Thetis; a poetic narrative retells the story of the Trojan wars through the eyes of Thetis, mother to the Greek warrier Achilles. Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, tells us about the final weeks of the Trojan war where Thetis plays an active part in all the major plot points. Yet she remains a peripheral figure, despite her power to intervene with the gods, which is evident throughout.
Thetis never gets the credit she deserves…
I’ve converted the book to pdf format and made it available here.
- Thetis; a poetic narrative, part one
- Thetis; a poetic narrative, part two
- Thetis; a poetic narrative, part three
- Thetis; a poetic narrative, part four
- Thetis; a poetic narrative, part five
- Thetis character list; Greeks, Trojans, Gods and Goddesses
- Thetis research notes and bibliograpy
A hard copy of the book is available at £5 + p&p.
Contact watlingsue@gmail.com or message via Bluesky @suewatling.bsky.socials
Summary
Thetis is an immortal goddess who learns what it means to be human. The narrative follows her life, before and after the Trojan war. Inspired by Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, the narrative poem tells us about the final weeks of the Trojan war where Thetis plays an active part in all the major plot points. Yet she remains a peripheral figure, despite her power to intervene with the gods, which is evident throughout.
The story of Thetis is a tragic one. Raped and forced into marriage with the mortal King Peleus of Phthia, Thetis was initially a reluctant mother. In some versions outside of Homer, she killed her first six children, before Achilles was born. This son was different and Thetis adored him, doing all she could to prevent his young death as foretold by the Fates. Her efforts to save Achilles included dipping him in the River Styx to make him invulnerable, and sending him to Skyros disguised as a maid for the Princess Deidamia, to avoid having to fight at Troy. This attempt to hide Achilles failed when Odysseus tricked him into revealing his identity.
At Troy, Achilles died from an arrow shot through his heel. The spot where Thetis held him in the river between her finger and thumb inadvertently led to his death. Tragedy is defined as great suffering, destruction, and distress and the story of Thetis is tragic by anyone’s standards, yet Thetis has rarely been a central topic of attention, until now.
I hope you see her differently after this…
Thetis and Peleus
Thetis and Hephaestus
Contact watlingsue@gmail.com or message via Bluesky @suewatling.bsky.socials for more details.
