In Women in Myth, Bettina L. Knapp explores the role played by women in ancient societies through analysis of specific myths from nine different lands. The author probes issues as to how figures such as Isis, Tiamat, Dido, Camilla, Deborah, Iphigenia, Salome, Sita, Amaterasu, Nu-Kwa, and others - some of whom were goddesses - fared. She discusses their abilities and their outlooks, whether their views were gender oriented or androgynous, whether they were deprived of the most basic human rights or excluded from the highest functions of religious worship. Knapp explores whether or not these women had done battle, led armies, founded states, ruled lands, or experienced identity crises. She allows the reader to establish parallels as well as dichotomies between the lives of ancient and contemporary women. The reliving of specific episodes from thousands of years ago as reported in the great myths brings insights into certain relationships and sheds light on events and their ramifications in today's home and workplace.
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Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Knapp (Women in Twentieth-Century Literature: A Jungian View, Pennsylvania State Univ., 1987) analyzes myths from nine countries in order to reveal women's roles in ancient societies. She believes that myths are both ectypal (dealing with the existential world) and archetypal (dealing with eternal experiences); therefore, the popularity of a particular myth reveals "the needs and deficiencies as well as the positive attributes of a given society." She notes that "not even idealization enhanced the position of women." From this perspective, she studies myths of Isis, the maligned feminine in Enuma Elish, Deborah, Iphigenia (in Euripides), Salome (in Herodias), Dido and Camilla (in Virgil), Amaterasu (in Japanese sacred myth), various Chinese goddess-images, and Sita (in the Ramayana). This illuminating study raises contemporary issues, especially for readers who project their situation into the myths. Recommended for undergraduate and public libraries.?Carolyn M. Craft, Longwood Coll., Farmville, Va.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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