The warrior goddess Athena ranges the battlefield in Homer's Iliad, but her role differs greatly from those of mortal women in the epic. Professor Chris Mackie compares and contrasts the goddess of cunning intelligence with the mortal women of the epic.

Copyright 2013 Gillian Shepherd / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

The warrior goddess Athena ranges the battlefield in Homer's Iliad, but her role differs greatly from those of mortal women in the epic. Professor Chris Mackie compares and contrasts the goddess of cunning intelligence with the mortal women of the epic. Copyright 2013 Gillian Shepherd / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Athena, Women and War

In this subject students are introduced to the diversity of the ancient Greek achievement, which has exercised a fundamental and continuing influence upon later European literature and culture. The subject commences with a detailed treatment of Homer's Iliad and the myth of the Trojan war. This is one of the dominant myths in the Greek tradition and is narrated in some detail in epic poetry, in drama, and in art and architecture. We explore how myths are 'read' in their historical context, especially in the contexts of the Persian and Peloponnesian wars of the 5th Century BC. A variety of sources are treated to enable students to build up a picture of Greek society as a whole.

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Athena, Women and War

Athena, Women and War

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