In later years it was thought that the "golden apples" might have actually been oranges, a fruit unknown to Europe and the Mediterranean before the Middle Ages. In the myth of the Judgement of Paris, it was from the Garden that Eris, Goddess of Discord, obtained the Apple of Discord, which led to the Trojan War. Not trusting them, Hera also placed in the garden a never-sleeping, hundred-headed dragon named Ladon as an additional safeguard. The Hesperides were given the task of tending to the grove, but occasionally picked apples from it themselves. The trees were planted from the fruited branches that Gaia gave to Hera as a wedding gift when Hera accepted Zeus. The Garden of the Hesperides is Hera's orchard in the west, where either a single apple tree or a grove grows, producing golden apples that grant immortality when eaten. The Garden of the Hesperides is located just in front of where Atlas holds the burden of the sky.įrederic Leighton - The Garden of the Hesperides It was also the location of the Golden Fleece. It held a grove of trees that had the Golden Apples of the Hesperides. The leads are entertaining, but the resolution isn't one of Davis's best.The Garden of the Hesperides was the location that the Hesperides nymphs were located. Flavia, an informer (the ancient Roman equivalent of a PI) who believes in justice above all else, sets out to identify the remains and solve a very cold case which becomes more complex after she finds evidence of a previously unsuspected crime. When Manlius's workers uncover some bones, Flavia, among others, wonders whether they are the remains of Rufia, the missing barmaid. Flavia's fianc, Manlius Faustus, has just bought a renovation business, and his first job, a holdover from the business's incompetent previous owner, is to redo the courtyard of the Garden of the Hesperides. The arresting opening sentence, "Everyone knew a dead barmaid was buried in the courtyard," refers to an eating house called the Garden of the Hesperides. Or murders, as more and more remains are uncovered, revealing that something truly horrible has been going on at the Hesperides.Īs she gets closer to the truth behind the bodies in the backyard, Albia's investigation has put her in the cross-hairs-which might be the only way she'll get out of the wedding and away from all her relatives who are desperate to 'help.'ĭavis's fourth Flavia Albia novel (after 2015's Deadly Election), a straightforward whodunit set in Rome in 89 C.E., lacks the political backdrop of earlier installments in the series. In the choice between planning a wedding and looking into a crime from long ago, Albia would much rather investigate a possible murder. There have been rumors for years that the previous owner of the bar, now deceased, killed a bar maid and these are presumably her remains. Also, his contracting firm has been renovating a rundown dive bar called The Garden of the Hesperides, only to uncover human remains buried in the backyard. Her beloved, the plebeian Manlius Faustus, has recently moved in and decided that they should get married in a big, showy ceremony as part of beginning a proper domestic life together. On a typical day, it's small cases-cheating spouses, employees dipping into the till-but this isn't a typical day. In first century Rome, Flavia Albia, the daughter of Marcus Didius Falco, has taken up her father's former profession as an informer.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |