Antigone Rising: The Subversive Power of the Ancient Myths

by Helen Morales

Overview

A witty, inspiring reckoning with the ancient Greek and Roman myths and their legacy, from what they can illuminate about #MeToo to the radical imagery of Beyoncé.


The picture of classical antiquity most of us learned in school is framed in certain ways — glossing over misogyny while omitting the seeds of feminist resistance. Many of today's harmful practices, like school dress codes, exploitation of the environment, and rape culture, have their roots in the ancient world.


But in Antigone Rising, classicist Helen Morales reminds us that the myths have subversive power because they are told — and read — in different ways. Through these stories, whether it's Antigone's courageous stand against tyranny or the indestructible Caeneus, who inspires trans and gender queer people today, Morales uncovers hidden truths about solidarity, empowerment, and catharsis.


Antigone Rising offers a fresh understanding of the stories we take for granted, showing how we can reclaim them to challenge the status quo, spark resistance, and rail against unjust regimes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781568589367
Publisher:	PublicAffairs
Publication date:	03/16/2021
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	178,921
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 5.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

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 family in Santa Barbara.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

1 Killing Amazons 1

2 No Peace, No Piece! 15

3 Dieting With Hippocrates 29

4 The Women Controllers 47

5 #METU 65

6 Diana, the Hunter of Bus Drivers 83

7 BEYONCE, Goddess 99

8 Transmythology 121

Coda: Antigone Rising 145

Author's Note 151

Acknowledgments 153

Notes 156

Index 189

Editorial Reviews

"Recommended for those who like their feminism well-researched, unapologetic, and unafraid of a dirty joke as well as to all who've struggled to see themselves reflected in history."—Booklist

"Engaging and well-researched, this book reveals how canonical narratives that appear to uphold (white) patriarchy can be reclaimed to benefit the very groups that patriarchy attempts to suppress. Concise, incisive, and provocative."— Kirkus Reviews

"Wide-ranging and lively.... Morales sets out how antiquity is used to control and oppress, while also considering cases where it has been an inspiration in subverting oppressive or misleading narratives.... This book not only helps us to recognize and understand the role that ancient myth plays in our cultural hardwiring. It also shows us how antiquity can be used to do something about it.... In Antigone Rising, Helen Morales gets to work."
—Times Literary Supplement (UK)

"Faithful to its summons of Ralph Ellison in the preface, Helen Morales' Antigone Rising will enlarge you. Probing, learned, and heartfelt, this book advances a generous and inspiring vision of Greek myth for the 21st century. This is a book not just to read but to cherish, ideally with The Carters' Apeshitas sonic accompaniment."—Dan-el Padilla Peralta, Associate Professor of Classics, Princeton, and author of Undocumented: A Dominican Boy's Odyssey from a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League

"From pussy hats to melting polar ice, Helen Morales finds unexpected ways to connect contemporary political uprisings with Greek and Roman mythology. While rooted in serious research, Antigone Rising is also revealing enough to make the mythology personal."—Mary Norris, author of Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen

From the Publisher

03/06/2020

Those who pick up classicist Morales's (Argyropoulos Chair in Hellenic Studies, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara; Classical Mythology: A Very Short Introduction) book on the strength of its evocative title might find themselves both enlivened and slightly disappointed. Morales's knowledge of myths is apparent, as is her passion for the power of ancient stories combined with modern issues—chapters on Beyoncé's deliberate use of goddess imagery in contrast to earlier racist examples of "black Venuses" and on myths that speak to LGBTQ people are standouts. Three of the eight chapters center not on myths at all but on the Greek play Lysistrata, the treatises of Hippocrates, and the gynaeconomi or "women controllers" of ancient Greece. Nearly as much attention is given to how myths help establish and enforce harmful modern behaviors (diets, dress codes, physical and sexual violence against women) as to the potentially subversive aspects of myths and their reclamation by women, people of color, and LGBTQ individuals. The result is an entertaining, thoughtful read that also requires some adjustment of expectations. VERDICT Most appropriate for readers seeking a spirited, concise look at intersections of Greek and Roman myths and current social concerns.—Kathleen McCallister, William & Mary Libs., Williamsburg, VA

Library Journal

2020-01-26
A professor of Hellenic studies offers a feminist take on major myths from antiquity.

Ancient Greek myths are significant parts of the narratives that undergird Western democracy and culture. Morales, the author of Classical Mythology: A Very Short Introduction, reinterprets old myths with an eye to “recognizing entrenched cultural patterns,” especially where the treatment of girls and women, the environment, and minorities are concerned. The author opens by discussing the story of the Amazons in relation to a male undergraduate who killed two female students (and four others) as revenge for years of sexual rejection. Just as Greek mythology celebrated the killing of women warriors, so too does modern society continue to condone acts of violence toward women, especially those who exercise their personal autonomy. A less violent but no less harmful way that patriarchy controls women is through the imperative to diet. By taking Hippocratic quotations—e.g., “extreme remedies are very appropriate for extreme diseases”—out of context, patriarchal culture disciplines (primarily female) bodies into submission to often unattainable standards of beauty. Furthermore, as suggested in the story of Uranus’ abusive treatment of Gaia, men are “meant” to dominate both women and the Earth. Later in the book, Morales shows how modern renderings of old myths resist not only misogyny, but racism and transphobia. The author argues that Beyoncé’s music video “APESHIT” actively challenges assumptions about whiteness and beauty inscribed in the marbled form of the Venus de Milo. “Filmed inside the [Louvre]…it is an exhilarating six minutes whose stunning images and sharp juxtapositions of ancient and modern reflect upon race, art, and resistance,” writes Morales. Ali Smith’s novel Girl Meets Boy transforms an Ovidian story about sex changes that align with heterosexual norms to one that emphasizes “the dissolving of gender boundaries.” Engaging and well-researched, this book reveals how canonical narratives that appear to uphold (white) patriarchy can be reclaimed to benefit the very groups that patriarchy attempts to suppress.

Concise, incisive, and provocative.

Kirkus Reviews