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投稿類別:英文寫作類 篇名: ισχυρές γυναίκες: Voices of Women in Greek Mythology 作者: 徐宇慧。台北市立第一女子中學。高三良班 指導老師: 秦微雲老師 ισχυρές γυναίκες means strong women in Greek. ισχυρές γυναίκες: Voices of Women in Greek Mythology Introduction Motivation and Purpose of the Study Compared to the ancient females, many of us now have the privilege to be educated, our voiced can be heard in the society, and we now even have female presidents. In some places, women’s rights are supported by law, local custom, and behavior. The topic of women's rights include: 1. to have integrity and autonomy 2. to vote 3. to hold public office 4. to work; to receive fair wages or equal pay 5. to own property 6. to be educated 7. to serve in the military 8. to enter into legal contracts 9. to have marital or parental rights (Hosken, 1981) 1 ισχυρές γυναίκες: Voices of Women in Greek Mythology I would like to investigate how women’s power and self-awareness is described in the classic Greek literature. My research question is: How are women portrayed in the literature from one of the oldest civilizations? I chose Greek mythology and plays as the data for analysis because “The Greek’s most important legacy is not, as we would like to think, democracy; it is their mythology” (Lefkowitz, 1985). Scope and Method of the Study In order to gain a broader perspective of women in Greek mythology and women today, I selected information from volumes of Greek mythology literature integrated by Edith Hamilton and Jenny March, articles from library data bases, websites, and publications from international organizations such as the United Nations and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Then, I integrated the collected data to organize a comprehensive overview of women in Greek Mythology and drama. Thesis Overview of Greek Mythology Greek mythology began with Homer, who is believed to live a thousand years before Christ. He wrote the Iliad, the oldest Greek literature. Its beautifully written and rich language shows that Homer lived in a time when writers aim to express themselves with clarity and beauty, which is a piece of evidence for civilization (Hamilton, 1998). As Greece prospers, mankind became the most important thing and the center of the universe. A ground-breaking idea, “the invisible must be understood by the visible” was advocated. “All the art and all the thought of Greece centered in human beings” (Hamilton, 1998). Thus, the Greek gods were described with human physical characteristics and emotional flaws, and their stories also closely represent human life. For example, Zeus tries to hide his love affairs from his wife, Hera, but is almost always caught. Hera is a typical jealous wife, who has all sorts of ideas to punish her husband and rivals. Such humane stories depict a world that is freed from the fear of the almighty Unknown. The Greek gods were portrayed with a humane touch, but the gods were still powerful and acted unlike any decent man or woman, and the sense of right and wrong was still limited. “The dominance of fate” and “bloodshed begets bloodshed” were two main themes in these classic narratives (Sparknotes, n.d.). 2 ισχυρές γυναίκες: Voices of Women in Greek Mythology Summary of Female Characters in Greek Mythology There are many unfortunate women in Greek mythology. For example, Dido and Ariadne made many sacrifices for their lovers but ended up abandoned. Some women were raped by the gods. May of the moral women described in the stories are either vain or jealous (Hercules’ wife Deianira, and Cassiopeia, the wicked stepmother Ino), or foolish, mild, and silently beautiful (Helen) (Sparknotes, n.d.). Though Greek women seem to have few options in life, mythologists did give “equal time” to describe problematic issues from a woman’s point of view. Women were the main characters in many tragedy plays (Lefkowitz, 1985). The following section is the analysis of some women who did not bow to fate, but took control of their lives in their unique ways. Analysis Figure 3. Hecuba Taking Polymestor’s Eyes Out Figure 4. Medea about to Kill her Children Figure 5. Statue of an Amazon Hecuba. In Euripide’s play Hecuba, Hecuba, a Trojan queen, mourns for the loss of her husband and three children to the Trojan War. She was slightly condoled with the belief that her youngest son, whom she sent to live with Polymestor, the king of Thrace, was alive and well. However, Polymestor had betrayed and murdered her son for the gold that accompanied him. Hecuba avenged savagely by killing all of Polymestor’s sons and taking out his eyes with brooch pins (March, 2008). Medea. As a princess from Colchis on the Black Sea, Medea is the strongest mortal woman in all of Greek mythology. She first appears in the tale of Jason, where she saves Jason, a prince of Greece and steals the Golden Fleece for him. After being married for several years, Jason abandons her cruelly. Instead of accepting this misfortune, Medea revenges by killing Jason’s new bride and father-in-law, as well as the two small children she and Jason had together. Then she escapes in a dragon-drawn chariot (Sparknotes, n.d.). Amazons. The Amazons were female warriors who were named after the tradition of voluntarily removing their right breast to draw the bow easily and fight. No men were allowed to live in Amazon country, but once a year, the Amazons would mate with men from another 3 ισχυρές γυναίκες: Voices of Women in Greek Mythology tribe to produce children. They only brought up and trained the female children in planting, hunting, and war, and the male children were either put to death or sent back to their fathers (Amazons, n. d.). The Three Virgin goddesses. “The notion of virginity, offers a woman a kind of freedom that she is no longer entitled to when she becomes involved with a man” (Lefkowitz, 1985). Figure 6. Figure 7. Figure 8. Athena in Greek Mythology Hestia Standing Artemis Nurturing the Living Athena. She was first described in the Iliad as a ruthless and fierce goddess of battle. In other literary work, she is described as a warlike character only when defending her land and people. “Gray-eyed” and “flashing-eyed” is how Athena is most often described. Athena protects the civilized life and handicrafts and agriculture. As the chief of the virgin goddesses, Athena is called the Maiden or Parthenos, and her temple is called the Parthenon. Later literary work describes her as the representative of wisdom, purity, and reason (Hamilton, 1998). Hestia. Hestia was the goddess of the hearth, home and family. She was a kind, forgiving goddess. Unlike many other gods and goddesses who traveled around the world, she never left the sacred mountain ofOlympus(where all the gods and goddesses lived) and never involved herself in any war. Thus, all Olympian gods respected and loved her. BothPoseidonandApollowanted her marriage, but Hestia had made a promise that she will never unite with any male but remain pure forever (March, 2008). She was always worshipped in all temples. Artemis. Artemis is Apollo’s twin sister. She is the goddess of hunting and childbirth, and protector of all young living things. At the age of three, Artemis had asked her father, Zeus, to grant her the wish to remain an eternal virgin. The most prevalent image of Artemis in Greek art and literature is the virgin huntress. (March, 2008). 4 ισχυρές γυναίκες: Voices of Women in Greek Mythology Figure 9. Comparison of Women in Greek Mythology who did not Bow to Fate Hecuba Status Queen Medea Princess Amazons Female Warriors Athena Goddess Hestia Goddess Artemis Goddess By being a virgin forever, the three goddesses are not controlled by men or male Gods. Problem(s) faced Solutions Death of Betrayal of husband and husband children. after all her sacrifices made for him. - Taking a revenge on her son’s killer by killing his sons and blinding him. - Avenged by killed their children and her husband’s new lover, and new father in law. Focused on fighting and only mated with men once a year to make sure their race lives on. Goddess of battle. - Represents wisdom, purity, and reason. 5 Goddess of the hearth, home and family. - Is loved and worshiped by all. Goddess of hunting and childbirth. - Described as a virgin huntress who looks over all young creatures. ισχυρές γυναίκες: Voices of Women in Greek Mythology Conclusion From the analysis above, a table can be made to categorize the status that these women are in, the problems that they faced, and their solutions (Figure 9). My finding can be summarized by what Lefkowitz (1985) mentioned in his article, “Greek men recognize and describe with sympathy the life and the central importance to their society of women.” Nevertheless, although male Greek writers created fascinating descriptions of the problems of women’s lives, they did not do as well in figuring out solutions. Therefore, maybe one crucial concept that runs through Greek Mythology and literature is that “women have not only the right but the power to comment on the events that shape their lives, even if they cannot control them; and because they have a voice, women are able to speak not only for themselves, but for humankind in general” (Lefkowitz, 1985). Before reading the Greek Mythology, I wasn’t aware of how fortunate many women nowadays are. Yet not all women are so lucky. A survey given in the European Union showed that 40-50 percent of the women who responded have experienced sexual harassment or unwanted sexual behavior in their workplace (European Commission, 1998). A 2006 study on schoolgirls in Malawi reported that 50 percent of the school girls had been touched in a sexual manner “without permission, by either their teachers or fellow schoolboys” (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006). Research on athletic women in the Czech Republic also found that 45 percent of females in sports were sexual harassed from someone in sport, and 27 percent of them reported harassment from a coach (Fasting, K., & Knorre, N., 2005). The evidence from above shows that as our society progresses, there is still space for improvement in terms of gender equality. For example, in Figure 10, the red and yellow areas are places which have not participated in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. What is needed now is widespread commitment among all of us to participate in this process of transformation towards gender equality, through increased attention and partnerships with women. For the future direction of study, I would like to look at how the women that I identified from Greek mythology and plays are similar and different to woman in the 21st century. 6 Figure 10. Participation in the CEDAW ισχυρές γυναίκες: Voices of Women in Greek Mythology References Websites 1. 2. Amazons (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.hellenicaworld.com/Greece/Mythology/en/Amazons.html Sparknotes: Mythology (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/mythology/canalysis.html Publications from International Organizations 3. 4. 5. European Commission (1998). Sexual harassment in the workplace in the European Union. In Employment and Social Affairs: Equality between Men and Women. Brussels: European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Affairs. Fasting, K., & Knorre, N. (2005). Women in sport in the Czech Republic: the experiences of female athletes. Oslo and Praha: Norwegian School of Sports United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2006). Malawi: abuse of women and girls a national shame. IRIN News Report (New York: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) (February). Books 6. 7. Hamilton, E. (1998). Mythology. Newport Beach, CA: Back Bay Books. March, J. (2008).The Penguin book of classical myths. Penguin UK. Database Articles 8. 9. Hosken, Fran P., 'Towards a Definition of Women's Rights' inHuman Rights Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 2. (May, 1981), pp. 1–10. Lefkowitz, M. R. (1985). Women in Greek myth.The American Scholar,54(2), 207-219. Figure Sources 1. 2. Figure 1. Number of Women Employed in the UK in 1900. Retrieved from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/womensrights.htm Figure 2. Percentage of Employed Women of the World's Women Population. OECD(2013),"Employment rate of women",Employment and Labour Markets: Key Tables from OECD, No. 5.doi:10.1787/emp-fe-table-2013-1-en.Sciences and Czech Olympic Committee. 7 ισχυρές γυναίκες: Voices of Women in Greek Mythology 3. Figure 3. Hecuba Taking Polymestor’s eyes Out. Retrieved Aug 1e, 2013 from http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/RM/HecubaPolymestorGMCrespi.jpg 4. Figure 4. Medea about to Kill her Child. Retrieved Aug 1, 2013 from http://www.giorgioclementi.it/medea_file/Medea-Delacroix-1862-Louvre2.jpg 5. Figure 5. Statue of an Amazon. Retrieved Aug 20, 2013 from www.metmuseum.org 6. Figure 6. Athena in Greek Mythology. Retrieved Aug 24, 2013 from http://www.mythindex.com/images/painting-athena.jpg 7. Figure 7. Hestia Standing. Retrieved Aug 19, 2013 from http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EbzYyttikVQ/SGESKkX7joI/AAAAAAAAAJs/dUig5KSPcIc/ s320/hestia%2Bescultura%2Bcl%C3%A1sica.jpg 8. Figure 8. Artemis Nurturing the Living. Retrieved Aug 19, 2013 from www.theoi.com 9. Figure 9. Hecuba. Retrieved Aug 15, 2013 from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Hecuba002.jpg/2 20px-Hecuba002.jpg Medea. Retrieved Aug 16, 2013 from http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECnKeB1PlZo/SmsKzHynVmI/AAAAAAAAACA/8ZzaL GnwuNU/s400/Parker_Medea.jpg Amazons. Retrieved Aug 19, 2013 from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/worksof-art/32.11.4 Athena. Retrieved Aug 17, 2013 from theslowhunch.blogspot.com Hestia. Retrieved Aug 18, 2013 from http://paganreveries.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/hestia-the-queen-of-fire-partone/ Artemis. Retrieved Aug 19, 2013 from http://occultliving.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/marble-Artemis.jpg 10. Figure 10. Participation in the CEDAW. Retrieved Aug 17, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_rights 8