Sunday, May 1, 2016

The Inspiration and Research Behind Prophecy by Coreena McBurnie

In Prophecy, Book One of the Antigone: The True Story series, Antigone, a princess of ancient Thebes, steps out of the shadows of the past to tell her own story, a story where truth of history is stranger than the fiction of myth.
Prophecy is directly inspired by my love of ancient Greek mythology. I have always been drawn to Greek myths. I remember having to write a report about Theseus and the Minotaur in grade 5 and thinking how wonderful the story was. When I hit university, I found the Classical Studies department and was instantly captivated with the beauty and richness of the ancient cultures studied there, so much so, that I earned both a BA and an MA in Classical Studies.

One of my favourite pieces of Classical literature is the play Antigone by Sophocles. It is really a wonderful play -- Antigone's world is devastated, her family is mostly dead, and she doesn't have much to look forward to. But, she is true to herself and her moral compass. She has strong beliefs and does whatever it takes to abide by them, even if it means defying her uncle, the king, and sacrificing herself.

This makes Antigone unique in the ancient tales. So many women in myth are presented as either passive, obedient, and long-suffering, such as Penelope when she fends off suitors for 10 years as she dutifully awaits her husband's return from the Trojan War; or they are portrayed as hideous monsters, such as Medea is when she takes her revenge on her husband, Jason, by murdering their children, cutting them into pieces and throwing them into the water so Jason will have to stop and collect them while she makes her getaway.

As far as research goes, I feel like I've been working toward this book for years with all of my reading of ancient literature and myth! However, before I started writing Prophecy, I re-read the Oedipus trilogy of plays by Sophocles. I also had to look up details of life, such as the exact form a sacrifice took.

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Synopsis of Prophecy:

An ancient princess, hidden prophecies, impossible choices…




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