Despite the current variety of university courses on women and gender in antiquity, it is not necessarily easy to design one. This is not because we lack tools. On the contrary, we have several important ones at our disposal, both sourcebooks (such as M.R. Lefkowitz and M.B. Fant, Women's Life in Greece and Rome: a Source Book in Translation [3rd ed. 2005]; B. MacLachlan, Women in Ancient Greece: a Sourcebook [2012]; and J. Larson, Greek and Roman Sexualities: a Sourcebook. [2012]) and textbooks (such as S. Blundell, Women in Ancient Greece [1995]). These cover various aspects of women's lives in ancient Greece and Rome, and some of them also include other cultures of the ancient Mediterranean (as in S.L. James and S. Dillon [ed.], A Companion to Women in the Ancient World [2012]; S.L. Budin and J.M. Turfa [edd.], Women in Antiquity: Real Women across the Ancient World [2016]). These books offer students of all levels a better understanding of women and gender in antiquity. But it is still often enough the case that, for a variety of reasons, it is classical literature – and more generally the world of myth – that affords us with some of the most memorable and influential representations of women, especially in the case of Greece. The question is then how best to incorporate those representations in general courses on women in antiquity, particularly since some students enrolling in them will have no prior knowledge of classical literature or culture. In my own institution I have designed and taught twice in the last few years a course entitled ‘Women in Greek Literature: Stereotypes and Reality’, where, ideally at least, I aim to offer ‘three-in-one’: an introduction to ancient Greek literature, to women in ancient Greece and to gender studies in antiquity. For any of these courses and similar ones, Tragic Heroines in Ancient Greek Drama is an indispensable teaching tool, and I suspect it is her ample experience as a researcher of Greek tragedy and an educator that made R. rise to the task and fill this gap.
The book offers to the neophyte a general but, where possible, close reading of the tragedies featuring the most prominent female figures in the genre. Eleven heroines are chosen: Clytemnestra, Electra, Iphigenia, Antigone, Helen, Hecuba, Alcestis, Deianeira, Medea, Creusa and Phaedra. Each one is treated in a different chapter, and R. explains the reasoning for the chosen order (p. 8). Naturally, other criteria could have been used, but the existing arrangement works well, especially since R. provides several cross-references. A short introduction delineates the main parameters of the book, including a discussion of what is defined as ‘pervasive themes’ (pp. 2–7), and this is paired by a short concluding chapter. The book also includes a map of Greece, a handy list of the tragedies discussed, a short glossary of names and terms, sparse endnotes (a sound choice for the intended audience), a bibliography and a basic index. Each chapter ends with proposed ‘discussion topics’, though there is unfortunately no section for ‘further reading’. Several tinted boxes dispersed throughout the book offer some additional information beyond what is provided in the main text, a point to which I return to below.
R. writes with two things constantly before her eyes: the students and the texts of the plays. It is for this reason that her analysis focuses primarily on presenting the heroines’ characterisation in a simple, engaging and jargon-less manner. With the confidence of a seasoned academic, she manages for the most part to balance between providing a summary of each play and the succession of events within it, suggesting an analysis of the heroine in question and exploring the wider themes of a specific tragedy, including questions of dating where relevant (as on p. 60 on whether the Electra of Sophocles or of Euripides was first). Not everyone will agree with all aspects of her analysis, but the characterisation of the heroines that she presents will surely promote lively discussion in class. Though all texts are quoted in translation, language issues are also treated when they can throw light on characterisation (as on p. 221 on the use of the aorist). The longest chapters are about 30–40 pages, on Clytemnestra (pp. 15–57) and Electra (pp. 59–91), while the shorter ones are about fifteen pages long, such as the chapters on Alcestis, Deianeira, Creusa and Hecuba – the last one being the shortest chapter of the book (pp. 167–77). I mention this because length is important in preparing reading assignments for a syllabus. While placed first in the book because of her importance, the chapter on Clytemnestra grapples with no less than six tragedies in order to unfold the various angles of her roles (Aeschylus’ Oresteia, Sophocles’ Electra, Euripides’ Electra and Iphigenia at Aulis). It might therefore be easier for students not to have this chapter or the next one on Electra as the first ones assigned in class. Other chapters address a heroine featuring in a single play, as the chapters on Alcestis, Deianeira, Medea, Creusa and Phaedra. The chapter on Antigone only discusses Sophocles’ homonymous play, with tinted boxes including summaries of Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes, Euripides’ Phoenician Women and Oedipus at Colonus (pp. 120–2).
If later editions of the textbook are planned, it might be helpful to provide some additional information that would introduce students to the basic trends of current scholarship on women and tragedy, or a short excursus on how scholarly analysis on each heroine might have developed or changed over time (such as the different interpretations of Iole on p. 199). These could be easily added in a ‘further reading’ section. Also, assuming that many of the book's readers come to it with little prior knowledge, some tinted boxes on topics such as tragedy and drama in ancient Greece, on the performance of the plays, on how an ancient theatre might have looked or on the reception of these influential heroines in later periods, could greatly help students and educators alike. I sense that more tinted boxes, as for example on the parts of a play (epeisodion, stasimon etc.), on deus ex machina, on tragic heroines versus historical women or heroines in fragmentary plays, even if these would have to be at the expense of the main text, would be especially welcome. Also, a chapter on female choruses, including a discussion of the Danaids’ characterisation in Aeschylus’ Suppliants, might make this early and quite unique play more accessible, since at the moment, because of the status of its preservation, it is rarely taught in general or introductory courses. Having raised all these points, the general impression remains: we are lucky to have at our disposal R.'s new textbook, which we can now add to the list of pedagogical tools available for use in various courses on women and gender in antiquity, or to introductory courses on Greek literature and tragedy.
