The Greek world

according to Sim

4

THE PRAISE SINGER,

A

· NOVEL, by Mary Renault; Pantheon, 290 pp., $8.95.

By Wilma Salisbury

The narrator of Mary Renault's newest historical novel is Simonides, a poet and singer of ancient Greece. One of the many respected bards who helped pass down poetry and history through a highly developed oral tradition, he lived from 556 to 468 B.C., the time of the tyrant rulers, the wars with Persia and great flowering of the arts in Greece:

Though Simonides was a real person, Ms. Renault has invented numerous details of his life and created several key characters who interact with him in her splendid, vibrant story.

The Sim" who emerges from the author's skillful blend of research and imagination was a physically ugly child, scorned by his cold, proud father, but cherished by his strong, handsome elder brother

Early in life, Sim became aware that he possessed perfect pitch, an extraordinary memory for poetry and a talent for making up songs. He never told anyone of his gifts, however, until Kleobis, a master singer, came along.

As the chosen pupil of Kleobis, Sim quickly learned his craft and developed into one of the finest singers in the Greek world. He won the most important competitions. He trained the most disciplined choruses. He wrote the most memorable songs.

His life became a rich round of

travels from one song contest to another with performances in the best houses among the most exalted men. Ultimately, he was recognized as the first singer of Athens, the cultural center of ancient Greece.

A bachelor, Sim kept one mistress in the silky society of Athens and another on the comfortable farm his wealthy father gave him. Privy to the secrets of the court, he became innocently involved in a high-powered homosexual love triangle that led to the assassination of his patron before the eyes of his nephew and pupil, the poet Bacchylides.

Ms. Renault handles the mostbloody scenes with restraint. She accepts the erotic morality of the Greeks as the status quo. She untangles the complexities of farreaching political power plays. She values the quality of ancient poetry, pottery, sculpture and jewelry. She makes ceremonial pageants and elaborate song contests come to life.

Most importantly, she treats her characters like ordinary mortals with genuine feelings. Though Sim and his companions express themselves in a stylized fashion with a vocabulary that sometimes sends the reader rushing to the dictionary, they react to love, death, beauty and tragedy with honest human emotions that transcend time, place and social customs.

Because Simonides is a poet rather than a warrior or king, The Praise Singer is more lyrical and less heroic than some of Ms. Renault's previous historical novels. Nonetheless, the book speaks with

Mary Renault

the same resonance of language, sharpness of description, richness of texture and swiftness of pace that generally make her Greek

stories such a pleasure to read.

Wilma Salisbury writes about music, dance and people for The Plain Dealer.