Laughing with Medusa Classical Myth and Feminist Thought

From their beginnings Greek myths have been recounted by those with compelling agendas. One of the strategies of feminist criticism has been to take these well-worn stories about the world and its inhabitants and tell them from a different perspective. The concept of revision has led to potent transformations of mythic figures who have been denigrated for centuries into symbols of Utopia. Ancient narratives of resistance and struggle have been revivified to inspire new audiences. The most famous contemporary example is probably Helene Cixous's 'Laugh of the Medusa'-the power of this essay undoubtedly derives, in part, from the inscrutable figure of its title. The importance of classical myth is not restricted to the psychoanalytical feminist tradition within which Cixous may be located. In spheres such as politics, philosophy, historiography, art history as well as the history and theory of science, figures such as Helen, Antigone, Daphne, the Amazons, the Muses, Persephone, Penelope, Thetis, Hercules, and Achilles continue to make substantial contributions to the development of feminist thought. The essays in Laughing with Medusa explore the reception of classical myth within feminist writing from a truly interdisciplinary perspective. They include a specially commissioned work of fiction, 'Iphigeneia's Wedding', by the writer Elizabeth Cook. Book jacket.

Vanda Zajko is Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History, University of Bristol. Miriam Leonard is Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History, University of Bristol.