Antigone Rising: The Subversive Power of the Ancient Myths

Description

The idealized picture of classical antiquity most of us learned in school conveniently glosses over the most brutal parts of the history -- and omits surprising stories of feminist resistance. For each story of misogynist violence, there's another that tells of solidarity and empowerment. And it's time we reclaimed them. Through short, pointed chapters, acclaimed classicist Helen Morales grapples with this legacy and charts a path forward. In a chapter called '#MeToo, or as Daphne Might Say, #EgoQuoque,' Morales reminds us of the myth of Procne and Philomela, two sisters who refused to be silenced by assault and worked together to take down a powerful man. In a chapter called 'Beyonce, Goddess,' Morales shows how Beyonce deliberately challenges the images of "traditional," and traditionally white, goddesses to bring images from African mythology into the canon. By turns witty and inspiring, ANTIGONE RISING offers a much-needed, fascinating new lens on the stories we take for granted.

Helen Morales holds the Argyropoulos Chair in Hellenic Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the author of Classical Mythology: A Very Short Introduction and Pilgrimage to Dollywood: A Country Music Road Trip Through Tennessee, which inspired an honors history course about Dolly Parton at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Morales has been a guest on BBC Radio 4 Women's Hour, and her work has been cited in the New York Times and The New Yorker. Morales taught previously at the University of Cambridge, where she was a Fellow of Newnham College, and has been a Fellow at the Center for Hellenic Studies in DC. She is on the editorial board of Eidolon, the popular online journal dedicated to antiquity and feminism. She lives with her daughter in Santa Barbara.