The Praise Singer - Softcover

Mary Renault

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099463547 ISBN 13: 9780099463542

Publisher: Arrow (Rand), 2004

Synopsis

Set in Greece in the sixth century B.C., an age of tyrants, wars with the Persians, and great artistic achievement, Mary Renault's historical narrative focuses on the life and time of the prolific poet Simonides

About this title

From the Inside Flap

In the story of the great lyric poet Simonides, Mary Renault brings alive a time in Greece when tyrants kept an unsteady rule and poetry, music, and royal patronage combined to produce a flowering of the arts.
Born into a stern farming family on the island of Keos, Simonides escapes his harsh childhood through a lucky apprenticeship with a renowned Ionian singer. As they travel through 5th century B.C. Greece, Simonides learns not only how to play the kithara and compose poetry, but also how to navigate the shifting alliances surrounding his rich patrons. He is witness to the Persian invasion of Ionia, to the decadent reign of the Samian pirate king Polykrates, and to the fall of the Pisistratids in the Athenian court. Along the way, he encounters artists, statesmen, athletes, thinkers, and lovers, including the likes of Pythagoras and Aischylos. Using the singer's unique perspective, Renault combines her vibrant imagination and her formidable knowledge of history to establish a sweeping, resilient vision of a golden century.

From the Back Cover

"[Renault's] historical novels . . . are among the finest ever written."–The Washington Post Book World

“A song of praise, a work of love, a serene, deliberate book, full of wisdom, rich in character, incident and description.” –Wall Street Journal

Edition details

• Publisher: Arrow (Rand)
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0099463547
• ISBN 13: 9780099463542
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 244