Challenging the Patriarchy

Challenging the Patriarchy investigates the role of ancient women within the restrictive cultural expectations and societal norms of the Mediterranean world. It also examines how their receptions renegotiated questions of gender across time down to the present moment. Across eleven chapters, contributors analyse the representation of a wide range of historical and fictional women, considering portrayals of ancient women who directly or indirectly challenged the patriarchy and the long and rich history of their reception. The collection demonstrates how ancient women can be used today to radically subvert male-orientated views of women and their position in society. The transhistorical analysis of how ancient women operated within the status quo in antiquity reveals how classical examples were reframed in later centuries to gradually make more direct challenges to the patriarchy possible. The volume balances contributions that investigate in detail the various ways in which historical and fictional women navigated the patriarchal norms of antiquity, with fresh explorations of the deeply nuanced ways in which later adaptations in a variety of genres and media circumvented or worked within existing patriarchal structures. Eleven case studies cover ancient and modern literature, screen adaptations and material culture, featuring chapters that examine famous ancient historical and mythical women, including the ancient Amazons, Clytemnestra, Dido, Lucretia, Medusa, Sappho, and Persephone.