Hell on men helen of troy, narrative ambiguity, and the discourse of misogyny Gabrielle Roehr

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Roehr, Gabrielle, author.

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania. Classical Studies., degree granting institution.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Classical studies.

Classical literature.

Literature.

0434.

0294.

0401.

Local Subjects:

Classical studies.

Classical literature.

Literature.

0434.

0294.

0401.

Genre:

Academic theses

Physical Description:

1 online resource (280 pages)

Contained In:

Dissertations Abstracts International 87-12A

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 2026

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This dissertation is a feminist critique of the myth of Helen of Troy as told in selected works of the ancient Greek and Roman literary traditions. Drawing from the theoretical works of Hélène Cixous, Andrea Dworkin, and Judith Butler, it argues that Helen is a signifier of a patriarchal anxiety about the stability of masculine power. Helen is an example of how the discourse of misogyny, which is one of the discursive practices that creates and enforces gender roles, fashions the feminine as a threat in order to justify and legitimize masculine violence. Helen compels many men to fight and kill for her; the sight of her poses an emotional and physical threat to the masculine onlooker; and she self-consciously conforms to and breaks patriarchal gender norms. As a fantasy of the patriarchal imagination, Helen represents the ambiguous construction of the feminine within patriarchy as an object of both fear and desire. As Cixous and Dworkin both argue, this idea of the feminine is meant to be a source of patriarchal power; however, Helen shows how it ultimately threatens the stability of the system. Stories about Helen fashion her as essential for masculine bonds in warfare, as both a motivation and a perpetrator of the violence of the Trojan War, as a figure capable of disrupting the male gaze, and as an imperfect performer of internalized misogyny. This characterization is reflected in formal features involving narrative ambiguity, such as reduction and avoidance, affirmation and denial, and fragmentation. These features occur in stories told about Helen in particular patterns according to whether the story is told from a third-, second-, or first-person perspective. This narrative ambiguity can be found across authors and genres, including in the works of the epic poets Homer, Hesiod, and Vergil; the tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides; the lyric poet Stesichorus; and the elegist Ovid. This persistence evinces the deeper underlying cultural impulse to fashion an archetypal woman as an object of fear and desire, and a signifier of patriarchal anxiety

Notes:

Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 87-12, Section: A.

Advisors: Wilson, Emily Committee members: Murnaghan, Sheila; Farrell, Joseph

Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 2026

Vendor supplied data

Local Notes:

School code: 0175

ISBN:

9798247982104

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license