Myths reflect, reinforce, and sometimes subvert gender ideologies and so have an influence in the 'real world'. This is true in the present no less than when the Greek and Roman myths were created. The struggles to redefine gender roles and identities in our own time are inevitably reflected in our interpretations and retellings of these classical myths. Using the new lenses provided by gender studies and diverse forms of feminism, Lillian Doherty re-examines some of the major approaches t...

Famous for its characters--the clever, unscrupulous Odysseus; the resilient, proud Penelope; and their young son, Telemachus, beginning his own life's journeys--the Odyssey is also well known as a set of fantastic tales and as a reflection of the ethos of Archaic Greece. This volume will help instructors introduce students to topics such as oral epic traditions, the relationship of the Odyssey to the Iliad, and kinship structures. It grapples directly with issues...

This volume, from an international and interdisciplinary cohort of scholars, offers independent-minded essays about central Greek texts and about the relation of social theory and comparative method to the study of archaic and classical Greek literature. It is in honour of James M. Redfield, whose innovative and theoretically-informed work has been a touchstone for the contributors; it includes an Introduction that discusses Redfield’s work, as well as a complete Bibliography of Redfield’s...