Women in Greek myth /
Lefkowitz, Mary R., 1935-
Women in Greek myth / Mary R. Lefkowitz. - London : Duckworth, 1986. - 158 p. ; 22 cm.
Includes bibliography and index.
Princess Ida and the Amazons -- Chosen Women -- Women without Men -- Wives -- Influential Women -- Martyrs -- Misogyny.
"Modern critics often seek to interpret ancient literature according to their own standards and preoccupations, as though they were reading the works of a contemporary author. Most recently feminists have applied their criteria to the rich variety of female characters in Greek mythology. The Amazons are seen as representatives of an original matriarch which existed before women were deprived of power by a conspiracy of men. Clytemnestra is pictured as a bored wife and frustrated individualist, Antigone as an oppressed revolutionary, the Danaids as dedicated man-haters. The Greek myths are taken as reflecting a world in which men dominate women, largely through fear of women's sexuality.
But, as Professor Lefkowitz demonstrates in this sensible and stimulating book, the picture is hardly justified by a study of the myths themselves and of relevant documentary evidence. Concentrating on those aspects of women's experience that have been most often misunderstood - women's life apart from men, marriage, influence in politics, self-sacrifice and martyrdom, misogyny - she presents a far less negative account of the role of Greek women, both ordinary and extraordinary, as manifested in the central works of Greek literature.
She shows that the fundamental gloomy message of Greek mythology is not the wretched lot of women in particular, but the hard times endured by mortals generally; that women in Greek myth play a rather more enlightened part than their Biblical or Christian counterparts; that what Greek men feared in women, if they feared anything, ws not women's sexuality but their intelligence.
Greek mythology is arguably the Greeks' most important legacy. This new assessment will interest readers far beyond the confines of classical scholarship."-- Provided by the publisher.
0715620967
Women--Mythology
Mythology, Greek
292.13082
Women in Greek myth / Mary R. Lefkowitz. - London : Duckworth, 1986. - 158 p. ; 22 cm.
Includes bibliography and index.
Princess Ida and the Amazons -- Chosen Women -- Women without Men -- Wives -- Influential Women -- Martyrs -- Misogyny.
"Modern critics often seek to interpret ancient literature according to their own standards and preoccupations, as though they were reading the works of a contemporary author. Most recently feminists have applied their criteria to the rich variety of female characters in Greek mythology. The Amazons are seen as representatives of an original matriarch which existed before women were deprived of power by a conspiracy of men. Clytemnestra is pictured as a bored wife and frustrated individualist, Antigone as an oppressed revolutionary, the Danaids as dedicated man-haters. The Greek myths are taken as reflecting a world in which men dominate women, largely through fear of women's sexuality.
But, as Professor Lefkowitz demonstrates in this sensible and stimulating book, the picture is hardly justified by a study of the myths themselves and of relevant documentary evidence. Concentrating on those aspects of women's experience that have been most often misunderstood - women's life apart from men, marriage, influence in politics, self-sacrifice and martyrdom, misogyny - she presents a far less negative account of the role of Greek women, both ordinary and extraordinary, as manifested in the central works of Greek literature.
She shows that the fundamental gloomy message of Greek mythology is not the wretched lot of women in particular, but the hard times endured by mortals generally; that women in Greek myth play a rather more enlightened part than their Biblical or Christian counterparts; that what Greek men feared in women, if they feared anything, ws not women's sexuality but their intelligence.
Greek mythology is arguably the Greeks' most important legacy. This new assessment will interest readers far beyond the confines of classical scholarship."-- Provided by the publisher.
0715620967
Women--Mythology
Mythology, Greek
292.13082