24 Exciting Novel Pairings for The Odyssey

Reading Instruction

Mythology is a perennially popular topic with my students. My freshmen recently finished reading The Odyssey. To build on their interest in mythology, I want to spotlight these 24 exciting, engaging, and empowering novel pairings for The Odyssey.

Frequently, my students are already fans of the Percy Jackson series, so when I started to think about mythological book recommendations, I wanted to look beyond Rick Riordan. (Which is not to say that I don’t own almost all of his novels.)

Time and again, these titles start with a familiar story, typically centered around a man. Unsurprisingly, ancient myths have little patience for women, and those included are often temptresses (Circe, Calypso) or mothers and widows (Penelope). If a woman is bold or brazen, she is a hag or a monster (Medusa, the Furies). For this reason, these novels often provide a contemporary reframing that questions the parochial patriarchy in mythology and uses it to encourage readers to interrogate their own worlds.

As a result, these novels are engaging for young readers. Additionally, they provide countless opportunities to apply archetypal and feminist criticism.

Current image: Photo of Greek ruins appears under text that says: 24 Exciting Novel Pairings for The Odyssey

This post this post may contain affiliate links. Please read the Terms of Use.

Empowering Novel Pairings for The Odyssey

Circe by Madeline Miller is the novel that inspired this post. I’ve had countless students read and enjoy this retelling, which is so quietly subversive that you hardly notice you’ve been radicalized until the last page. Miller followed this up with the short story “Galatea,” which is on my TBR.

Ariadne tells the story of Theseus and the Minotaur from a different perspective. Perhaps because I’m an only child, I found the sibling element of this story particularly moving. Ariadne has to balance her own goals against her relationship with her monsterous brother and her younger sister.

Medea by Eilish Quin recognizes the complexity of its title character. Traditionally retellings of Medea and Jason reduce Medea to madness in a way that renders her so “simple” that readers can only interpret her actions as those of a madwoman or a monster (or both). Quin refuses to take a reductionist view of Medea and, as a result, ends up with a much more compelling story.

Penelope

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood was one of the first novel pairings for The Odyssey that I considered. For one thing, I’m always struck by Penelope’s shrewd, quick thinking. For another, I’m irritated by her virtuous portrayal: no woman that clever could be so two-dimensional. Atwood’s story takes care of all of that.

The Songs of Penelope by Claire North is a complete trilogy: Ithaca, House of Odysseus, and The Last Song of Penelope. I first read and loved North’s novel The First Fifteen Lives of Henry August, so I was excited to start this trilogy. In particular, I loved seeing North “fill in the blanks” about what Penelope did while we were all following Odysseus’ long trip home.

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes touches on Penelope’s story but also touches on the way the Trojan War affected the lives of countless Greek heroines. Of the novel pairings for The Odyssey, this one feels the most like a tapestry of interconnected stories. This is also a good follow up (or lead in) to Haynes’ Pandora’s Jar: Women in the Greek Myths.

Love Stories

Ariadne Unraveled by Zenobia Neil is maybe the most traditional love story on this list. At times, it feels like Neil’s novel has more in common with the star-crossed lovers of Romeo and Juliet than the mythology of The Odyssey. The tragic love in this story burns bright and easily captivates readers.

Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara is a modern retelling, but it hewed the closest to my own memories of this myth. Certainly, this is a more romantic novel than most of the novel pairings for The Odyssey.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is a title I hesitate to recommend because it will break your heart. This is the kind of love story that leaves you silently sobbing hours past your bedtime. It. Will. Destroy. You. And you will love it and recommend it to everyone you know. If you only grab one of these novel pairings for The Odyssey, this is the one.

Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati is a book that really explores the relationship between femininity, agency, and vengeance. Clytemnestra grapples with all three as she considers how to make a place for herself in a world that doesn’t value her. This book captures many of the themes that repeat in novel pairings for The Odyssey.

A Spartan’s Sorrow by Hannah Lynn also tells the story of Clytemnestra. Reading Lynn and Casati’s novels in concert allows readers to synthesize across texts and evaluating how attitudes toward Clytemnestra have evolved.

Elektra is Jennifer Saint’s entry into the story of Clytemnestra. However, Saint really focuses the story on her title character. I also liked that Saint drew on the story of Cassandra, who is not a central force in any other novel pairings for The Odyssey.

Madea by Rosie Hewlett centers one of the common themes of Greek mythology: betrayal. There’s something visceral about Hewlett’s portrayal of Madea, and it’s empowering for readers. In collecting novel pairings for The Odyssey, I was struck over and over with the power of centering the “monster” and how we define that term.

Powerful Queens Novel Pairings for The Odyssey

Like Clytemnestra, Queens of Themiscyra by Hannah Lynn features powerful women rulers. The English nerd in me really enjoyed the interplay between the parallel characters Hippolyte and Penthesilea. Their choices are very different, but what the sisters and the readers find is that they have a lot in common.

Daughters of Olympus by Hannah Lynn understands that the story of Persephone and Hades is also the story of Persephone and Demeter. Oftentimes, Persephone’s story becomes one of dark love, forbidden romance, and Demeter gets cast as a shrew. But Lynn recenters the schism at the heart of the story: a mother’s heartbreak and fury after her daughter’s abduction.

Of Saint’s novels, Hera may have the most to say about motherhood and female identity. A more modern “myth” is the woman who loses her identity and sometimes her ambition in being a wife and a mother. Saint takes on that very real experience and interrogates how men (and social institutions) play a part in perpetuating that story.

Medusa and Perseus Novel Pairings for The Odyssey

Athena’s Child by Hannah Lynn is one of the most upsetting novel pairings for The Odyssey. In this novel, Medusa is a victim and a pawn, and those traits are used to turn her into a monster. It’s a novel that I really struggled to read, in part because it reminds readers that #metoo discusses issues that long pre-date hashtags.

Like Athena’s Child, The Shadow of Perseus by Claire Heywood retells the story of Perseus and Medusa. However, Heywood moves beyond Medusa to the other women in Perseus’ life. I saw a lot of similarities between Odysseus and Perseus, and neither one of them comes across in their best light.

Medusa’s Sisters by Lauren J. A. Bear has its message in the title. Do you know the name of Medusa’s sisters? I sure didn’t. And that question alone underlines the message at the center of Bear’s novel.

Medusa by Rosie Hewlett has the best structure of the novels in this section. Hewlett handles flashback and Medusa’s voice so powerfully. Of the novel pairings for The Odyssey, Hewlett’s Medusa may most effectively use narrative voice to evoke empathy from the reader.

Like Hewlett’s interpretation, Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes evokes empathy for Medusa. I really appreciated the role that time plays in this novel. Haynes’ novel makes a case that time does not heal all wounds, and, in fact, some choices can never be forgiven.