Epic Women of Homer

Our earliest written sources for Greek mythology, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, feature womenprominently as drivers of the narratives. Though they occupy a variety of roles and speakeloquently for themselves in every role, these women have been obscured by the assumption thateach epic's central hero, Achilles and Odysseus, respectively, is also its singular hero. And yet, thestory of the Iliad is not the story of Achilles, just as the story of the Odyssey is not the story ofOdysseus alone. Contrary to centuries of reception, the epics are not only about fearless yetflawed men but rather explore and develop the contours of belonging and community in times ofwar and peace. The Epic Women of Homer untangles the women of the Iliad and the Odyssey from centuries ofnarrative constraints to recover their essential meaning and importance. In the process, The EpicWomen of Homer challenges the commonplace assumption that the Homeric hero is 'anindividual' who fights for 'personal glory', a misconception further fuelled by a lack ofunderstanding of the oral tradition out of which Homer's epics emerged in which linguistic andthematic patterning exists at every level. Analysing Homer's goddesses and heroes through thelens of these patterns, their recurrence and variation reveal them to be preeminent in a widerange of skills, all of which are necessary, and yet the essence of each is in their relationshipswith others. The Epic Women of Homerre-establishes these goddesses and heroines to their esteemed positions in ancient Greeceand reintroduces them to the modern world.