Despite the various non-historical visitors who appear in the book, it is set in a real historical period in Athens. In 421 BC, Athens and Sparta had been at war for most of the past decade. Many Athenians were sick of the fighting, including Aristophanes. However there were plenty of people still in favour of war, which is where my book begins. Aristophanes did stage a play called Peace at the Dionysia in 421 BC, and there was a peace conference between Athens and Sparta. The comic poets Leucon and Eupolis both existed, and were Aristophanes’ rivals for the prize, although little is known today of their work. Nicias and Hyperbolus were real politicians. Callias was the richest man in Athens, and Alcibiades was a notorious young aristocrat. Theodota the hetaera lived in Athens too. Her encounter with Socrates is described by Xenophon, and they do seem to get on rather well. As for Bremusa the Amazon and Idomeneus of Crete, they are both characters I borrowed from Greek Myth. Luxos’s poem about the Goddess Athena unfortunately did not originate with me; it’s my interpretation of an ancient Greek hymn to Athena.
The Goddess of Buttercups & Daisies Page 19
