But, in comparing the different fates of the Greek and Mexica laments, Kefala demonstrates what we gain when we engage in incongruous comparisons, when we bring together songs, authors, and places distantly removed. The one begins to illuminate the other in surprising ways, the strange becomes familiar and the familiar strange.

Eleni Kefala. The Conquered: Byzantium and America on the Cusp of Modernity. Extravagantes. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 2020

From Bryn Mawr Classical Review (BMCR). Review by Gregory Jusdanis, The Ohio State University