Eugenides
The Thief (1996), The Queen of Attolia (2000), The King of Attolia (2006)
By: Megan Whalen Turner
Who he is: Eugenides is the Thief of Eddis. It’s a royal title. He is loyal to his cousin, Helen, the Queen of Eddis. He had gone to prison in the land of Sounis, fooled the Magus, and stolen an artifact called The Gift of Hamiathes to protect his Queen. But the person he really loves is Irene, the Queen of Attolia, who had been hunting him for a very long time. And when she caught up with him, she had his right hand cut off. Eugenides entered a depression for a while. But once he recovered, he stole the Queen of Attolia, married her, and ended up King of Attolia.
Strength: He is a very good thief. He can steal things from earrings and artifacts, to kingdoms and hearts. He can endure prison and torture and sickness, and still end up getting the job done. It’s not a bad thing to be in his god’s favor, either. Keeps him from falling off rooftops. He is intelligent and very skilled. He can bring down a Baron’s house while seeming to do nothing.
Weakness: He is afraid of the Queen of Attolia. He has this fear of going blind.
What I like about him: Again, there’s the contrast. He is very much in love with the Queen of Attolia, but at the same time, he is very much afraid of her. It pulls at your heartstrings. Again, there’s the imperfect great one. This time, the character has a fear. He can get anything he sets his mind to. The problem is, what he wants so badly is also what he fears so much. When he was King of Attolia, he was homesick. He would be caught sitting before a window, staring towards the direction of Eddis with tears streaming down his face. He hates being King but he dares not express it openly for fear it would be taken from him, or rather the Queen be taken from him. And the last thing he wants to do would be to leave the Queen alone in a palace full of betrayal and distrust.
Also, in many stories, the characters overcome their obstacles quite easily. But for Eugenides, it wasn’t that easy. When the Queen had his hand cut off, he was depressed. He felt that he had become useless. He thought that his gods had betrayed him. His character is more human. Not all of us can withstand misfortunes without breaking down. And it’s nice to see this in fiction, too.
And you can’t help like a person who is so good at what he does. And Eugenides is very good, whether it’s at stealing things or running a kingdom.
And now one of my favorite parts of the King of Attolia:
“You were jealous… of Dite?”
The king, the master of the fates of men, before their eyes was reduced to a man, very young himself, and in love. Picking again at the coverlet, he answered, with his eyes cast down, “Wildly.”
