FREE ESSAY ON GREEK HEROINE CULTS

GREEK HEROINE CULTS

Larson, Jennifer Greek Heroine Cults. University of Wisconsin Press, 1995.
Jennifer Larson's extensive knowledge on the subject of ancient women, goddesses, gods,
and mythology is very apparent in this book. I found the book difficult to read as one
would read a novel or even a textbook. However, I thought that Larson's very detailed
(and referenced and cross-referenced) descriptions of heroine cults would make an
excellent reference book. This comprehensive book details Greek heroin cults and their
place in Greek society, from the worship of them, to a definition of who could be
considered a heroine, to stories about them. Citing many sources and references, Larson
gives an unbiased view to the many different theories and interpretations of the evidence
found about the heroine cults.
Larson's studies have concluded that there were many more heroine cults than history
would lead one to believe (p. 4). She says that in the time of the ancient Greece, many
individual families, or larger extended families worshiped their own heroines that might
not be known to other Greek citizens. An other reason why heroines might not get much
recognition is that they were often paired with a hero, and thus overshadowed by him. In
our discussions in class, we too have talked about the fact that women are not as equally
represented in history as men are, and this seems to be the case for heroines as well as
for regular women. Since men were writing the histories, they wrote about their version
of a "hero." The famous history writers from ancient Greece would undoubtedly consider
the traits of a fearless warrior to be the great heroic standard. The trials,
tribulations, and wisdom of women would likely not be as interesting to the notable Greek
history writers, and certainly not considered heroic, therefore the many heroine cults
would not have been written about.
Heroes may be defined by their courage and military prowess, but what makes a heroine in
ancient Greek culture? According to Larson, many of the heroines are defined by their
death (p. 136). These women (and girls) die from wrongful deaths, i.e. as a scapegoat,
rape victim, or sacrifice. Others die by suicide precipitating from escape from rape (p
137). Unlike some scholars, Larson deems only women which were at one time mortal to be
considered as heroines. Although some nymphs and goddesses are listed as heroines, they
begin as mortal women who are later transformed into immortal status. 
Larson analyzes various heroine stories in the book. A common theme to some of the
stories is the heroine committing suicide. According to Larson, "The strongest form of
female aggression it these stories, the dying curse, is paradoxically combined with the
act of suicide. The woman's physical violence is directed toward herself, while the
vengeance on the one who wronged her is carried out through impersonal agencies (p.
135)." An example of this is the story of a Thracian princess named Phyllis. Phyllis was
in love with an Athenian prince named Demophon. Evidently Phyllis and Demophon had a love
affair which ended when Demophon had to leave Phyllis' country for a while. He promised
her that he would come back for her in one year, but did not, opting instead to settle in
Cyprus. Her love denied and betrayed, Phyllis hangs herself after calling down curses
upon her former lover. Demophon meanwhile, had a box that Phyllis had given him and told
him not to open unless he had given up all hope of returning to her. Upon learning of her
death, Demophon opened the box and he and his horse were stricken with panic. The horse
threw him, and he fell on his sword and died. 
Larson concludes her book questioning why so many heroine cults existed, but few were
written about. She cites the bias of modern historians and scholars who, in their works
on heroes, purposely left out any mention of heroines in their quest to highlight the
importance of heroes in Greek culture. She feels that although ancient Greece was an
androcentric society, it wasn't as androcentric as some scholars would have us believe
when it came down to heroes and heroines. 
Bibliography
Larson, Jennifer Greek Heroine Cults. University of Wisconsin Press, 1995.