Glorious Exploits

Rich in humor and dialogue, and vulnerable in its exploration of friendship, art, and war, Ferdia Lennon’s Glorious Exploits weaves the tale of an unexpected theater production in 421 BC Greece. 

In light of the Peloponnesian War, the Syracusans of Sicily, Greece, managed to hold back and incarcerate Athenian invaders in a massive quarry in town. It is in this quarry that Lampo and Gelon strike theatrical inspiration as they trade olives and wine for earnestly delivered lines from Euripides’ works. Convinced they’ve uncovered artistic gold in these pits of war and suffering, Lampo and Gelon jump headfirst into the quirky yet exploitative production of Medea, knighting themselves the directors and the most suitable prisoners as actors. Lampo and Gelon suffer and love as they navigate costumery, a production crew of children, and a budding romance told through the cleverly observant, humorous, and strikingly contemporary Irish voice of Lampo himself. Testing the boundaries of friendship, luck, and artistry, Lampo and Gelon dive into the realities of war in Ancient Greece, all while grappling with ghosts of their past, ultimately asking the readers who is in control and who is just acting? 

About the author
Ferdia Lennon headshot

Ferdia Lennon is an Irish author who has written contemporary short stories based in Ireland, alongside his 2024 debut novel, Glorious Exploits, which has been a Sunday Times bestseller and won prestigious awards including the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction. Lennon has earned a bachelor's degree in history and classics from University College Dublin and a master's degree in prose fiction from the University of East Anglia. After living in Paris, Lennon now lives in Norwich with his wife and son.  
 

Why we chose this book

To showcase a story of friendship and the power of performance art in a wildly entertaining, contemporary Irish voice, against the unlikely background of the Peloponnesian Wars in 412 BC, Syracuse. To bend timelines and find parallels between the past and present wars and art, allowing one to be immersed in Ancient Greek culture in a seamless way. 

Author at Colgate

Join us in person or via Zoom on Thursday, Nov. 5, for Ferdia Lennon’s reading and book signing at 4:30 ET in Persson Auditorium. Refreshments available. 

Beyond the Book

  • Glorious Exploits has had translation rights sold in more than 20 languages and has been adapted for BBC Radio 4. 
  • Ferdia Lennon’s short stories have been published in The Irish Times and The Stinging Fly, and he has won the Irish Arts Council Literature Bursary Awards in 2019 and 2021. 
  • Lennon is currently working on another novel, set in 14th-century France, described in three words as “Medieval Gothic Mystery” 
     

Perhaps in the end it was fitting, for his master was ever in love with misfortune, and believed the world a wounded thing that can only be healed by a story.

Ferdia Lennon Glorious Exploits