By Harrison Thrift
Something that has always attracted my attention in the vast world of literature is the one in which the ancient Greeks crafted long ago. It’s what inspired me to become a teacher in my high school years, and has now led me to create the novel of which I am most proud: The Misadventures of a Grecian. This story–concocted with much love, care, and a healthy dose of my own humor–is a story that was, quite frankly, a lot of fun to create. It allowed me to tap into multiple sides of myself that I don’t typically approach as an author, and it took me on a journey that I am very excited to share with the world instead of just my close circle of family and friends who are kind enough to take a look at the piece and give feedback on it.
The Misadventures of a Grecian is a tale set in the world of ancient Greek mythology, inspired quite heavily on Voltaire’s Candide. Many people today would see parallels, too, to Forrest Gump, and perhaps even Circe or The Song of Achilles, two works that offer a new approach to the relatively familiar stories of mythology. Much like Miller’s novels, The Misadventures of a Grecian features stories familiar to most, following a hero–Cletus– who longs for adventure and, unfortunately for him, finds it time after time. His adventures begin in Athens, where he is ripped from his home to become a replacement sacrifice to the mythical minotaur in Crete. It is early in this journey that he meets two people who become his travel companions and closest friends: the ever-optimistic Yiannis, and his polar opposite in character Giorigios. After returning home from Crete and with the taste of adventure fresh on his tongue, Cletus eventually sets out in search of adventure on his own–a decision he later regrets, wanting nothing more than to return to his comfortable life as a barley farmer.
Two overarching themes that occur in the novel are that heroes don’t always live up to the pedestal in which they are put, and, to quote Dorothy, there’s no place like home. Being a bit of a homebody myself who also likes to see the world through as much of a realistic lens as possible, these two themes resonate soundly within me. After all, heroes–fictional or not–are just people, too, at the end of the day and, at least in my own opinion, home is the best place to be. A couple of scenes that I am particularly proud of would be a conversation between the three main characters. Cletus is talking about some news he learned and Giorgios responds by saying that it is ludicrous. Cletus retorts with “No, Ludacris is a person,” yet he doesn’t know why he knows that. He also crosses himself at one point, an action that confuses him. Another moment in the story that I am proud of is how I wrote Odyssesus’s character. Those familiar with mythology know him to be cunning and crafty, but I chose to portray him more like Timon from The Lion King. He is presented as a “smart idiot,” and it made his character much more enjoyable, in my opinion. I had some scenes, too, that were particularly difficult to map out well. One in particular was Cletus’s trip to the Underworld. Most of my issues with creating that part was describing the part of the Underworld that he was in. It took me a few times to get it right, and even now when I look at it, I feel like it’s missing something. It is, however, as polished as I want to get it, so I believe that will be the final iteration of the scene.
I’ve seen online some authors nearly arguing about the proper way to write a novel, that it should either be planned out to the finest detail or the story is developed as you go. Typically, I’m a “fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants” author, creating the details as the story unfolds before me. This, to me, is a lot of fun, as I get to discover the story that is trapped behind the screen and on the page. However, I wrote The Misadventures of a Grecian in more of a blend. Since it’s set in the world of Greek mythology, I wanted to be as accurate as possible with my stories and the timeline that the events follow (I did have to take a few liberties on the timeframe of some of the events, but they mostly line up chronologically), but the finer details, like Cletus’s background, the dialogue between the characters, and the conflicts that arose, were all “by-the-seat-of-my-pants.” Shockingly enough, this was a very fun way to
approach and craft my story, since it allowed me to dive into my two passions deeply: mythology and writing. This tale that I lovingly crafted allowed me to tap into my humor quite deeply, and it comes out in the pages of my novel quite often. There were many moments in the story that I chuckled to myself as I wrote it, and even Cletus’s name was one that brought me joy in creating. I’ve written funny pieces in the past, but most of my short stories and novel attempts have been more on the serious side in subject matter and delivery, so it was definitely refreshing to get to open up my funny side again, and it led to a story that was so much fun to craft. I’ve grown up loving humor, funny stories, and jokes (my favorite movie is Robinhood: Men in Tights by Mel Brooks, after all), so creating a story that taps into that level of silliness and fun was a truly wonderful experience. It’s my hope and dream to see this story come to life in the form of a book so I may share it with all who enjoy mythology and humor, and I hope to continue Cletus’s journey with more adventures, which is something I’ve already begun working on! I am looking forward to seeing this officially published, and I hope you are as eager as I am to see it in physical form!
Pre-order Harrison Thrift’s new book: The Adventures of a Grecian
