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Τα Δόντια του Δράκου
Μια συντροφιά Ελλήνων με αρχηγό τον τολμηρό Ιάσονα, ξεκινάει από τις δυτικές ακτές του Αιγαίου για να φέρει στην πατρίδα το Χρυσόμαλλο Δέρας: Το χρυσάφι της πλούσιας Ανατολής.
Και μαζί και μια γυναίκα. Παρθένα, ιέρεια, μάγισσα.
Μήδεια τ' όνομά της. Πανέμορφη και πανίσχυρη σαν θεά, σκοτεινή κι επικίνδυνη σαν μάγισσα, παθιασμένη κι εκδικητική σαν την Ήρα... Ο έρωτάς της για τον Ιάσονα απόλυτος κι εκρηκτικός σαν ενεργό ηφαίστειο.
Για χάρη του απαρνήθηκε και πατρίδα και γονείς. Τον βοήθησε να πάρει το Χρυσόμαλλο Δέρας και να εκδικηθεί τη δολοφονία του πατέρα του. Του χάρισε ένα ολόκληρο βασίλειο.
Κι εκείνος την πρόδωσε...
Πίσω από τους ηρωισμούς των Αργοναυτών, κάτω από τα ματωμένα αχνάρια που αφήνουν στο διάβα τους, κρύβεται όμως και η διαμάχη της παλιάς, μητριαρχικής θρησκείας της γονιμότητας με τις καινούργιες δοξασίες της λατρείας του ξίφους που φέρνουν μαζί τους τα ελληνικά φύλα. Απολογήτρια της παλιάς θρησκείας η Μήδεια, ιέρεια της Μεγάλης Θεάς, αγωνίζεται για τη θέση της γυναίκας σε τούτον τον καινούριο κόσμο που δημιουργούν οι Έλληνες, υποτάσσοντας τη γυναίκα στον άντρα.
Όμως εδώ στην Μεσόγειο, η γυναίκα είναι η ίδια η Φύση. Κι αν ο άντρας την κάνει σκλάβα του, εκείνη εξακολουθεί να είναι αυτή που φροντίζει τον οικογενειακό βωμό, παραμένει η Αιώνια Μητέρα, ο δεσμός με τους προγόνους, η ιέρεια και η μάντισσα. Εκείνη διατηρεί την παράδοση.
Είναι η Μήδεια που πνίγεται από τις πράξεις της, αλλά δεν μετανιώνει για τίποτα.
Και μαζί και μια γυναίκα. Παρθένα, ιέρεια, μάγισσα.
Μήδεια τ' όνομά της. Πανέμορφη και πανίσχυρη σαν θεά, σκοτεινή κι επικίνδυνη σαν μάγισσα, παθιασμένη κι εκδικητική σαν την Ήρα... Ο έρωτάς της για τον Ιάσονα απόλυτος κι εκρηκτικός σαν ενεργό ηφαίστειο.
Για χάρη του απαρνήθηκε και πατρίδα και γονείς. Τον βοήθησε να πάρει το Χρυσόμαλλο Δέρας και να εκδικηθεί τη δολοφονία του πατέρα του. Του χάρισε ένα ολόκληρο βασίλειο.
Κι εκείνος την πρόδωσε...
Πίσω από τους ηρωισμούς των Αργοναυτών, κάτω από τα ματωμένα αχνάρια που αφήνουν στο διάβα τους, κρύβεται όμως και η διαμάχη της παλιάς, μητριαρχικής θρησκείας της γονιμότητας με τις καινούργιες δοξασίες της λατρείας του ξίφους που φέρνουν μαζί τους τα ελληνικά φύλα. Απολογήτρια της παλιάς θρησκείας η Μήδεια, ιέρεια της Μεγάλης Θεάς, αγωνίζεται για τη θέση της γυναίκας σε τούτον τον καινούριο κόσμο που δημιουργούν οι Έλληνες, υποτάσσοντας τη γυναίκα στον άντρα.
Όμως εδώ στην Μεσόγειο, η γυναίκα είναι η ίδια η Φύση. Κι αν ο άντρας την κάνει σκλάβα του, εκείνη εξακολουθεί να είναι αυτή που φροντίζει τον οικογενειακό βωμό, παραμένει η Αιώνια Μητέρα, ο δεσμός με τους προγόνους, η ιέρεια και η μάντισσα. Εκείνη διατηρεί την παράδοση.
Είναι η Μήδεια που πνίγεται από τις πράξεις της, αλλά δεν μετανιώνει για τίποτα.
352 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2017
5 people want to read
About the author
Γιάννης Σπανδωνής
81 books4 followersΓεννημένος στην Αθήνα το 1947, δημοσιογράφος κι απόγονος δημοσιογράφων, ο Γιάννης Σπανδωνής εργάστηκε σ’ επιτελικές θέσεις μεγάλων εφημερίδων και περιοδικών, καθώς και στην τηλεόραση. Το 1985 οργάνωσε με τη συνεργασία και άλλων δημοσιογράφων το πρώτο ηλεκτρονικό αρχείο δημοσιογραφικών πληροφοριών, για λογαριασμό του Ιδρύματος Μπότση για την Προαγωγή της Δημοσιογραφίας. Με το πρώτο του βιβλίο Κάποτε στο Αιγαίο, βραβεύεται ως ο καλύτερος νεοεμφανιζόμενος συγγραφέας του 1983. Ακολούθησαν ο Θρήνος (1984, Α’ Βραβείο ΠΑΡΝΑΣΣΟΥ), οι Γραικοί (1985, Α’ Βραβείο Εθνικής Εταιρίας Ελλήνων Λογοτεχνών - Ροταριανού Ομίλου), κ.ά. Οι λογοτεχνικές μεταφράσεις του Γιάννη Σπανδωνή εξάλλου, έχουν αποσπάσει ευμενή σχόλια και επαίνους τόσο από την κριτική όσο και από πνευματικά ιδρύματα της χώρας μας και του εξωτερικού. Και το 2016 βραβεύτηκε για το σύνολο του μεταφραστικού του έργου από την Ελληνική Εταιρία Μεταφραστών Λογοτεχνίας σε ειδική τελετή που έγινε στη Στέγη Γραμμάτων και Τεχνών του Ιδρύματος Ωνάση.
(Πηγή: Εκδόσεις Ωκεανός, 2021)
(Πηγή: Εκδόσεις Ωκεανός, 2021)
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 11, 2025
Mediocre writing, unsympathetic characters, consistency errors, silly logic and a fake sense of greateness does this even make sense? are what this book is made of. This Argonautica and Medea retelling, told from Medea's very own point of view, seemed like a very interesting concept but it left a bitter taste on my mouth instead.
Things that are wrong with this book:
The mediocre writing: Honestly, I have seen fanfiction better than this and no, I am not exaggerating. The dialogue is supposed to be sassy and the description of people and places are supposed to make the reader believe that they read one of the most deep and poetic stories ever written. But it totally fails.
There are whole parts of dialogue that serve no purpose, scenes that are either silly, cringeworthy (aka: those bloody sex scenes that probably make 50 Shades of Grey seem like the greatest work of erotic fiction) or scenes that, again, do not move the plot any further.
Awful characters: None of the characters are developed as real human beings. All of them are cartoonish, immature and two-dimensional something that the writer unfortunately seems to be unaware of. None of them is likeable, in fact all of the men are potrayed as either naive, cruel or, in Jason's case, manipulative, ungrateful cheaters. The women -besides Medea- get no development at all. They are either servants who are mentioned by the protagonists and yet get no lines, or they're allies of Medea with, as mentioned before, no development at all.
And now I believe it's the perfect time to talk about our main protagonist, Medea. I am 100% sure this book was written to 1) justify Medea's crimes 2) put the blame of her crimes on somebody else and 3) potray some of them as mere fabrications of her enemies. But you know what I got instead? Medea actually comes off as one of those people who NEVER take responsibility of their actions and act like spoiled teens.
She kills her children? Well, it doesn't count because two of them were killed by accident and the other two were killed in order to be saved from an angry mob, and it's actually Jason's fault because he cheated on her.
Fun fact: the killing of her children happens within a couple of lines and it's never mentioned again. There are sex scenes that take longer than this. Mind you: the killing of her kids is supposed to be what Medea is most notorious for and it's treated as... nothing.
She has her brother killed: Well no, she only conspired to have him killed. Her enemies where the ones who spread the rumour of her slaying her kin.
And I believe I don't have to mention all of the "Pitty me, I've done terrible things in the name of love, but it was never my fault." scenes...
She is often mentioned to be a great witch but because the author probably has no idea how to handle her supernatural powers, her skills are only reduced to keeping herself young, pleasuring herself with snakes (we are never given an explanation about this and I am sure the only purpose it serves, is that so the author can describe her body) and sometimes hearing the voice of the goddess she worships.
The way the book presents itself: This is supposed to be a retelling of an epic adventure from the perspective of the only woman who experienced those events first-hand but it honestly shouldn't be considered that. I mean, yes, it is a retelling but it feels anything but epic. Even the action scenes are written in a way that makes them feel silly.
It is also supposed to glorify the female sex, the sacrifices women make for their loved ones and the many different aspects of their characters. Unfortunately, this comes from an author who most likely doesn't know how to create a sympathetic and fully fleshed out character, let alone a character of the opposite sex.
So, the question remains. Who is this book aimed to? Well, the author probably tried to appeal to mythology geeks but, at best, his work would be appealing only to middle-aged women who are trapped in a loveless marriage. And even if you fit the description, there are better ways to cope with that other than reading this book.
Continuity errors: There were a couple of scenes were the author would describe an event or talk about a character and the exact same scene would take place again some pages later. It was as if the author's mind went blank for a while and forgot that he had written the exact same thing before. A scene were this is clear, is around the middle of the story where Aegeas confesses to Medea that he is sterile and he is scared of loosing his throne to his enemies, so Medea decides to give him a son and the chapter ends with the two of them having sex and with Medea conceiving. Okay? Okay!
But, during the last pages of the book, the same scene went on again. Aegeas confessing his fears, the two of them having sex, blah, blah, blah. And, of course, all I could think of was "Wasn't she supposed to be already pregnant, like four chapters ago?"
Overall, this was another bad book I read during this year, with no good things worth mentioning and I have to admit that it felt very similar to the rest of my one star books.
The only thing I can hope for now, is that for the remaining of 2018 I won't be so unlucky again and that the rest of the mythology/historical fiction books that I am going to read won't be any similar to this one.
If you made it this far, congratulations!!
See you again soon!
Things that are wrong with this book:
The mediocre writing: Honestly, I have seen fanfiction better than this and no, I am not exaggerating. The dialogue is supposed to be sassy and the description of people and places are supposed to make the reader believe that they read one of the most deep and poetic stories ever written. But it totally fails.
There are whole parts of dialogue that serve no purpose, scenes that are either silly, cringeworthy (aka: those bloody sex scenes that probably make 50 Shades of Grey seem like the greatest work of erotic fiction) or scenes that, again, do not move the plot any further.
Awful characters: None of the characters are developed as real human beings. All of them are cartoonish, immature and two-dimensional something that the writer unfortunately seems to be unaware of. None of them is likeable, in fact all of the men are potrayed as either naive, cruel or, in Jason's case, manipulative, ungrateful cheaters. The women -besides Medea- get no development at all. They are either servants who are mentioned by the protagonists and yet get no lines, or they're allies of Medea with, as mentioned before, no development at all.
And now I believe it's the perfect time to talk about our main protagonist, Medea. I am 100% sure this book was written to 1) justify Medea's crimes 2) put the blame of her crimes on somebody else and 3) potray some of them as mere fabrications of her enemies. But you know what I got instead? Medea actually comes off as one of those people who NEVER take responsibility of their actions and act like spoiled teens.
She kills her children? Well, it doesn't count because two of them were killed by accident and the other two were killed in order to be saved from an angry mob, and it's actually Jason's fault because he cheated on her.
Fun fact: the killing of her children happens within a couple of lines and it's never mentioned again. There are sex scenes that take longer than this. Mind you: the killing of her kids is supposed to be what Medea is most notorious for and it's treated as... nothing.
She has her brother killed: Well no, she only conspired to have him killed. Her enemies where the ones who spread the rumour of her slaying her kin.
And I believe I don't have to mention all of the "Pitty me, I've done terrible things in the name of love, but it was never my fault." scenes...
She is often mentioned to be a great witch but because the author probably has no idea how to handle her supernatural powers, her skills are only reduced to keeping herself young, pleasuring herself with snakes (we are never given an explanation about this and I am sure the only purpose it serves, is that so the author can describe her body) and sometimes hearing the voice of the goddess she worships.
The way the book presents itself: This is supposed to be a retelling of an epic adventure from the perspective of the only woman who experienced those events first-hand but it honestly shouldn't be considered that. I mean, yes, it is a retelling but it feels anything but epic. Even the action scenes are written in a way that makes them feel silly.
It is also supposed to glorify the female sex, the sacrifices women make for their loved ones and the many different aspects of their characters. Unfortunately, this comes from an author who most likely doesn't know how to create a sympathetic and fully fleshed out character, let alone a character of the opposite sex.
So, the question remains. Who is this book aimed to? Well, the author probably tried to appeal to mythology geeks but, at best, his work would be appealing only to middle-aged women who are trapped in a loveless marriage. And even if you fit the description, there are better ways to cope with that other than reading this book.
Continuity errors: There were a couple of scenes were the author would describe an event or talk about a character and the exact same scene would take place again some pages later. It was as if the author's mind went blank for a while and forgot that he had written the exact same thing before. A scene were this is clear, is around the middle of the story where Aegeas confesses to Medea that he is sterile and he is scared of loosing his throne to his enemies, so Medea decides to give him a son and the chapter ends with the two of them having sex and with Medea conceiving. Okay? Okay!
But, during the last pages of the book, the same scene went on again. Aegeas confessing his fears, the two of them having sex, blah, blah, blah. And, of course, all I could think of was "Wasn't she supposed to be already pregnant, like four chapters ago?"
Overall, this was another bad book I read during this year, with no good things worth mentioning and I have to admit that it felt very similar to the rest of my one star books.
The only thing I can hope for now, is that for the remaining of 2018 I won't be so unlucky again and that the rest of the mythology/historical fiction books that I am going to read won't be any similar to this one.
If you made it this far, congratulations!!
See you again soon!
July 9, 2022
Το παράτησα στη σελίδα 98... Από την περιγραφή, περίμενα μια δραματοποιημένη διασκευή της ιστορίας του Ιάσονα και της Μήδειας, με τους χαρακτήρες να έχουν περισσότερο χώρο να αναπνεύσουν και να αναπτυχθούν σε μορφή μυθιστορήματος, αντί θεατρικού/επικού ποιήματος. Αλλά αυτό το βιβλίο ήταν απλά πορνό με φόντο την ελληνική μυθολογία.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews