Anaxandra

Anaxandra is the main character of the novel. She is taken from her family at the age of 6 as a hostage, and she lives with King Nicander until she is 12. After their island is sacked by pirates, she is taken in by Menelaus, king of Sparta, who is wrongfully under the impression that she is Nicander's daughter by birth. She lives in Sparta for a time before Paris and the Trojans attack Sparta with the help of Helen, Menelaus's wife. She then goes to Troy disguised as Helen's daughter, Hermione, and makes it all the way there before she is found out. She seeks refuge after forming a friendship with Andromache, who is a princess betrothed to Trojan King Priam's eldest son. When Menelaus and the Spartans attack Troy, she is able to hide out and eventually goes so far as to bring Menelaus his son, Pleisthenes, back...