Making Silence Speak : Women's Voices in Greek Literature and Society

This collection attempts to recover the voices of women in antiquity from a variety of perspectives: how they spoke, where they could be heard, and how their speech was adopted in literature and public discourse. Rather than confirming the old model of binary oppositions in which women's speech was viewed as insignificant and subordinate to male discourse, these essays reveal a dynamic and potentially explosive interrelation between women's speech and the realm of literary production, religion, and oratory. The contributors use a variety of methodologies to mine a diverse array of sources, from Homeric epic to fictional letters of the second sophistic period and from actual letters written by women in Hellenistic Egypt to the poetry of Sappho. Throughout, the term "voice" is used in its broadest definition. It includes not only the few remaining genuine women's voices but also the ways in which male authors render women's speech and the social assumptions such representations reflect and reinforce. These essays therefore explore how fictional female voices can serve to negotiate complex social, epistemological, and aesthetic issues. The contributors include Josine Blok, Raffaella Cribiore, Michael Gagarin, Mark Griffith, André Lardinois, Richard Martin, Lisa Maurizio, Laura McClure, D. M. O'Higgins, Patricia Rosenmeyer, Marilyn Skinner, Eva Stehle, and Nancy Worman. This collection attempts to recover the voices of women in antiquity from a variety of perspectives: how they spoke, where they could be heard, and how their speech was adopted in literature and public discourse. Rather than confirming the old model of binary oppositions in which women's speech was viewed as insignificant and subordinate to male discourse, these essays reveal a dynamic and potentially explosive interrelation between women's speech and the realm of literary production, religion, and oratory. The contributors use a variety of methodologies to mine a diverse array of sources, from Homeric epic to fictional letters of the second sophistic period and from actual letters written by women in Hellenistic Egypt to the poetry of Sappho. Throughout, the term "voice" is used in its broadest definition. It includes not only the few remaining genuine women's voices but also the ways in which male authors render women's speech and the social assumptions such representations reflect and reinforce. These essays therefore explore how fictional female voices can serve to negotiate complex social, epistemological, and aesthetic issues. The contributors include Josine Blok, Raffaella Cribiore, Michael Gagarin, Mark Griffith, Andre Lardinois, Richard Martin, Lisa Maurizio, Laura McClure, D.M. O'Higgins, Patricia Rosenmeyer, Marilyn Skinner, Eva Stehle, and Nancy Worman Cover Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgments List of Illustrations Note on Abbreviations, Texts, and Translations Chapter One: Introduction PART ONE: THE ARCHAIC PERIO D Chapter Two: This Voice Which Is Not One: Helen's Verbal Guises in Homeric Epic Chapter Three: The Voice at the Center of the World: The Pythias' Ambiguity and Authority Chapter Four: Just Like a Woman: Enigmas of the Lyric Voice Chapter Five: Keening Sappho: Female Speech Genres in Sappho's Poetry PART TWO: THE CLASSICAL PERIOD Chapter Six: Virtual Voices: Toward a Choreography of Women's Speech in Classical Athens Chapter Seven: Antigone and Her Sister(s): Embodying Women in Greek Tragedy Chapter Eight: Women's Cultic Joking and Mockery: Some Perspectives Chapter Nine: Women's Voices in Attic Oratory PART THREE: THE LATE CLASSICAL PERIOD AND BEYOND Chapter Ten: The Good Daughter: Mothers' Tutelage in Erinna's Distaff and Fourth-Century Epitaphs Chapter Eleven: Ladies' Day at the Art Institute: Theocritus, Herodas, and the Gendered Gaze Chapter Twelve: Windows on a Woman's World: Some Letters from Roman Egypt Chapter Thirteen: (In-)Versions of Pygmalion: The Statue Talks Back Bibliography Contributors Index Introduction / Laura Mcclure -- This Voice Which Is Not One : Helen's Verbal Guises In Homeric Epic / Nancy Worman -- The Voice At The Center Of The World : The Pythias' Ambiguity And Authority / Lisa Maurizio -- Just Like A Woman : Enigmas Of The Lyric Voice / Richard P. Martin -- Keening Sappho: Female Speech Genres In Sappho's Poetry / André Lardinois -- Virtual Voices : Toward A Choreography Of Women's Speech In Classical Athens / Josine H. Blok -- Antigone And Her Sister(s) : Embodying Women In Greek Tragedy / Mark Griffith -- Women's Cultic Joking And Mockery : Some Perspectives / D.m. O'higgins -- Women's Voices In Attic Oratory / Michael Gagarin -- The Good Daughter : Mothers' Tutelage In Erinna's Distaff And Fourth-century Epitaphs / Eva Stehle -- Ladies' Day At The Art Institute : Theocritus, Herodas, And The Gendered Gaze / Marilyn B. Skinner -- Windows On A Woman's World : Some Letters From Roman Egypt / Raffaella Cribiore -- (in-)versions Of Pygmalion : The Statue Talks Back / Patricia A. Rosenmeyer. Edited By André Lardinois And Laura Mcclure. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [261]-288) And Index. Attempts to recover the voices of women in antiquity from various perspectives: how they spoke, where they could be heard, and how their speech was adopted in literature and public discourse. This book reveals the interrelation between women's speech and the realm of literary production, religion, and oratory. THE STUDY of status of women and the social construction of gender in the ancient world has had a substantial impact on the field of classical studies since the mid-1970s, although its roots extend back to the late nineteenth century. THE VOICES of many important female characters in Homeric epic differ from each other in vocabulary choice, tone, and formulaic expression.