Women have always existed, but you’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise if your experience of the world was based on Classics and Ancient History. For the past few thousand years, women have been ignored, sidelined and shut out of classical history, their stories silenced and their experiences untold. Finally, things are changing with the rise of “Mythological Retellings”, a new genre of books that put a fresh, feminist spin on classic tales.
I was first introduced to Classics after catching 5 minutes of a radio programme on them in the car. The author and comedian Natalie Haynes was “standing up” for Classics, trying to make them relevant and amusing (two adjectives I would not have used to describe them growing up). I didn’t tend to spend time thinking about Classics because it wasn’t something I was aware of. It was a pretentious subject reserved for people who studied Latin at school. It was full of men and testosterone. It was inaccessible.
Yet, after listening to just a few minutes of Haynes’ attempt to make the Iliad seem fresh and exciting, I was intrigued by what she had to say. Just like that, I had my eyes opened to the world of Greek Mythology: a world of legendary battles, mythical scandals, and scantly clad, incestuous gods.
Haynes is part of a growing trend of classicists attempting to make the field more engaging for the 21st century. For example, she has written a retelling of the Iliad that shifts focus to the female characters. Aided by the rise of “Booktok” and dark academia, the new genre of “Mythological Retellings” has emerged as a new literary sensation, telling stories from the female gaze and making classics sexy again.
Take Madeline Miller’s “Circe”, for example, which depicts the life of Circe, a goddess exiled on an island, as she is visited by Odysseus from the epic poem The Odyssey, a poem that follows him home from the Trojan War. Miller depicts Circe’s humanity with vivid colour and spotlights a female character often sidelined. She thus writes a novel that’s more understandable and manageable than its precursor – and more relevant for a young female audience.
So, why does this matter? How can I convince you that female representation is important in a niche subject? Some would argue that classics are fundamental to society. Classics can teach us lessons and impart wisdom. But I deem it less serious than that. Women have been systematically underrepresented in many subject disciplines, yet it seems like Classics is no longer one of them. Classics are luxurious. Yes, they can teach many things, but one of the joys I’ve discovered is that they are just fun. They provide an escape into a world of demi-gods and supernatural magic. They should be accessible to everyone if only to provide respite from the bleak, grey world around us.
Classics and Ancient History are no longer dust-covered relics. They are alive, exciting and, finally, female.
Further Reading:
Circe by Madeline Miller
Elektra by Jennifer Saint
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
“Circe” by americanartmuseum is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.