Orestes: and the Lifting of the Family Curse

Ideas can change the world and Hazel Marshall’s new book is about just such an idea. Our hero is bound by honour and family tradition to avenge a past wrong, for this is a tale of vendetta. Long-lasting family feuds are not rare; in his play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare wrote of such a case and, as so often, things did not work out well. Vendettas can also sour relations between tribes and between nations; we need only recall the long-standing confl icts all over the world: ‘past wrongs cannot be forgiven and must never be forgotten’. Vendettas are about revenge and retribution — the situation young Orestes found himself in. Family honour obliged him to avenge his father’s death but in doing so, he laid himself open to retribution for his action. He was in a desperate situation, one without any prospect of a happy ending — that is, until the gods themselves stepped in. The goddess Pallas Athene had a brilliant idea. She solved Orestes’ diffi culties by fi nding another way for honour to be satisfied; she set up a Court of Justice. Invoking the sense of justice we all carry deep within our hearts, she chose twelve good men and true to hear the evidence presented by both sides, and to weigh that evidence in their hearts. Which case best appealed to their sense of justice? Until I read the drafts of Hazel’s book, I hadn’t realised just how much we owe to those wise, ancient Greeks. You may find similar gems in this fascinating retelling of a little-known Greek Drama.

Table of Contents:
Preface Foreword Contents The Characters (Dramatis Personae) Introduction PART I: THE WINDS OF WAR 1 Exile in Phocis 2 The House of Atreus 3 Laodameia Remembers 4 Agamemnon 5 Achilles 6 Clytaemnestra 7 Iphigeneia 8 Artemis Exacts her Due 9 The Return of the King 10 Cassandra PART II: RETRIBUTION 11 Demetrius 12 Electra 13 Deception 14 Revenge 15 Celebration 16 Castor and Pollux 17 In the Stables 18 In the Palace 19 The Family 20 Pylades 21 Hermione and Helen PART III: ATHENE AND THE FURIES 22 Gods and Ghosts 23 Pallas Athene 24 The Trial 25 The Verdict PART IV: RESTITUTION 26 A Temple in Tauris 27 Beyond the Clashing Rocks 28 The Image of Artemis 29 Another Plot 30 Release into Freedom Postscript Acknowledgements Credits Bibliography Illustrations

About the Author :
Hazel Marshall M.Ed is a qualified psychotherapist and has, since 1989, been running Transpersonal courses based upon those of Ian Gordon-Brown and Barbara Somers. Her profound knowledge of, and admiration for their work enabled her to edit it into four volumes, which became known as the “Wisdom of the Transpersonal” series. These have now become classics and form the basis of transpersonal courses and counselling training both here and abroad. Hazel has since authored two successful books of her own and this is currently her third.

Review :
Hazel Marshall has done it again, this time immersing herself in eight of the plays, all around the same story, of the lifting of the curse on the House of Atreus. She found herself loving them all and wishing that people like her might become better acquainted with their ancient and tremendous tale-telling. Her synthesis of the various plays and stories, addressed to the reader, has certainly achieved this and makes for a powerful and gripping read made all the more striking by her choice of wonderful illustrations ; Vendettas are about revenge and retribution — the situation young Orestes found himself in. Family honour obliged him to avenge his father’s death but in doing so, he laid himself open to retribution for his action. He was in a desperate situation, one without any prospect of a happy ending — that is, until the gods themselves stepped in. The goddess Pallas Athene had a brilliant idea ; Until I read the drafts of Hazel’s book, I hadn’t realised just how much we owe to those wise, ancient Greeks. You may find similar gems in this fascinating retelling of a little-known Greek Drama.