Author: ZAJKO, V., and M. LEONARD, (eds.),
Title: Laughing with Medusa. Classical Myth and Feminist Thought.
Description: Oxford University Press, Oxford (...), 2007. XIV,445p. Original hard bound with pictorial dust wrappers. Spine gilt titled. Upper edge a little bit foxed. Else fine. "?Two dynamic modes of inquiry are helping to make Classical Studies a livelier and more inclusive discipline in this new millennium. Feminist theory proves to be a powerful tool of analysis for Greco-Roman culture, while the Classical Tradition, an umbrella term that includes both the reception of ancient culture and its influence on modern literature and thought, has effaced the boundaries that have fenced off traditional philology from the other humanities. This collection of fifteen essays plus one short piece of fiction combines both these intellectual enterprises in a unique and well-timed volume that presents feminist scholars from other disciplines alongside Classicists whose work has been informed by feminist theory. (?) The volume is divided into five sections [I. Myth and Psychoanalysis; II. Myth and Politics; III.Myth and History; IV. Myth and Science; V. Myth and Poetry - ND] in addition to a good introduction outlining the history of previous scholarship informing the project, a bibliography and general index. (?) In conclusion: this is an excellent compilation unified by a well defined concept which allows for a multiplicity of perspectives and disciplinary interests. Many of the authors (e.g. Liveley and Staley) convey a sense of passion and idealism in their analyses; all of the contributions demonstrate originality, creativity and erudition. This volume works so well because it reveals how the evolution of the Classical Tradition can be mapped so precisely onto one of the most significant intellectual movements of our new era.? (JUDITH FLETCHER in Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2008.04.40)."

Keywords: 9780199274383