The Epic Women of Homer: Exploring Women's Roles in the Iliad and Odyssey

(Hardback)

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Our earliest written sources for Greek mythology, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, feature womenprominently as drivers of the narratives. Though they occupy a variety of roles and speakeloquently for themselves in every role, these women have been obscured by the assumption thateach epic's central hero, Achilles and Odysseus, respectively, is also its singular hero. And yet, thestory of the Iliad is not the story of Achilles, just as the story of the Odyssey is not the story ofOdysseus alone. Contrary to centuries of reception, the epics are not only about fearless yetflawed men but rather explore and develop the contours of belonging and community in times ofwar and peace. The Epic Women of Homer untangles the women of the Iliad and the Odyssey from centuries ofnarrative constraints to recover their essential meaning and importance. In the process, The EpicWomen of Homer challenges the commonplace assumption that the Homeric hero is 'anindividual' who fights for 'personal glory', a misconception further fuelled by a lack ofunderstanding of the oral tradition out of which Homer's epics emerged in which linguistic andthematic patterning exists at every level. Analysing Homer's goddesses and heroes through thelens of these patterns, their recurrence and variation reveal them to be preeminent in a widerange of skills, all of which are necessary, and yet the essence of each is in their relationshipswith others. The Epic Women of Homerre-establishes these goddesses and heroines to their esteemed positions in ancient Greeceand reintroduces them to the modern world. AUTHOR: Eirene Allen holds a PhD from New York University and is the director of the Institute forClassics Education, a US-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting teachers andlearners of Homer and ancient Greek texts in English translation, for which she teachesseminars on the Iliad and Odyssey as well as courses on women in Greek and Romanmyths. Her published works include study guides for Homer's Iliad and Odyssey,Hesiod's Works and Days, Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica, Thucydides' History ofthe Peloponnesian War, and Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, as well as numerous plays ofSophocles and Euripides and dialogues of Plato. She edited and wrote the introductionfor the collection Achilles the Hero (Flame Tree 2023). Her family's roots lie in Chios,Greece, where she spends part of each year. She lives with her family in Connecticut. 30 b/w illustrations

Reviews

"Dr. Eirene Allen has brought together every woman who speaks in the Iliad and the Odyssey, the two great epics of Homer (whoever he/she/they were). In this deep dive, Dr. Allen shows how often Homer's perspective subtly shifts to show us the woman's point of view, an empathetic aspect that is often lost in translation. Dr. Allen's new renderings of many passages highlight this and made me realize that translation is itself a form of reception!"--Caroline Lawrence, author of The Roman Mysteries

Author Bio

Eirene Allen holds a PhD from New York University and is the director of the Institute forClassics Education, a US-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting teachers andlearners of Homer and ancient Greek texts in English translation, for which she teachesseminars on the Iliad and Odyssey as well as courses on women in Greek and Romanmyths. Her published works include study guides for Homers Iliad and Odyssey,Hesiods Works and Days, Apollonius of Rhodes Argonautica, Thucydides History ofthe Peloponnesian War, and Marcus Aurelius Meditations, as well as numerous plays ofSophocles and Euripides and dialogues of Plato. She edited and wrote the introductionfor the collection Achilles the Hero (Flame Tree 2023). Her familys roots lie in Chios,Greece, where she spends part of each year. She lives with her family in Connecticut.