Today, Simon and Schuster released Colm Toibin's latest novel, House of Names, about Clytemnestra and the murder of Agamemnon.  Anybody who knows me knows I've had this on pre-order since I heard about it months ago.  Because I live on the West Coast, I received my copy at midnight Eastern Daylight Time, and managed to finish it around 3 a.m ( Read more... )

Followers of my Orestes Twitter account know that at least half of Orestes' posts center around his hardcore, homicidal sister Elektra.  She's crazier, bloodthirstier, and more formidable than he is.  She collects monogrammed sharp objects, generates mass carnage whenever she shops at Wal*Mart Argos, and considers chasing husband Pylades around the ( Read more... )

Doing an unrelated search, I stumbled across this evocative musical score for a 1990 ballet of Sophocles's Electra.  The composer is John Koetz.  Unfortunately, the page does not have any images or video from the production.

Meanwhile, here is mouse-hog Ru to brighten your day.


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Today, I finally figured out how to pronounce Pylades. It's [pi'la' deez] Believe it or not, I'd been struggling with the correct pronunciation for two years, but was simply too lazy to look it up.

In other news, I am outlining the forty-nine year period that will make up Orestes: The High King. As I do this, I'm having to calculate everyone's ( Read more... )

Some comic artwork I did for my Orestes Twitter account. Hermione clings to Orestes, who gives the thumbs-up as Elektra pursues Pylades in the background.

Note the chariot nuts.

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I am about seven chapters ahead on Orestes, and currently faced with writing the most complex, difficult-to-grasp character in the entire novel.

Pylades.

Clytaemnestra and Aegisthus are easy to write by comparison.  Elektra is easy to write.  Even Agamemnon is easy, given that all he has to do is die gruesomely.  Pylades?  Has one line of ( Read more... )