Antigone Rising: The Subversive Power of the Ancient Myths by Helen Morales

Antigone Rising: The Subversive Power of the Ancient Myths Reviews

• 
  s.penkevich

  ‘The past subverts the present,’ writes Dr. Helen Morales in her book book Antigone Rising, ‘and whether it is used to uphold or subvert brutality depends on us.’ Morales work is a really insightful and engaging look at the ways ‘Greek and Roman myths have become embedded in, and an influential part of, our culture’ and the ways that shapes social norms that can be used to oppress--particularly against women--or be a touchstone inspiring resistance and activism. Broken into eight chapters that cover a wide range of topics from Incels and fatphobia to even a chapter on Beyonce’s use of restorative mythmaking and cultural ownership, Morales threads current social issues with lessons from the myths that helped to normalize these ideas in our culture long ago. While it is a delightful read for anyone with a working knowledge in the myths or social justice issues, One need not be well versed in mythology to enjoy it, Morales herself is the Argyropoulos Chair in Hellenistic Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara and very comfortably and effectively details the myths as needed towards making her larger point. Reading this it is clear she is a fantastic teacher and I would absolutely love to attend a full semester of lectures like this. Drawing from many stories and many great modern thinkers (Dr.
  Kate Manne,
  Mary Beard,
  Rebecca Solnit and activists like
  Liberian sex strike leader
  Leymah Gbowee) Morales has crafted a really fun and productive look at the power of ancient myths in intersectional feminism today.
  
  Part of what makes Greek and Roman mythology so powerful is that it is widely known and understood, making it a ‘common compass’ to ground a social discussion. Morales opens her book with a look at the figure Antigone, a classic image of women standing in defiance of the State, and comparing her to modern activists like
  Malala Yousafzai and
  Greta Thunberg. Thunberg is a really interesting comparison and Morales draws a connection between the dismissal and aggression against Thunberg for her youth and aspergers to Antigone who was dismissed in the story for ‘disease of young girls’ and deemed to be mentally unfit because it was believed an unmarried girl goes mad at that age without a husband. Through using a discussion from
  Ralph Ellison’s theory of ‘enlargement’, Morales argues that interplay between mythology and modern issues ‘gives the reader an enhanced prism through which to understand them,’ enlarging upon ideas in past and present simultaneously for the benefit of both.
  
  ‘Key to the work of changing the world is changing the story.’
  -
  Rebecca Solnit
  
  In his book
  Classics: Why It Matters,
  Neville Morley states ‘there is always a struggle over ownership, and who gets to claim and define it.’ This is important in modern retellings of Greek myth, such as recent books like
  Circe by Madeline Miller or
  A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes that refocus the stories from a woman’s perspective to reconfigure who gets to matter and define the tales, but also in cultural ownership in general. Morales states:

  It is an important part of European and American national identities and to the construction of ‘the West’ that they are the heirs to (an idealized version of) ancient Greece and Rome.

  
  She points out that many white supremacist organizations--such as the American Identity Movement--often use Greek and Roman images and references in their logos and leaflets, often over images of Greek/Roman statues ‘making an implicit association between white marble and white supremacy and between American identity and ancient Greece and Rome’. She quotes artist Kara Walker who stated that white Europeans ‘resort to themes of Classical Antiquity to describe the enormity of their Selves to the Rest of Humanity.’
  
  ‘Whiteness is a metaphor for power-
  James Baldwin
  
  The belief here is that white Europeanness has the ownership over classical mythology, and why ‘many white people still have a strong emotional investment in mythological characters being portrayed as white and not Black...there is a desire to see themselves reflected in them.’ This is why there was so much outcry over the BBC casting Black actors in
  Troy: Fall of a City or even Disney casting a Black actor for an upcoming Little Mermaid film. Returning to the idea that ‘white marble statues have become idealized and romanticized...and conflated with white skin’ historian Sarah Bond was met with outrage when she wrote that the statues were originally painted and did not only portray white people, while Mary Beard faced a similar response when writing that Rome was multicultural.
  
  (
  click here to read Sarah Bond's essay)
  This is why Beyonce’s APESHIT video (watch
  here) shot in the Lourve and using reimaginings of mythology (such as Hermes Tying His Sandal statue reinvisioned as
  Colin Kaepernick) is so powerful.

  ‘The video criticizes the exclusion of black people and culture from the Lourve, but it also goes beyond that, by reimagining the space and its collections in ways that create new icons, perspectives, and priorities. It acts as a kind of restorative mythmaking…[and]underscores the themes of cultural ownership and protest.’

  
  Beyond ownership of culture, a large portion of this book is concerned with a patriarchal belief of ownership, especially over women. The first chapter deals with the killing of Amazons in ancient myth and ties it to the Isla Vista killings. Morales points out that with stories such as Hercules, ‘violence against women is integral to heroism, or at least a particular kind of macho heroism’ and often was used to punish ‘sexually renegade’ women. She later furthers this to discuss how with the slaying of Amazons it was not only to impose a sexual superiority but also ethnic and is embedded in violence against foreign or BIPOC women.
  
  Most powerfully in this book is her comparisons between
  Ovid's Metamorphosis. and the #MeToo movement with regard to misogynistic control and rape culture. She offers a unique interpretation of Ovid, postulating that Ovid used Emperor Augustus’ own association between himself and Jupiter and Apollo to reveal him as someone who was ‘repeatedly imposing himself upn unwilling victims’ like the ‘rapist gods’. She says this avoided direct criticism of Augustus, though Ovid was later exiled anyways. The basis here, however, is that while the Greek and Roman myths both impose a misogynist viewpoint and normalize violence and assault against women, they too can be used to criticize those same issues in powerful men.
  
  Stories such as
  The Bacchae also have a violent message for those who try to control others, with Pentheus torn limb from limb while attempting to return the women to his control from Dionysus. In her chapter on Diana, the Hunter of Bus Drivers, a woman who killed--you guessed it--bus drivers for the string of rapes by drivers against working women in the city of Juarez (read an excellent piece of journalism on the story, written by
  Yuri Herrera, an author I love,
  here), Morales shows how the mythological Diana has been used in modern pop culture as a symbol of resistance, such as the huntress imagery of Katniss in
  The Hunger Games.In quoting Kelly Oliver’s book
  Hunting Girls: Sexual Violence from The Hunger Games to Campus Rape:

  This trend is a response to an increase in violence towards girls and women: “New myths of Artemis figures defending their own virtue from violence all around them can be interpreted as compensatory fantasies for girls and women subjected to violence, especially sexual violence, in their everyday lives.

  
  
  Morales hits so many great issues here, and does so in an empowering way that also looks at the nuances. On myths that address trans folx, she points out how problematic some of the myths can be while also celebrating the power of being able to find oneself reflected in ancient tales. She retells the versions about Caeneus and Teiresias as trans narratives, though does well to point out that the change being due to trauma is not a good reflection on the reasons for transitioning as ‘life affirming choices need not spring from ruin.’ On the subject of controlling women’s bodies--comparisons to Venus abound--she examines how women are policed for their manner of dress, such as school dress codes, and chastised for clothes that are deemed disruptive to their male peers and teachers, yet it is extremely profitable for fashion and media to market sexualization of teen girls. Profit off of them, then condemn them for following the trend. Much like how Medusa was punished for having been raped, Morales shows the injustices that are done to women to benefit a patriarchal viewpoint.
  
  These essays are quick and potent, and while some of the connections are a bit of a stretch, it is ultimately really exciting and enjoyable. It could have been denser, but each chapter reads like an excellent primer and gives a huge list of references and resources to continue learning. This was not meant to be all encompassing but a fresh and empowering take on both the myths and intersectional feminism. Morales has achieved that and more, and comes across like an amazing teacher. I can only imagine a course under her would be incredible. I would highly urge anyone, even if you only have a passing interest in mythology, to check this out.
  
  4/5
• 
  Roman Clodia

  I thought this was going to be a scholarly classical reception volume: it's not. Instead it's like a series of popular articles that might have a link (sometimes tenuous) or spring from a classical phenomenon (not always a myth) which Morales uses as a foundation for writing about our own cultural flashpoints, principally around feminist resistance to patriarchy but which also attend to other inclusive issues around race, gender and sexuality.
  
  The writing is frequently fierce (and rightly so) with flashes of ironic humour (the terrible danger to men of a naked collarbone!) and the whole thing is easily read in 1-2 hours (there are footnotes at the end). I'd say that if you're already familiar with Greek and Roman culture and classical myths then there might be a bit too much storytelling rather than analysis here but that feels appropriate for a cross-over audience.
  
  Much of the text is anecdotal rather than researched, and Morales adds stories from her own life and the experiences of her daughter which make the whole thing intimate as well as having a wider import. With pieces on the policing of female bodies drawing on Hippocrates, Beyonce's subversion of goddesses, and resistant rape narratives, this can't help but be consistently interesting. Feminist classical scholarship over the last 40 or so years has been challenging traditional readings of Greek and Roman stories, myths and histories - it's heartening to see that crossing over into a general readership.
  
  Thanks to Headline/Wildfire for an ARC via NetGalley.
• 
  Heidi The Reader

  Helen Morales highlights troubling aspects of Greek and Roman mythology in a call-to-action to analyze and reimagine those myths for modern times.
  
  As a classicist, I was familiar with most of the myths Morales examined. However, I was unaware of some of the toxic sub-context contained within them.
  
  "My hope is that by tracing patterns and connections between ancient and modern beliefs and practices it will become easier to understand how misogyny operates and the ways in which classical antiquity plays a role (although it is not the only player and this is not its only role) in legitimating how misogyny operates today." pg 14
  
  The stories we tell ourselves are powerful. It shapes our expectations for our communities and the roles we occupy within them. Joseph Campbell pointed this out for the last generation. Perhaps Helen Morales will be the one to point it out for this one.
  
  "The problem is that misogynist myths are more strongly culturally entrenched in our societies than myths that subvert them." pg 148
  
  But all hope is not lost. Creators from books to film to music videos are taking these myths and making them their own. With time, new interpretations will take hold.
  
  "Antigone is rising. Antigones (and Ismenes and Haemons) are rising." pg 150
  
  Lest we forget, Morales reminds readers that ancient myths have been the inspiration for, among other things, "the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, trades union movements, Marxism, and the gay rights movement."
  
  It is all about how we interpret and tell the myths with each passing generation. Let's choose carefully.
• 
  Emma

  The power of myth is in its fluidity, its adaptability, the inherent possibility of being read in wildly different ways. This isn't new. The history of myth is one of selectivity and of reimagining. Every artist chooses what to highlight and what to hide, what aspect will suit their purpose, precisely what the myth needs to do for it to say what they want it to say.
  
  Subversive mythmaking is a process-one that involves the past and the present and all the versions in between
  
  What Helen Morales does here is use a variety of Greek and Roman stories to illustrate the way these narratives have been used to reinforce certain ideas, to bolster some groups and distance or suppress others, and the ways in which all of this is still intensely relevant to contemporary society. It's a fiery feminist read, both personal and emotional, and all the stronger for it.
  
  In a world where the classical past seems to hit the media spotlight most often when its being mobilised for far-right legitimacy, this kind of reading is the antidote. A timely and pointed commentary that proves there's more to Greek and Roman myth than what appeals to the 'great white male'. A must-read that's fun to boot.
  
  ARC via Netgalley
• 
  Girl with her Head in a Book

  For my full review:
  https://girlwithherheadinabook.co.uk/...
  
  This was my surprise find of my Greek Mythology Challenge. It wasn't on my original list but I spotted it on Netgalley shortly after reaching my personal pain threshold in terms of reading about misogynistic violence. It's not that I was unaware that this was an element in Greek myths. It was more that it had danced below my eyeline as I usually focused more on the twisting family trees and tales of heroism. But even the supposed 'heroes' are, on closer inspection, fairly nasty bastards who leave a trail of dead women in their wake. So thank goodness for Antigone Rising, in which classicist Helen Morales explains how  the telling of the tale has led to this message of misogyny rather than the mythology itself.
  
  The book's title refers to Antigone, the teenager from Sophocles' play who insisted on burying her brother Polynices despite being ordered not to on pain of death. Predictably, it ends well for no one. Despite this, the idea of the young girl resisting the state has remained iconic right down to the present day. Indeed, parallels continue to be drawn between Antigone and Greta Thunberg. Yet contemporary audiences would have pathologised Antigone as being hysterical due to her unmarried state just as the modern media ponders the significance of Thunberg's autism. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
  
  Morales explores ancient mythology both through the lens of her long research and teaching career but also as a parent to a teenage girl. If the next generation accepts mythology as it has been laid down, its relevance to our lives today risks being lost.  Antigone Rising explores why Greek mythology still matters - why did the Greeks stage these plays all those thousands of years ago and why is it that we still tell these stories today? Morales explores how ancient mythology has been 'read and misread, to serve (and resist) progressive agendas'. She also explores how mythology continues to re-imagined today, because these stories are not dead. The miracle of mythology is that it lives and breathes and still has the power to change the world if we can grab hold of it and take control.
  
  The true challenge to my Greek Mythology reading list was the way I felt thwacked in the face by how much of these stories that I had loved as a child seemed to be rooted in a loathing of and a violence towards women. Morales underlines this by analysing the vast quantity of surviving Greek artwork which depicts them murdering Amazons. It's the earliest known fantasy of killing women. And the fantasy hasn't gone away - Morales admits that she was inspired to write the book when two of her students were murdered in the Isla Vista killings. The man responsible was an 'incel', a 'troubled loner', but Morales recognised the crime as the result of 'thousands of years of our telling the same stories about the relationships between men and women, desire and control'. Misogyny occurs around the enforcement and policing of 'patriarchal norms and expectations', it is less about the way that individuals think but more 'social forces that police norms and expectations of a patriarchal world'. And misogyny picks the 'good women' and punishes the 'bad women'. So Amazons, who rejected marriage, lived as nomads, enjoyed sexual relations where they pleased and rode to battle where they wanted ... they were 'bad women'. And so they had to be eliminated.
  
  As a child, I had loved the story of Heracles and his Twelve Labours. But when you look again, his labours were a punishment for an unspeakable crime. In a 'fit of madness', he had murdered his wife and their children. One of his labours is to steal the war-belt of the Amazon Hippolyta. For the crime of killing a woman, he kills more women. And after his death, Heracles becomes a demi-god. How is it that a domestic abuser becomes the ultimate hero? These aren't tales of courage. This is the policing of the norms of the patriarchy. It's disgusting. Morales draws a clear line of delineation between 'heroes' like Heracles and men today who kill women. The Isla Vista killer, the Montreal killer, the Taliban members who shot Malala Yousafzai, Boko Haram - the list goes on and they are all over the globe. Think about that. All over the world, men and boys fantasise about killing women and girls 'as punishments for not needing men, for not being under men's sexual control, for daring to be educated, for living freely'. And some of them take it beyond fantasy. Some of them actually do it.
  
  Subsequent chapters examine other mythological traditions, such as how the sex strike in Lysistrata had led to a reductive view of female-led political pressure groups, as if this is the only power that women can direct. Dress codes are another relic of antiquity, policing the way that women can access public spaces. Hippocrates' writing has been misread in order to shame people into dieting. In the Hippocrates chapter, Morales even analyses the late 19th century tradition in American female colleges of measuring students bodies to see who most closely resembled the measurements of the Venus de Milo. And again, the words of Caitlin Moran flash across my mind - if this is not something that could be reasonably expected of a man, it is probably sexist bullshit'. The way that society rates to women's bodies definitely falls into the category of sexist bullshit. If we aren't being measured to see if we are like Venus de Milo, then we're being asked if we're beach body ready. And if we're overweight, that really is all that the world sees.
  
  What's particularly worrying about this is the discourse it leads to about women and food. I remember as a teenager, we were on a Geography field trip and had been given packed lunches. Each of the lunches had a randomly selected packet of crisps. All of the girls who had ended up with a Worcestershire sauce flavoured packet rejected it. One of the boys sat down and ate seven packets of Worcestershire sauce crisps. We were all in awe of his eating prowess. Boys who could eat were applauded. No girl would have ever carried out such a feat. There are literal Facebook groups exposing women for the crime of eating on the Tube. I was once scolded by a family member and told to 'go easy' because I had eaten a single English breakfast muffin from a packet. Another time, I was talking with some friends about attitudes towards food and one mentioned her personal pet peeve - when women say that they are being 'naughty' by taking a biscuit or a cake. That has resonated with me since and Morales book made me think about it again. It is not naughty to eat something that you want to eat. Why have we been trained to believe that it is? Rather than misquoted Hippocrates, Morales points us instead towards Aristotle, who advises us to honour our hunger but to stop when we are full. Advice imbued less with shame and more with kindness. Know yourself. Is this hunger or is it just appetite?
  
  Another important point though is the way that classical mythology glamourises sexual assault. Daphne ran from Apollo and could only escape by transforming into a laurel tree. And even then. Apollo used her branches to make himself a new lyre. There's the rape of the Sabine women, the rape of Europa, rape of the Philomela, rape of Persephone, the list goes on and on and on. Morales points out that 'there are more paintings displayed in art museums in Europe and North America that feature a mythological rape scene than there are paintings displayed by female artists of colour'. That's a depressing statistic. Even up in the sky, we see Zeus' victims up in the stars. There's Medusa, raped by Poseidon and punished for it by Athena by being rendered monstrous. Notice that Poseidon never had to deal with the consequences. The more things change ...
  
  The message is clear through mythology that these women were 'asking for it'. They were too beautiful. The male gods could not help themselves. The temptations was too great. Think of Helen, abducted while very young by Theseus, then handed over in marriage to Menelaus without her consent, abducted again by Paris. Or was she? We will never know if she was a repeated victim or just a woman who decided to grab hold of her own destiny. The women of classical mythology could all nod their heads and agree, #MeToo but as Morales points out, they never get any such moment of unity. The women who do seek revenge such as Philomela and Procne are brutally punished. They are aberrations. Bad women. Flash forward three thousand years and we're still refusing to believe Christine Blasey Ford and America is led by a President who has Apollo murals all over his walls.
  
  I was really intrigued though by how mythological figures are being re-appropriated in modern culture. The character Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games is a proto-Artemis figure. Then there is Diana, the mythical hunter of bus drivers. But further discord arises when modern screen adaptations use actors of colour to portray characters from classical mythology. Just as people cannot conceive of a Jesus of middle Eastern appearance, so it is apparently abhorrent to consider a black Zeus as in BBC's 2018 production Troy, Fall of a City. White people get very proprietorial about mythical figures. Why do we think that is? Morales quotes James Baldwin, 'Whiteness is a metaphor for power' and giving up the whiteness of statues would represent a loss of said power. Statues. Again.
  
  It's funny though because if there is one detail from classical mythology that I would wish to be different, it would be for baby Astyanax to survive the fall of Troy. Yet I was unreasonably irritated when the 2003 film Troy showed him escaping in his mother's arms. The idea of changing up the story to make it feel better seemed 'wrong'. The Greco-Roman creation myth is a cornerstone of our cultural history. Even our current Prime Minister trots out his classical references as a sign of his supposed learning. So Antigone Rising is a very uplifting when it highlights the weaknesses to this perspective. The mythology is not so static as it seems. I could sense Morales' excitement as a classicist as she analyses Beyoncé and Jay-Z's takeover of the Louvre for their music video 'Apeshit'. Here were two African American performers appropriating Greco-Roman art and exerting their dominance. Having felt quite jaded through my Greek Mythology Challenge, it was heartening to recognise the resistance to the accepted narrative. You can reframe mythology. You can challenge it. You can take the bit that works for you and celebrate that bit and then cut out the rest. Ali Smith's novel Girl Meets Boy makes use of the myth of Iphis and Ianthe, one of various myths which can be meaningful to genderqueer people. There are many others like it.
  
  One thing that I wished that Morales had touched on more was whether mythology had been consciously translated to promote a patriarchal message - I read an interview with Mary Beard which suggested that the pattern of mistranslations was so consistent as to rule out any other explanation. Another point though is that even when these stories were new, there was not just one version. And indeed, while Sophocles' version of Antigone sees it all end in doom, Euripides play appears to have ended with Antigone and Haemon marrying and having a child. There is no 'final version'. We can make the story what we want it to be. Antigone Rising signposts how the background of Greek mythology has dominated our thinking down the millennia but Morales also shows us how we can break the cycle. Take Artemis, Antigone and all those others who bring us strength. While mythological tradition has been a tool for oppression, we can repurpose it to break our chains.
• 
  Tamara Agha-Jaffar

  In
  Antigone Rising: The Subversive Power of the Ancient Myths,
  Helen Morales, a classics professor, interrogates classical myths through a feminist lens.
  
  Using a variety of Greek and Roman myths, Morales contests traditional interpretations of myths to glean their current relevance and to show their continuing influence on our culture. She argues some myths reinforce a patriarchal agenda, while others can be reclaimed to challenge the dominant ideology by unveiling their subversive power. Her insights are fascinating. For example, she argues that the killing of girls and women by men can be seen as continuing the legacy of Greek heroes lauded for killing Amazons since they rejected male domination. She claims the words of Hippocrates have been misappropriated by the diet industry “to promote misery and sickness” and to enforce gender and racial norms. She traces the policing of dress codes for girls and women back to the gunaikonomoi, the women controllers of ancient Greece who enforced women’s dress and behavior as a means of control. And Euripides’ The Bacchae is interpreted as a cautionary tale of the dangers and futility of trying to control women.
  
  Morales deconstructs several rape narratives and shows how they inform our perspectives on sexual violence. The myth of Procne and Philomela demonstrates the refusal of rape victims to be silenced and the importance of women’s collaboration to effect retaliation against abusive men. Antigone is faulted for acting alone. The myth of Erysichton is interpreted as an allegory for climate change. Abuse of the environment is connected to the abuse of women. Myths are explored for their gender fluidity. And Morales celebrates Beyonce for casting herself as a pregnant Venus in photographs and for her APESHIT music video with Jay-Z at the Louvre. By dressing as African goddesses in her stage performances, Beyonce makes visible black women’s pasts.
  
  Some of Morales’ insights and connections are intriguing. Some have barely a tenuous link with the myth. But all are interesting. Morales peppers her discussion with personal anecdotes about her herself and her daughter. Prior familiarization with the myths is unnecessary since Morales provides brief summaries. She comments on modern interpretations and iterations of the myths. By shifting the focus and changing the lens, Morales opens up the myths to new interpretations, thereby demonstrating their power and continued relevance. Her writing is engaging, accessible, and witty. Her contribution to feminist critiques of Greek and Roman myths is both refreshing and welcome.
  
  Highly recommended.
  
  My book reviews are also available at
  www.tamaraaghajaffar.com
• 
  Doria

  A very engagingly written exploration of Greek myths, as seen through a contemporary lens. Antigone, the girl who speaks truth to power, is only the first of a series of ancient Greek narratives which are analyzed and deconstructed so as to reveal their political influences on current events. Especially worthwhile is the chapter which focuses on Beyonce’s artful appropriations and witty commentary upon these old tropes, through the medium of choreography and what I think of as her distinctive musical pageantry.
  
  There is no wholesale adulation of old tales here; the author doesn’t mean for us to simply read and accept. Instead, she urges us to read deeper and to challenge traditional interpretations, and to recognize in them the stale and hurtful assumptions which undergird our social structures. Having done so, we are now free to reinterpret and reread the old myths, to find new truths and so reinvent our world.
  
  Sounds corny, when put this way. But the book is fun to read, the arguments are solid, the connections drawn nothing short of brilliant, and one comes away distinctly uplifted. Highly recommended.
• 
  Noura

  Read for school.
  
  I don’t rate the books I read for research purposes, but I have to say that this one was absolutely brilliant and infinitely enlightening. Exactly what I was looking for.
• 
  Nathan Bartos

  I have't read a ton of what would probably be called literary criticism since I completed my undergrad a few years back, but this was such a great dive back into that world. Yes, it's a look at ancient Greek and Roman myths, but it's an examination of these myths through modern pop culture, like Beyonce's video in the Louvre or shootings on campus. I feel like I learned a lot, but I also never felt like I was doing academic readings for an assignment or something. I highly recommend this if you're interested in Greek/Roman mythology, history and pop culture, or intersectional feminist criticism (the only good kind of feminist criticism). Plus, look at that absolutely iconic cover. Warning: this book will make you want to read/re-read ancient myths (I immediately checked out several Greek plays from my library).
• 
  Stephanie (Bookfever)

  I bought this book simply because of the title and cover alone but when I picked it up and started reading I got so much more than that. Classicist Helen Morales goes into issues we have today in our modern world and connects those with ancient history and myths. I absolutely loved this and could not put the book down.
  
  At 203 pages (including the index) it isn't a very long book so I only picked it up twice before finishing it but still that's pretty fast for me to finished any book so that only shows how absorbed I was. This is a book with many different topics like toxic diet culture relating to Hippocrates to the women controllers of ancient Greece to modern day schools and principals regulating how teenage girls dress so as to not "distract" the male teachers and students to myth of Caeneus speaking to many transgenders today. And much more like that.
  
  This is by no means an easy book to read. There's a lot of talk about rape, racism, fatphobia, transphobia and many more hard and distressing content but nontheless it's also a powerful read. Even when it doesn't feel like it, things are definitely changing and books like this are a part of that change. I'm really glad I happened to spot it at the bookstore and buy it. It's for sure one of my favorite books of this year.
  
  Witty as well as personal, Antigone Rising: The Subversive Power of the Ancient Myths is an astute social commentary on the links between ancient mythological stories and current conversations on gender identity, racism, violence, sexuality and much more. Everyone should give it a read!
• 
  Charlotte

  greek and roman myths applied to today's world??? say no more i'm intrigued. i LOVED this book. as someone who has an interest in ancient myths + gender/sexuality this was the perfect book for me. it was interesting, compelling and it brilliantly explored exactly how we can connect these ancient myths with the many contemporary social issues we face today. (the chapters which focused on the amazons, me too and diana were my favourites!)
• 
  Shona Edwards

  This was pop-Classics with a strong Feminist lead - and that's not to say that's a bad thing. I think it's a really important role to offer accessible entries into the discipline for undergrads, the public, and interested nerds outside of university. It wasn't as in-depth as I was expecting but Morales made some great connections across pop culture that I hadn't considered before.
• 
  Cara (Wilde Book Garden)

  This book is a great example of why I try not to rate nonfiction based on how groundbreaking its basic ideas are unless that's specifically sold to me in the summary: this book's basic ideas about feminism are not new, nor are they intended to be. I think this would be a great introductory book on feminism, maybe particularly for people who haven't read a ton about the importance (or the existence) of intersectional feminism. But I think even if you are familiar with these ideas, the ways Morales combines them with specific examples and makes connections between ancient Greece/Rome and our world today can still be creative and interesting.
  
  Some of these connections are more direct than others: I didn't realize misleading quotations from Hippocrates were such a staple of diet culture, for instance; while other chapters are not intended to say 'See? The Greeks did ____ so that's why we do it too' - instead Morales uses the myths to show the influence of story and history on the things we value and do in our society today.
  
  I also loved the way she addressed the stories of Lysistrata and Antigone.
  
  Well-written, approachable, and engaging. Some chapters particularly will enrage you, but scattered throughout there are moments of hope that we can do better in the future.
  
  CW: Grief, murder, misogyny, rape, violence, suicide, racism, homophobia, fatphobia, diet culture, references to: cannibalism, pedophilia
• 
  ReadBecca

  Antigone Rising is a radical collection of essays. Springing from one thing to the next, then coalescing to show us how the modern world connects with antiquity, how little we've changed, and that we can use the power of myth to process our world.
  
  Written in a snappy style, this isn't a deep dive into any one topic rather skimming through lots of things, but with a serious dose of references and notes if you do want to dive deeper into a topic. The essay topics cover the range of resistance movements, Ferguson, mass shootings, Malala, modern day sex strikes, diet/wellness culture, slut shaming, femicide in mexico, #metoo, the assumption of whiteness, and transness has always been here. But even with the heavy topics covered it manages to be mostly hopeful about the power of having shared language of mythology to relate with these topics at a remove.
• 
  Marianna Defendini Torres

  I want to be an academic like Helen Morales when I grow up.
  
  She raises ancient myths and intertwines them with contemporary issues. Her chapters are rich in explaining how these myths are not things "from the past" but carry a subversive power in our reality (as the title suggests). But, the most beautiful thing for me is how she narrates so eloquently while not distancing herself as a body identified as a woman. You can feel how she is writing as a feminist, mother, daughter, scholar, and the many other multitudes that exist in her. This book is as enlightening as empowering.
  
  Absolute favorite. Everybody in my close circle will have a copy of this book by the end of the year. I guarantee it.
• 
  saïd

  Well, I'm always incredibly wary of texts proclaiming to connect ancient mythology to present-day events, because—to steal from
  L.P. Hartley—the past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. But in terms of pop classicism, this was one of the best-written collection of essays I've read. Short, too; clocking in at only a little over 200 pages, with each essay accompanied by a legion of footnotes, the book was bite-sized. The focus on anecdotal experiences rather than comprehensively researched hard evidence was hardly antithetical to pop-x books, although it's not normally my preferred style; I wouldn't cite this book in an academic work, is all I'm saying, but it was certainly something I didn't regret picking up from the library.
• 
  Suzanne

  So little has changed in 2,500 years, how?
  
  Anyway, reviewed this for Shelf Awareness, will try to remember to share the link when it goes up.
  
  Recommended for people who want an inclusive feminist examination of Greek mythology and their lasting impact on (primarily Western) humanity
• 
  Miguel

  A short book: going into it was looking forward for a walk through some Greek mythology (a bit rusty on it at this point) and there’s a bit of a switcheroo as it’s light on Greek myth and heavy on topical hot button issues. OK, that’s fine. But as a reader very open to these ideas they’re delivered in a way that’s just a bit too on the nose.
• 
  Faith Jones

  Occasionally I feel the need to yell into these abysses, so the long version of this essay is on Medium.com (search Faith Jones).
  
  Antigone and her story of moral intransigence continue to be iconic to feminism. Academics appropriate culture too, so you can hypothesize someone championing and putting Antigone on a plinth even when siding with a source of oppression, if it awards research grants. I think I detected here a glint of contempt for Antigone, a single pro-Creon (authoritarian rule) comment in an otherwise pro-Antigone (the disempowered) volume.
  
  If you read Antigone, as opposed to reading someone who has read Antigone, you might not be overly enthusiastic compared to the other Theban plays but it teaches: Do what’s right, do not comply to make life easier for someone more powerful. The author lists campaigns, modern tragedies and lionises personal heroes. It’s preaching to the converted as readers probably have a classical education and have experienced victimisation. Some recollections include declarations from the manifestos of mentally ill murderers offended by women not being under male control. The western world is mostly free of this thinking and the society/religious justification. Punjabi and Arabic translations please.
  
  In the Stone Age, it may surprise you to hear that all gods were female (see The Myth of the Goddess, by Anne Baring and Jules Cashford), but male war gods replaced them as a need to survive the neighbours arose. Reversal could be underway; the pacification and effeminisation of male lives, but what then is their role?
  
  I did wonder whether the author was expecting us to automatically accept information provided without question. (a) “We talk about the destruction of the earth in terms of rape: ‘the rape of the environment’ etc. These metaphors serve to reinforce humanity’s dominance over the earth [yes] and diminish the importance of environmental concerns.” [no]. Surely the emotive language is there to enrage the level of concern for the environment? Then there’s (b) Beyonce is the greatest cultural contributor of this century; and (c) “In turn, when women are viewed as closer to nature, we are seen as less civilised, less fully human even, than men.” Really? “We are seen as” is the author assuming a female readership (realistic) and commenting on unvoiced thoughts inside unmet male strangers’ heads. Extracting hypothetical people’s thoughts and citing them as evidence? What superpowers they must wield at the University of California.
  
  Abolishing school dress codes, ok, but what about school uniform?: a psychological work/play switch, stopping rich/poor fashion competition and bullying. Were Athenian men really normally bisexual? I thought (misread?) Tiresias was asked by the gods whether it was preferable to live as a man or a woman, but here it says Tiresias was asked which gender gets more out of having sex. The answer could change.
  
  We are told it took Alexander the Great 13 days and nights to sexually satisfy Thalestris, Queen of the Amazons, concluding that (fictional?) Amazon women were not just independent but also progressive, strong and equal. With revisionist eyes, Alexander the Great was about 4 ft tall and gay as two spoons, so the 13 day point was more likely the moment she finally gave up on flicking the silly thing.
  
  What’s disappointing for me is that (Preface xvii) the author poisons their own championing of poor Antigone (the disempowered public) by letting the reader know by inference that her own family and friends would have supported our modern equivalent of the oppressive Creon in crushing Antigone. Unless I’m reading this fleeting comment wrong, it implies support for forced conquest against the victim’s will (worse than no consent) and also for removing women’s (and everyone else’s) right to vote. The text reads: “This book grew from my attempts to explain to Athena [the author’s daughter] that the things which were preoccupying her and her peer group – girls’ safety, school dress codes, dieting, as well as dealing with a changing political climate in which their freedoms were being curtailed…” This commentary is obviously a reference to ‘Brexit’. Facts: The UK entered the EU via the Maastricht Treaty, which was imposed against the will of the majority of its population (opinion poll range at the time was 62–68 percent against). This was an act of forced conquest. It reversed women’s suffrage as the EU’s law-composing government, The European Commission, is 100 percent unelected. No consent and no democracy is tyranny. Removing the legal and democratic checks and balances on power invites abuse and dystopia (unelected Commission directives become law without even a debate in national parliaments). The logic behind the EU getting rid of democracy at the senior level is surprisingly fair and comes with good intentions: to end the so-called ‘tyranny of the majority’ problem, in which majority interest continually side-lines minorities. This stops unfairness to minorities but (problem) the only way a public majority can stop the tyranny’s leadership group abusing power is by violence. The ‘rights’ lost (borderless travel) can be replicated by treaty alone. You don’t have to be conquered, disenfranchised and left vulnerable.
  
  We were disempowered and compelled to obey (like Antigone) but stood up to the oppressor in defiance (like Antigone) and became free. The author’s family appear saddened. Oh, bless. How will your friends punish insolent little Antigone next?
  
  It is a neo-liberal delusion to be unaware when you have become indistinguishable from dictators, imposing your will on others without consent. I see this family moved from the UK to the US, for career prospects. I suggest asking USA friends if they would approve of the same thing happening to them.: “Would you agree to the US being forcibly conquered against the will of your population and ruled by an unelected foreign government?” “Do you think you would have more rights and freedoms if that happened?” They’d just stare at you.
  
  Referring to Euripides’ lost adaptation of Antigone in the wrapping up of this book: “Perhaps the hero Hercules intervened, and they all lived happily ever after, an ending that would have allowed Antigone to rebel against Creon’s authoritarianism and to have a future.”
  
  Antigone’s intransigence over one issue (burying the dead) has morphed into our duty not to be a passive bystander when we witness injustice. Summary: Well researched, insightful and informative but the reader should filter quality information from personal opinion.
• 
  Alžbětina

  Málem jsem si to nepůjčila už kvůli obálce. Zaprvé nechápu, proč všechny knížky o feminismu teďka musí být růžové (aneb vytrháváme barvu spojenou s ženskostí z rukou misogynů a přivlastňujeme si ji zpět?), zadruhé jsem se bála, že to bude převyprávění mýtů s feministickým filtrem (nepotřebuju číst jak Persephone je girlboss, fakt ne).
  Proto jsem byla příjemně překvapená, že Morales používá mýty jako ilustraci společenských norem zakotvených v západní civilizaci už od antiky. Ať už jde o dress code, dietní průmysl (který z nějakého důvodu má rád asi dva citáty od Hippocrata), či přístup ke znásilnění. Zejména kapitola o adaptování hry Lysistrata a varování před před zjednodušováním problematiky sexu a násilí je velmi zajímavá. Zároveň ale Morales nedělá z antických Řeků a Římanů sexisty, na to je mytologie často příliš nejednoznačná.
  Je to také napsané dosti přívětivou formou, ačkoli je vidět, že je to poctivě ocitované. Možná i proto mi závěrečná teze přišla trochu úsměvná ve smyslu jak byla vlastně neobjevná.
  

  One of the conclusions of this book is that ancient myths (stories) have subversive power precisely because they can be told - and read - in different ways. ... This can be due to their inherent ambiguities and their ability to reveal a different perspective if we read them with care.

  
  Nicméně autorka má pravdu v tom, že většina čtení antických mýtů opomíná "podvratné" prvky a zjednodušuje tyto příběhy na morality s jednoznačným dobrem a zlem.
  Nakonec to bylo příjemné překvapení. Knížka je to útlá a čte se rychle (to, že jsem ji četla tři týdny má co dělat s tím, že jsem četla vždy jen jednu kapitolu a když se mi chtělo) a jako příspěvek do současného feminismu je, dle mého názoru, velmi umírněné (čímž pádem asi i přístupnější pro běžného čtenáře).
• 
  Keelia

  An interesting and wide ranging look at a number of myths and social/political structures they can influence, particularly focusing on those dealing with women (and violence against them), racism and white supremacy, and queer identities. While Morales chose to discuss a number of different modern events in which the people involved have aligned themselves with particular classical myths, I think I would have preferred there to be a few more modern examples to further show the point of the deep entrenchment of these myths in global societies. However, I did appreciate how the examples chosen were not just from Euro-American or 'Western' countries, particularly in the Lysistrata chapter.
  
  I think this book suffered a bit from its length - a bit more in-depth analysis of a couple of points raised would probably have helped bring particular arguments home. One thing I would have appreciated for my own personal interest is a discussion of recent novelised myth retellings from female perspectives (Natalie Haynes, Madeline Miller, Pat Barker, Jennifer Saint etc) which were briefly mentioned towards the end.
  
  Morales did a very good job of explaining the myths she was discussing and making it as accessible as possible. I think many people would benefit from reading this, and I would be interested in seeing a follow up discussing events of the past year or so during the pandemic that could be linked to various myths, if there are any.
• 
  Keylee 🍓

  Excellent book for Art History and Comparative Literature students, like myself, who want to learn about the importance of the retelling of myths in modern society. Solidarity, empowerment, catharsis and feminism are very prevalent in this book in order to challenge the status quo and the patriarchal society that we currently live on.
• 
  Andrea

  I docked a star only because she uses the Roman names for the gods and I absolutely do not vibe with that.
• 
  Alice

  Greek myths are undergoing a real renaissance right now, with the huge popularity of books such as Stephen Fry’s Mythos and Heroes, and Madeleine Miller’s The Song of Achilles and Circe. Much as I’ve enjoyed the retellings that have come out over the past few years, though, Helen Morales’ Antigone Rising is the first book I’ve come across that engages critically with the representation of women, LGBT+ characters and ethnic minorities in the surviving versions of the myths.
  
  This is no collection of straightforward, empowering stories for girl bosses. Some chapters paint a very bleak picture indeed: if violence against women by incels, the enforcement of dress codes that imply girls and women are deliberately provocative and boys and men can’t control themselves, and the dismissal of rape victims’ testimonies have parallels in the ancient stories, can we ever expect things to change?
  
  Nonetheless, Morales is able to draw out positives from the stories: plenty of ancient Greek women can be seen teaming up against, and beating, their oppressors. In fact, strength in numbers is a key message of the book: Morales points out that one reason the eponymous Antigone’s story ends badly is because she acts only for herself.
  
  Even when the myths appear to provide validation and support for LGBT+ people today, Morales doesn’t give them an easy pass. After all, it’s not ideal that Caneus is granted a different, impenetrable body just as he’s in danger of rape, and Iphis has to become male for her relationship with Ianthe to be acceptable to society.
  
  However, Morales points out that these examples are open to interpretation and adaptation. In the case of Caeneus, it can be argued that he knew himself to be male long before his aforementioned opportunity to transition - and afterwards, he is so impenetrable he’s not even hurt by violent attacks - an inspiring allegory for modern-day transphobia.
  
  As for Iphis and Ianthe, Morales reports, in Girl Meets Boy, Ali Smith’s update of the ancient story, the Iphis character is enabled to “escape the prison-house of the story” and be joyfully, beautifully non-binary (I’ve totally added this book to my reading list!). Another key message: myths can be reinterpreted, altered, and used to emphasise different points. The original tellers themselves, after all, reshaped the stories to suit their own agendas and sensibilities. Even Antigone’s tragic tale isn’t set in stone.
  
  This book is a relatively quick read, yet Morales covers a huge amount of cultural ground. As well as her approving commentary on Girl Meets Boy mentioned above, she discusses how the 2015 film Chi-Raq positively updates the story of Lysistrata’s sex strike (yet fails to address the reality of domestic assault and rape against women taking such measures), covers the enduring influence of Greek myths in Mexico (including the story of real-life vigilante Diana, Hunter of Bus Drivers), lovingly dissects Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s Apeshit video (did you know marble statues were actually brightly-painted, so it’s incorrect to regard them as depicting while people), and much more. I learned so much! I was surprised that Kamila Shamsie’s Home Fire didn’t get a mention, though, based as it is on Antigone.
  
  Antigone Rising is a wide-ranging treatise that demonstrates the power, nature and uses of stories and provides grounds for optimism.
• 
  Lani

  Intriguing premise and I did learn some new things, but it was a bit less scholarly and a bit more personal than I was expecting. I wish the author had left out the many side comments and personal tangents (ie a celebrity that took her class once…) and had fleshed out some of her ideas further. Ideally for me, she would have provided more examples for each point as well as drawn on more examples outside of very recent events - some of her details and writing style made the book feel dated already.
• 
  Kim

  Brilliant, eye-opening and powerful.
  
  Antigone Rising is everything I never knew I needed in a book. It has effortlessly described the many, compelling links between ancient myths and historical and modern-day gender politics. A fantastic read - I would recommend it to anyone!
• 
  Louise

  A light look at how myths can relate to modern society. Would have rated it higher but it didn’t go deep enough into them for me. More of a summary than an in depth look
• 
  Saimi Korhonen

  "By turning to the past, we can imagine our futures afresh. And that recognising the subversive power of ancient myths - through reading the original stories closely and through enjoying their modern re-creations and using them to inspire and support political activism - can be both transformative and redemptive."
  
  In Antigone Rising Helen Morales explores the connections between ancient Greek myths and today's modern world. She writes about how many harmful practices, such as school dress codes, rape culture and environmental exploitation can be traced back to antiquity, and how myths have been used to legitimatise harmful ideologies such as sexism, racism, white supremacy and fascism. But Morales also shines a light on how these myths have been read and told in ways that empower women, queer people and racial minorities, and how greek mythology can also inspire people to stand up to tyranny and make people feel seen.
  
  Antigone Rising was an interesting and thought-provoking, yet still very easy and pleasant book to read. The chapters and the various themes Morales explores inspired me to have conversations with my mother about mythology and its ties to our world, and how myths have been used throughout ages to promote harmful, but also revolutionary and positive agendas.
  
  Some of the chapters were about things I was already aware of or have read previously about, but there was so much new information for me! I had no idea Hippocrates is used so often in diet books and guides, and that his writings have been so misinterpreted to support fat-shaming and our culture's general idea that being thin is the only acceptable and healthy way to live. I had also never heard of Diana, the Hunter of Bus Drivers, who was a mexican vigilante woman who killed bus drivers as a protest against the common sexual violence women experience on buses - her vigilante persona was modelled after the goddess Artemis, who was a protector of women and girls.
  
  I enjoyed chapter 3 about Hippocrates and dieting, chapter 7 about Beyoncé's use of mythology and goddess-imagery as a way to protest and highlight black beauty and womanhood, chapter 8 about queerness and mythology, and how many greek myths (despite many of the stories having some, from our modern POV, problematic aspects) have inspired and continue to empower queer people, and chapter 5 about rape culture and how many false myths about rape and women can be traced straight back to antiquity (like this myth that women lie about being raped - see the story of Phaedra) the most interesting ones in the book. There wasn't a chapter that I disliked, but these were the most striking once.
  
  I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in greek mythology and how it can be and has been interpreted. Morales' writing is easy to read and often very witty, and while she often discusses very serious and uncomfortable topics, her book was never uncomfortable to read!
• 
  Anna Jaskiewicz

  As someone who doesn’t read much non-fiction or many books regarding gender studies topics, I found this work to be exceptionally enlightening. I love Greek/Roman mythology and I was elated that Morales intended to use this book to showcase the important and positive impact these myths can have on our society, if one takes the time to consider them.
  
  Helen Morales’ dedication and passion for writing this book was apparent from the first page to the last. She expertly highlights many Greek/Roman myths and analyzes their value in relation to our modern day society in a number of different ways. She summarizes Sophocles’ “Antigone” and draws on this myth throughout the book. As she points out in her preface, “myths open up new ways of looking at the world” (ix). Morales spends the entirety of her book opening up readers’ eyes to various myths and explicating how they relate to many current societal and political discussions. Additionally, she makes fascinating observations about and connections to modern day female role models such as Katniss Everdeen, Wonder Woman, and Beyonce in relation to feminine heroes of Greek/Roman myths. Morales also brings to light many myths that ought to be recognized for their relevance in discussions regarding gender, sexuality, feminism, and LGBTQ+ rights.
  
  Overall, Morales writes eloquently and the connections she highlights between modern day concerns and Greek/Roman myths are well thought out and are exemplified intellectually throughout her work. Definitely worth the read!