The Town Mouse and the Spartan Housebk. 3 (Terry Deary's Greek Tales)

by Terry Deary

Paperback, 2007

Status

Checked out

Due 2-02-2022

Call number

823.914

Publication

A&C Black (2007), Edition: UK ed., 64 pages

Description

430 BC. Darius has been orphaned by the plague in Athens. To escape the sickness he runs off to join his Uncle Alcmaeon who is a general with the Spartan army. But he finds the Spartan way of life quite shocking. To the arrogant and ruthless Spartans, he is as worthless as a mouse. Then his uncle falls sick and only Darius can find a cure. Now Darius is a hero and his uncle offers him a life of luxury in Sparta. Still Darius finds the brutal Sparta too much and wants to go back to plague-stricken Athens. As Aesop said, 'Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear.'

User reviews

LibraryThing member Paul.Bentley

Terry Deary continues with his bid to brutalise bedtime stories around at my house. Beginning in an Athens besieged by Spartans during the Archidamian War, it takes literally moments for the rotten corpses to start piling up. Within a few pages the young hero's parents are coughing up blood and

vomiting their way to a plague pit, but not before his mother, raving on her deathbed, has revealed herself as a Spartan and encouraged her impending orphan infant, Darius, to throw himself on the mercy of her brother.

Dutifully, Darius crosses the enemy's lines and tracks down his uncle. Unfortunately, being a Spartan, uncle Alcmaeon turns out to be a complete kusthos, so it's hard labour and beatings for the Athenian Typhoid Mary. Then, out of adversity, Darius discovers his place in the world, which allows him an upbeat ending, but it seems rather a shame to dwell on that.

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