Funeral Games by Mary Renault

First published: 1981

Type of work: Historical novel

Time of work: 323-286 b.c.e.

Locale: Greece, Egypt, and Asia Minor

Principal Characters:

• Alexander the Great, the Macedonian Conqueror
• Alexander IV, the son of Alexander and his wife, Roxane
• Antigonas, a Greek general under Alexander
• Antipatros, the regent of Macedon in Alexander’s absence
• Bagoas, a Persian eunuch, who is devoted to Alexander
• Eurydike, the wife of King Philip
• Kassandros, a Macedonian leader and regent, the son of Antipatros
• Kleopatra, the sister of Alexander
• Meleager, a Greek officer and leader of the common soldiers
• Olympias, the mother of Alexander
• Perdikkas, a regent under King Philip
• Philip Arridaios, declared KING PHILIP and known as PHILIP III, Alexander’s half brother
• Ptolemy, a Macedonian officer and the founder of the Egyptian dynasty
• Roxane, the Bactrian wife of Alexander and mother of Alexander IV
• Stateira, the Persian wife of Alexander and daughter of Darius

The Novel

Beginning with the year 323 B.C., Funeral Games chronicles the disintegration of Alexander the Great’s empire following his death in Babylon at age thirty-two. Although it is generally believed that he died of a fever, the novel suggests that he was poisoned at the hands of Iollas, the brother of Alexander’s enemy, Kassandros. As he lies dying in the palace at Babylon, he is too ill to name a successor. Before his death, he manages only the ambiguous gesture of giving his ring to Perdikkas, the ranking commander among those on the scene.

The Macedonian custom being for the army to decide the succession when none is designated, the soldiers assemble to deliberate the question. They face a difficult decision because Alexander has left no descendants, though he has left two pregnant wives, Roxane and Stateira, whose children will have a claim to the throne. Another claimant, Alexander’s half brother Philip Arridaios, is mentally retarded and afflicted with epilepsy. Nevertheless, the common soldiers support him, largely because of his resemblance to his father, Philip II; they name him king, despite the opposition of Perdikkas. After some struggle and confusion, it is agreed that Philip will bear the title “King of Macedon,” at least until Alexander’s children are born; actual power, however, remains with Perdikkas, designated as regent.

This arrangement is imperiled when Meleager, an opponent of Perdikkas, gains the King’s signature on a document charging Perdikkas with treason. Having been forewarned, Perdikkas takes his cavalry outside the city and lays siege. Following overtures designed to patch up matters, Meleager emerges from the city with his followers onto the plain, where a ritual sacrifice to the gods has been arranged to promote concord. After the ceremony, Perdikkas, his force in battle formation, seizes thirty of Meleager’s followers, binds them, and has them trampled underfoot by a charge of elephants as a lesson to other potential traitors. Meleager, abandoned and shunned by his terrified followers, is assassinated in the temple where he seeks refuge, leaving Perdikkas without a rival.

Yet among the claimants to the throne, the rivalry intensifies. Roxane, Alexander’s Bactrian wife, sends a letter bearing Alexander’s seal to his Persian wife Stateira, summoning her to Babylon. Believing the summons to be from Alexander, she sets out in the company of her sister Drypetis, widow of Alexander’s closest friend, Hephaistion. Shortly after their arrival, Roxane poisons them and compels Perdikkas to conceal the bodies. Thus, when Roxane’s child is born, it is the sole descendant of Alexander. Thereafter, Roxane seeks to assure that her son Alexander IV will prevail over King Philip, who enjoys the army’s support.

Philip’s hand is strengthened when Eurydike, who has been betrothed to him by Alexander, travels to Babylon and marries him, in the hope that they will produce an heir for the Macedonian empire. Eurydike, however, becomes more a nurse and guardian than a wife. Furthermore, her bold attempts to encourage Philip to demonstrate leadership are thwarted at critical times by awkward displays from Philip that remind all who observe him of his unfitness for rule.

The return of Alexander’s body to Macedon is delayed for more than a year while artisans craft a magnificent bier, adorned with gold. Before departing for Egypt, Ptolemy convinces Bagoas, the Persian favorite of Alexander, that the tomb should be in Alexandria, not in Macedon. He reasons that contentions for the honor of burial among Perdikkas, the Macedonian regent Antipatros, and Alexander’s mother Olympias may lead to civil war. When Perdikkas takes his army to Sardis, Ptolemy, with assistance from Bagoas, diverts the procession bearing the bier and takes Alexander’s body to Egypt. To punish the treachery of Ptolemy, Perdikkas turns his army toward Egypt; yet by the time he arrives, he finds Ptolemy well prepared. Perdikkas encounters defeat in an initial skirmish, and a disastrous river crossing causes the loss of two thousand lives. Having lost confidence in Perdikkas, the leading commanders slay him and make their peace with Ptolemy, leaving him secure in Egypt.

Perdikkas is succeeded by less able regents, and Eurydike seizes the opportunity to draw part of the army under her command. She faces defeat after Olympias, Alexander’s mother, joins the force supporting Roxane and Alexander IV. After Eurydike’s soldiers refuse to fight, she and Philip are captured, and Olympias has the couple put to death following a brief imprisonment.

Subsequently, Olympias’ tyranny turns many against her. When Kassandros besieges her stronghold at Pydna, numerous followers defect, and he eventually takes the city. He arranges for a vengeful mob to stone Olympias to death and later poisons both Roxane and Alexander IV, leaving the remnant of Alexander’s empire under his command.

The novel concludes with an aged Ptolemy, having ruled successfully in Egypt, talking with his son about Alexander, after completing a biography of his revered leader.

The Characters

Of the novel’s thirty-eight characters, thirty-five are based upon historical personages. Mary Renault freely expands upon her sources, adding motivation, speeches, and conflicts in order to develop both the characters and the narrative. Two factors, however, limit the depth of characterization within the novel. First, the large number requires that few characters are memorably detailed or well-rounded. The novel does little to demonstrate development of character over theme. Second, for most characters, the motivations and conflicts are the relatively simple ones of power, assertiveness, and self-advancement. Idealism, vision, and deeply emotional experiences are absent. With but few exceptions, notably Eurydike, the women characters are either fully mature or aged. Even Eurydike—bold, attractive, possessed with aplomb and a quick intellect—seeks to establish a Macedonian dynasty primarily to settle grudges against Alexander for the death of her father. She marries the simpleton Philip Arridaios only with this purpose in mind.

Few characters rise above the crime, violence, cruelty, and ruthlessness that mark the plot. Those who do are endowed with memorable human qualities or cling to some ideal. Ptolemy views with disapproval the excessive violence of Perdikkas but is powerless to prevent it. He returns to Egypt, where he rules with magnanimity, gaining the loyalty of the Egyptian people. His piety toward Alexander persists, and in the end, his wisdom enables him to place the events of many years into perspective.

Insofar as piety and loyalty are concerned, the Persian boy Bagoas represents another memorable example in the novel. He reads the thoughts of the dying Alexander and afterward remains devoted to his memory. In matters of policy, he thinks not of himself but of Alexander.

Perhaps the most poignant characterization is that of Philip Arridaios, the essentially harmless and childlike half brother of Alexander. Renault details his activities, such as arranging his collection of rocks on the floor, with subtlety and tact. Manipulated first by Meleager, then by Eurydike, he faces public meetings that confuse and bewilder him. Left to his own preferences, he would rather remain under the care of his devoted servant, Konon. Unwittingly, he becomes a helpless and pathetic pawn in struggles beyond his understanding and dies at the instigation of Olympias. When Renault shifts the point of view to him, as she often does, his limited understanding, perplexity, confusion, and childlike trust are affective and memorable.

Critical Context

Mary Renault’s final novel represents an appropriate conclusion to her series of eight novels dealing with Greek themes. In addition to these, she produced a biography of Alexander in 1975. Of the historical novels with a Greek setting, three—Fire from Heaven (1969), The Persian Boy (1972), and Funeral Games—deal with Alexander’s career and empire. Renault appeared captivated by Alexander’s enigmatic character, bold leadership, and genius in achieving the loyalty of his followers.

In Funeral Games, the narrative structure is episodic, arranged by sections for each year of the plot in the manner of a chronicle. The accounts of the plot’s early years are longer and more complicated than those for later years, and several years during the action are omitted. The style is both simple and arresting, and the novel flows smoothly, shifting gracefully from an omniscient narrator to a limited character point of view.

Critics have found numerous flaws in Renault’s art, particularly in her oversimplified characters and her use of anachronisms. Anachronism in this novel is minimal, but the characters are so numerous and the plot so complicated that few characters are well-rounded or well developed. Renault’s work bears comparison with Robert Graves’s series of historical novels, I, Claudius (1934). While the two novelists’ efforts to recapture a lost world are perhaps equally serious, Graves develops his narrative in much greater detail, and his characters evince more substantial development as individuals. Renault relies more heavily on the historical events themselves to hold the reader’s interest.

Bibliography

Adams, P.L. Review in The Atlantic. CCXLIX (January, 1982), p. 87.

Brunsdale, Mitzi M. “Mary Renault,” in Critical Survey of Long Fiction, 1983. Edited by Frank N. Magill.

Burns, Landon C., Jr. “Men Are Only Men: The Novels of Mary Renault,” in Critique. VI, no. 3 (1963), pp. 102-121.

Cooke, Judy. Review in New Statesman. CII (November 20, 1981), p. 22.

Dick, Bernard F. The Hellenism of Mary Renault, 1972.

Ricks, Christopher. Review in The New York Times Book Review. LXXXVI (January 17, 1982), p. 7.

Wolfe, Peter. Mary Renault, 1969.