Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Shaw, Carl

Area of Concentration

Humanities

Abstract

Mary Beard’s Women & Power: A Manifesto discusses the parallels between the patriarchal gendering of women in ancient Greek literature and the experiences of “women in the west” (ix). This thesis responds by taking a handful of the ideas presented in Women & Power (namely, those related to gendered, elite “power” in Homer’s Odyssey, Aeschylus’ Oresteia, and Sophocles’ Antigone) and building on them to deepen and complicate our understanding of violently gendered, patriarchal power in ancient texts. I conclude that Penelope, Clytemnestra, and Antigone are neither entirely voiceless, nor powerless, nor monstrous individuals. At the same time, these women’s stories (as presented by Homer, Aeschylus, and Sophocles) do not offer empowering narratives that are worth reclaiming as though they are about “girl power” (89). But if we let them, they might illuminate the complexities and the horrors of patriarchal power structures that define power by its relationship with gender, class, violence, and oppression.

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