By turning away from the 20th century and focusing on stories about male lovers in the warrior societies of ancient Greece, Renault no longer had to deal with homosexuality and anti-gay prejudice as social 'problems'. In a sense, The Charioteer (1953), the story of two young gay servicemen in the 1940s who try to model their relationship on the ideals expressed in Plato's Phaedrus and Symposium, is a warm-up for Renault's historical novels. They include a pair of novels about the mythological hero Theseus and a trilogy about the career of Alexander the Great. Her historical novels are all set in ancient Greece. In addition to vivid fictional portrayals of Theseus, Socrates, Plato and Alexander the Great, she wrote a non-fiction biography of Alexander. Mary Renault was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece.

As the darkness gathers, a valiant hero’s life draws poignantly to a close. War wracks the land, and brings with it death that will change the Athenian king forever. The Athenians mistrust the foreign Hippolyta, and Theseus is forced to marry Phaedra, his betrothed. Her boldness and sense of honor match his own, but though they’re happy and bear a son, tragedy lies ahead. With his close friend Pirithoos, Theseus sets out for the land of the Amazons, falling in love with their beautiful leader, Hippolyta. In the wake of his father’s suicide, Athens is now Theseus’s to rule.

In The Bull from the Sea, the story of Theseus resumes with the hero’s return from Knossos. She shows us their strangeness discerning, sure-footed, challenging our values, piquing our curiosity, she leads us through an alien landscape that moves and delights us.”-Hilary Mantel She does not pretend the past is like the present, or that the people of ancient Greece were just like us. “Mary Renault is a shining light to both historical novelists and their readers.

The Bull from the Sea by Mary Renault