Monstrous Women in Antiquity

From rapacious bird-women to a serpent-haired petrifactrix, monstrous women pervade ancient Greco-Roman mythology. Why are so many women portrayed as monsters or monstrous? In a 2013 essay, classicist Debbie Felton wrote these monstrous women “all spoke to men’s fear of women’s destructive potential. The myths then, to a certain extent, fulfill a male fantasy of conquering and controlling the female.” In a word, misogyny. In this course, we will interrogate the mutual influence of monstrousness and misogyny in ancient Greek and Roman mythology and its legacy in the intervening millennia. Through critical analysis of ancient source materials and their modern reception, we will explore and evaluate the monstrosity and misogyny of three case studies from ancient Greco-Roman mythology and its reception: Medea, the Furies, and Medusa. We will ask questions such as: how does mythologizing and storytelling encode cultural expectations onto women; how has media been used to support and subvert the patriarchy; what role does intersectionality play in Greco-Roman female monstrosity; how have monstrous women in Greco-Roman mythology influenced modern feminist and critical theory? We will also explore monstrous women in antiquity beyond Greco-Roman mythology, including monstrous portrayals of real women in Greco-Roman antiquity and depictions of monstrous women from other ancient cultures. Students will be assessed through regular discussion and/or blog posts, reflection writings, quizzes, a midterm essay, and a final project. The final project will allow students to synthesize and apply their knowledge with a topic of their own choice from Greco-Roman or other world mythologies in an analytic and/or creative format of their choice, such as a short podcast series, a digital museum exhibit, or a piece of creative writing.

CW: gender- and race-based violence, sexual violence, graphic violence, murder, incest, bestiality, child and animal abuse, suicide, domestic abuse.