From Elizabethtown College, April 2, 2019
What makes a woman a hero? Is she defined as one by her ability to fight or the power that she wields just from being a woman? That was the core question that was posed during Jennifer Besse’s lecture, “Wonder Women: Amazons, Warriors, and Witches in Greek Mythology,” held on Monday, March 18 in the High Library. As the name of the lecture suggests, Besse explored several famous mythological women, ranging from Pandora to Hippolyta, who are featured in Greek Mythology. Each possesses their own individualized set of strengths and weaknesses that made them a hero within Ancient Greek society.
Besse also spent much of the night discussing ancient socio-political issues that affected the way women were regarded in ancient times and even stretched to and invaded modern day’s issues.
“It was interesting to see what Ancient Greeks considered to be the definition of a hero and their criteria for one,” Julia Raup-Collado a senior English literature major who attended the event commented.” It differs from today’s [criteria], although you can also see where such themes were adopted and reformatted for modern times.”