, Andromache stood with Penelope as a prime exemplar of feminine areté. Though classical reception has long favoured Penelope, Andromache’s marginalisation has been particularly persistent in contemporary women-authored rewritings of the classical tradition. This chapter examines Pat Barker’s 'The Silence of the Girls' (2018) and 'The Women of Troy' (2021), as well as Natalie Haynes’ A 'Thousand Ships' (2019), to determine whether Andromache’s portrayal in the tragedies resonates with modern readers. In this chapter, a dialogue is thus fostered between Greek tragedy and modern myth retellings to explore themes of identities in transition, trauma and agency, thereby unravelling Andromache’s adaptation in modern literature.