Mary Renault (pronounced Ren-olt^[1]) (4 September 1905 – 13 December 1983) born Mary Challans, was an English writer best known for her historical novels 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. is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... For discussion of historical romance novels, see historical romance. ... Ancient Greece is a period in Greek history that lasted for around nine hundred years. ... Theseus (Greek ) was a legendary king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, with whom Aethra lay in one night (By some accounts, this was presented as a rape). ... This page is about the ancient Greek philosopher. ... PLATO was one of the first generalized Computer assisted instruction systems, originally built by the University of Illinois (U of I) and later taken over by Control Data Corporation (CDC), who provided the machines it ran on. ... For the film of the same name, see Alexander the Great (1956 film). ...

Life and Works

She was born at Dacre Lodge, 49 Plashet Road, Forest Gate, Essex, (now Greater London). She was educated at St Hugh's College, Oxford, then an all-women's college, receiving a degree in English in 1928. In 1933, she began training as a nurse at Oxford's Radcliffe Infirmary. During her training, she met Julie Mullard, a fellow nurse with whom she established a life-long romantic relationship. Fuck ur mom This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... Essex is a county in the East of England. ... Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. ... and of the St Hughs College College name St Hughs College Named after Saint Hugh, bishop of Lincoln Established 1886 Sister college Clare College, Cambridge Principal Andrew Dilnot JCR President Alistair Wrench Undergraduates 419 Graduates 226 Location of St Hughs College within central Oxford , Homepage St Hugh... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the occupation. ...

She worked as a nurse while beginning a writing career, treating Dunkirk evacuees at the Winford Emergency Hospital in Bristol, and working in Radcliffe Infirmary's brain surgery ward until 1945. She published her first novel, Purposes of Love, in 1939; it had a contemporary setting, like her other early novels, which novelist Linda Proud described as "a strange combination of Platonism and hospital romance".[1] For other uses of Dunkirk or Dunkerque, see Dunkirk (disambiguation). ...

In 1948, after her novel Return to Night won a MGM prize worth $150,000, she and Mullard emigrated to South Africa. There, according to Proud, they found a community of gay expatriates who had "escaped the repressive attitudes towards homosexuality in Britain for the comparatively liberal atmosphere of Durban.... Mary and Julie found themselves able to set up home together in this new land without causing the outrage they had sometimes provoked at home."[2] (Renault and Mullard were critical of the less liberal aspects of their new home, participating in the Black Sash movement against apartheid in the 1950s.) Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For alternate meanings of MGM, see MGM (disambiguation). ... Durban is a vibrant cosmopolitian city in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. ... The Black Sash was a non-violent white womens resistance organisation founded in 1955 in South Africa by Jean Sinclair. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ...

It was in South Africa that Renault was able to write forthrightly about homosexual relationships for the first time — in her last contemporary novel, The Charioteer, published in 1953, and then in her first historical novel, 1956's The Last of the Wine, the story of two young Athenians who study under Socrates and fight against Sparta. Both these books had male protagonists, as did all her later works that included homosexual themes; her sympathetic treatment of love between men would win Renault a wide gay readership. Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Athens is the largest and the capital city of Greece, located in the Attica periphery. ... This page is about the ancient Greek philosopher. ... Sparta (Doric: Spártā, Attic: SpártÄ“) is a city in southern Greece. ...

Her subsequent historical novels were all set in ancient Greece, including a pair of novels about the mythological hero Theseus, and a trilogy about the career of Alexander the Great. Although not a classicist by training, she was admired in her day for her scrupulous recreations of the Greek world. Some of the history presented in her fiction (and in her nonfiction work, The Nature of Alexander) has been called into question: her novels about Theseus rely on the controversial theories of Robert Graves, and her portrait of Alexander has been criticized as uncritical and romanticized. [3] Renault often defends her interpretation of the available sources in author's notes attached to her books, and even her critics generally credit her with providing a vivid portrait of life in ancient Greece. Her narrative style combines evocative imagery with a perceptive understanding of personalities and motivations. Ancient Greece is a period in Greek history that lasted for around nine hundred years. ... Theseus (Greek ) was a legendary king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, with whom Aethra lay in one night (By some accounts, this was presented as a rape). ... For the film of the same name, see Alexander the Great (1956 film). ... Classical education as understood and taught in the Middle Ages of Western culture is roughly based on the ancient Greek concept of Paideia. ... Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, scholar, and novelist. ...

On April 18, 2006, UK, BBC 4 aired a one hour documentary, Mary Renault – Love and War in Ancient Greece, with this description: is the 108th day of the year (109th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A profile of the novelist whose books on ancient Greece convincingly brought the world of Plato and Socrates back to life. Sue MacGregor and Oliver Stone are among the contributors to this film examining how Mary Renault's popular novels set in ancient Greece inspired a new generation of readers in the 1950s.

William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946), known simply as Oliver Stone, is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director and screenwriter. ...

Bibliography

Contemporary fiction

• Purposes of Love (US title: Promise of Love) (1939)
• Kind Are Her Answers (1940)
• The Friendly Young Ladies (US title: The Middle Mist) (1943)
• Return to Night (1947)
• North Face (1948)
• The Charioteer (1953)

Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Historical novels

• The Last of the Wine (1956) — set in Athens during the Peloponnesian War; the narrator is a student of Sokrates
• The King Must Die (1958) — the mythical Theseus up to his father's death
• The Bull from the Sea (1962) — the remainder of Theseus' life
• The Mask of Apollo (1966) — an actor at the time of Plato and Dionysius the Younger
• Fire from Heaven (1969) — Alexander the Great from the age of four up to his father's death
• The Persian Boy (1972) — from Bagoas's perspective; Alexander the Great after the conquest of Persia
• The Praise Singer (1978) — the poet Simonides of Ceos
• Funeral Games (1981) — Alexander's successors

The Last of the Wine is Mary Renaults first novel set in Ancient Greece, the setting that would become her most important arena. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the earlier war beginning in 460 BC, see First Peloponnesian War. ... Who keeps notice, and images may not be displayed. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Theseus (Greek ) was a legendary king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, with whom Aethra lay in one night (By some accounts, this was presented as a rape). ... The Bull from the Sea is the sequel to Mary Renaults The King Must Die. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... PLATO was one of the first generalized Computer assisted instruction systems, originally built by the University of Illinois (U of I) and later taken over by Control Data Corporation (CDC), who provided the machines it ran on. ... Dionysius the Younger or Dionysius II (c. ... Fire From Heaven is a historical novel by Mary Renault about the childhood and youth of Alexander the Great. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... For the film of the same name, see Alexander the Great (1956 film). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mary Renault. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bagoas (in Old Persian Bagoi) was a eunuch in the Persian Empire in the 4th Century BCE. He was reportedly the lover of Alexander the Great. ... For the film of the same name, see Alexander the Great (1956 film). ... The Praise Singer is a historical novel by Mary Renault first published in 1978. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... Bold textil8jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjpooSimonides of Ceos (ca. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... In general Diadochi (in Greek Διάδοχοι, transcripted Diadochoi) means successors, such that the neoplatonic refounders of Platos Academy in Late Antiquity referred to themselves as diadochi (of Plato). ...

Nonfiction

• The Nature of Alexander (1975) — a biography of Alexander the Great
• Lion in the Gateway: The Heroic Battles of the Greeks and Persians at Marathon, Salamis, and Thermopylae (1964) — about the Persian Wars

The Nature of Alexander is the only nonfiction work by Mary Renault, who otherwise wrote only fiction. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... The Greco-Persian Wars or Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Greek world and the Persian Empire that started about 500 BC and lasted until 448 BC. The term can also refer to the continual warfare of the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire against the Parthians and...

Radio

The King Must Die and The Bull From the Sea have been adapted as an 11-part BBC Radio 4 serial entitled The King Must Die. old Radio 4 logo BBC Radio 4 is a UK domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ...

Notes

References

• Brian Alderson. "Challans, (Eileen) Mary" Dictionary of National Biography. Supplement, 1980-1989 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990)
• David Sweetman. Mary Renault: a biography. (London: Chatto & Windus, 1993), ISBN 0-7011-3568-9.
• Caroline Zilboorg. The masks of Mary Renault: a literary biography. (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2001), ISBN 0-8262-1322-7.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Mary Renault

• The Greek World of Mary Renault
• Linda Proud - "The Glimpse of a Strong Greek Light"
• Beyond Renault: Mary Renault
• Review of The Friendly Young Ladies