Persephone of Eleusis: A Romance of Ancient Greece

"Persephone of Eleusis: A Romance of Ancient Greece" by Clare Winger Harris is a historical novel written in the early 20th century. The story unfolds in the backdrop of the fifth century B.C. during the Persian Wars, focusing on the conflict between the Greeks and the Persian Empire. The plot centers on Zopyrus, a young Persian officer navigating themes of identity, loyalty, and cultural heritage, as he becomes embroiled in the turmoil surrounding the battle of Thermopylae and its aftermath. The opening chapter introduces Zopyrus against the stunning scenery of Greece, highlighting his internal conflict stemming from his mixed heritage—being of Persian birth yet bearing Greek maternal lineage. As the narrative unfolds, Zopyrus encounters moments of reflective admiration for Greece's beauty while grappling with the brutality of war. His interactions with other characters, such as the large Persian officer Masistius, hint at the complicated dynamics of duty and camaraderie within the Persian ranks. The chapter sets the stage for the impending battle while foreshadowing Zopyrus' struggle with his identity as he faces the challenges posed by both his lineage and the larger conflict at hand. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Clare Winger Harris was a pioneering science fiction writer whose short stories were published during the 1920s. She is credited as the first woman to publish stories under her own name in science fiction magazines. Harris began publishing stories in 1926 and soon became popular with readers, with most of her fiction appearing in the influential magazine Amazing Stories. She published a total of twelve stories, all but one of which were collected in 1947 as Away From the Here and Now; a full collection was not published until 2019 when The Artificial Man and Other Stories appeared. Her stories, which often feature strong female characters, have been reprinted in anthologies such as Library of America's The Future Is Female! 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women and Wesleyan University Press's Sisters of Tomorrow: The First Women of Science Fiction.