Eros

A vivid, confident and mesmerising debut from rising star actor, activist and now author Zoe Terakes (they/he), Eros retells (or restores) classic myths into timeless and timely queer tales. Both epic and intimate, these five stories span time and place, from ancient Crete to 1990s Kings Cross, echoing the soul of their inspirations while carving new paths into the bedrock of this ancient storytelling tradition. Much like the myths from which Eros springs, Terakes does not pull any punches, vividly portraying both the loving intimacy and cruel violence that are such hallmarks of Greek mythology.

There’s the great pleasure of the new in Eros, but also a feeling of restoration – a sensual mosaic put back together to fill in the gaps left by censorship and shifting social attitudes. Most of Terakes’ queer characters exist in an internal world without prejudice – while their world may not accept them, they accept and relish themselves.

Terakes’ ancestral homeland of Crete is as much a character in these stories as any speaking player. Like a long-awaited homecoming, the stories are full of the fertile senses of food and landscape and language and earth that are undeniably nostalgic. And like a holiday to the homeland, the stories then yearn to return to the land of migration. Terakes weaves the unique sensations of recognition between children of migrants through their characters, pulling them in tight like a net until the school of fish reveals a face we all know – a story we’ve heard before but didn’t recognise under the Akubra and zinc. While some characters will be familiar, Terakes places mothers, migrants and queer elders in their rightful place among this pantheon. With language that oscillates between epic splendour and modern vernacular, Eros captures all time and this moment.