Her armour : a representation of feminine virtue in Homeric epic
Date
2001
Authors
Jamin, Rebecca Magdalen
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Abstract
This thesis surveys occurrences of the Greek abstract noun aidris and related semantic terms in relation to female characters in the Iliad and the Odyssey. The goal of this endeavour is to create a framework within which to discuss how aidos as a concept is cpnstrued for female characters and is distinct from the model for males established by traditional androcentric scholarship. In masculine contexts, the concept of aidos more regularly indicates either an emotional experience of shame or a feeling of respect for one's superiors. For a female character, however, aidos represents a virtue or an attribute signaling her modesty and self-restraint. The label aidoie, the adjectival form of the noun aidos, indicates a woman who is highly valued. Her beauty, her skill at weaving, her efficient management of the household are all qualities for which she is respected and which she must possess in order to be recognized as aidoie. It is her ability to reserve and direct these qualities to the exclusive benefit of her male guardian, however, whether husband or father, which reveals her internalization of aidos as a virtue. Having established the parameters of acceptable behaviour for the aidoie gune, this study allows for and initiates a more precise discussion of the characterization of female figures who adhere to, and who diverge from, this ideal.