| Women in Greek Myth Contributor(s): Lefkowitz, Mary R. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0801886503 ISBN-13: 9780801886508 Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press OUR PRICE: $27.55 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: July 2007 Annotation: In the first edition of Women in Greek Myth, Mary R. Lefkowitz convincingly challenged narrow, ideological interpretations of the roles of female characters in Greek mythology. Where some scholars saw the Amazons as the last remnant of a forgotten matriarchy, Clytemnestra as a frustrated individualist, and Antigone as an oppressed revolutionary, Lefkowitz argued that such views were justified neither by the myths themselves nor by the relevant documentary evidence. Concentrating on those aspects of women's experience most often misunderstood -- life apart from men, marriage, influence in politics, self-sacrifice and martyrdom, and misogyny -- she presented a far less negative account of the role of Greek women, both ordinary and extraordinary, as manifested in the central works of Greek literature. This updated and expanded edition includes six new chapters on such topics as heroic women in Greek epic, seduction and rape in Greek myth, and the parts played by women in ancient rites and festivals. Revisiting the original chapters as well to incorporate two decades of more recent scholarship, Lefkowitz again shows that what Greek men both feared and valued in women was not their sexuality but their intelligence. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Ancient And Classical - Social Science | Folklore & Mythology - Religion | Antiquities & Archaeology |
| Dewey: 292.130 |
| LCCN: 2006037277 |
| Physical Information: 0.6" H x 6.1" W x 8.88" (0.87 lbs) 280 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - Ancient (To 499 A.D.) - Cultural Region - Greece - Sex & Gender - Feminine - Cultural Region - British Isles |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In the first edition of Women in Greek Myth, Mary R. Lefkowitz convincingly challenged narrow, ideological interpretations of the roles of female characters in Greek mythology. Where some scholars saw the Amazons as the last remnant of a forgotten matriarchy, Clytemnestra as a frustrated individualist, and Antigone as an oppressed revolutionary, Lefkowitz argued that such views were justified neither by the myths themselves nor by the relevant documentary evidence. Concentrating on those aspects of women's experience most often misunderstood--life apart from men, marriage, influence in politics, self-sacrifice and martyrdom, and misogyny--she presented a far less negative account of the role of Greek women, both ordinary and extraordinary, as manifested in the central works of Greek literature. This updated and expanded edition includes six new chapters on such topics as heroic women in Greek epic, seduction and rape in Greek myth, and the parts played by women in ancient rites and festivals. Revisiting the original chapters as well to incorporate two decades of more recent scholarship, Lefkowitz again shows that what Greek men both feared and valued in women was not their sexuality but their intelligence. |
Contributor Bio(s): Lefkowitz, Mary R.: - Mary R. Lefkowitz is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities emerita at Wellesley College. A recipient of the National Humanities Award, Lefkowitz is the author and editor of numerous articles and books, including Not Out of Africa: How "Afrocentrism" Became an Excuse to Teach Myth as History; Black Athena Revisited; Greek Gods, Human Lives: What We Can Learn from Myths; Women in Greek Myth; and Women's Life in Greece and Rome (with Maureen B. Fant), the last two published by Johns Hopkins. |