Female Mobility and Gendered Space in Ancient Greek Myth

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Womens mobility is central to understanding cultural constructions of gender. Regarding ancient cultures, including ancient Greece, a re-evaluation of womens mobility within the household and beyond it is currently taking place. This invites an informed analysis of female mobility in Greek myth, under the premise that myth may open a venue to social ideology and the imaginary. Female Mobility and Gendered Space in Ancient Greek Myth offers the first comprehensive analysis of this topic. It presents close readings of ancient texts, engaging with feminist thought and the mobility turn. A variety of Olympian goddesses and mortal heroines are explored, and the analysis of their myths follows specific chronological considerations. Female mobility is presented in quite diverse ways in myth, reflecting cultural flexibility in imagining mobile goddesses and heroines. At the same time, the out-of-doors spaces that mortal heroines inhabit seem to lack a public or civic quality, with the heroines being contained behind glass walls. In this respect, myth seems to reproduce the cultural limitations of ancient Greek social ideology on mobility, inviting us to reflect not only on the limits of mythic imagination but also on the timelessness of Greek myth.

Reviews

A welcome contribution to a number of domains: the reading of ancient mythology, cultural history, space and gender analysis and the study of epic and tragic poetry This book will prove a thought-provoking reading for graduate students and scholars of myth, religion and ritual, space, gender and cultural history. To be able to unpack some of the multiple ways those clusters of concepts and material might interact together at different levels for a larger design is a critical (in both senses) achievement in its own right. * Classical Journal *
In ancient Greece, its said, men wandered, while women, like Penelope, stayed put. Not so: Ariadne Konstantinou elegantly shows that mythological women moved plenty and collided with a glass wall. * David Konstan, Professor of Classics, NYU, USA *
A thought-provoking study, 50 years on from Vernants immoveable Hestia, into what happens when goddesses and heroines leave their homes and face the glass walls of ancient Greek mythology. * Susan Deacy, Principal Lecturer, Classics, University of Roehampton, UK *
The book opens up as many questions as it answers, leaving plenty of space for further debate and discussion. In spite of its brevity, however, this is a thought-provoking contribution for both students and scholars working in the areas of myth, culture and gender, and a timely reminder that female mobility was less curtailed than is often tacitly assumed. * The Classical Association *
An up to date study that makes for a stimulating read that should be welcomed for its contribution not only to the field of Ancient History, but also to Gender Studies (Bloomsbury translation). * CADMO - Revista de Histria Antiga *

Author Bio

Ariadne Konstantinou is a Teaching Fellow at Bar Ilan University, Israel