1

Feminist Retellings of Greek and Indian

Mythology

Submitted to the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai

in

Partial fulfillment of the Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism degree

By Ashna Butani
Print Stream, Batch of 2018-2019
 2

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank all the people who helped me conceptualise the topic and write my

dissertation. Firstly, I would like to thank my mentor Anjana Krishnan, for her help and

guidance.

Secondly, I would like to thank Professor Sreekumar Menon who encouraged me to

explore the topic and suggested readings that were immensely helpful.

I would like to express my gratitude to the librarians of the Asian College of Journalism.
 3

Contents

- Introduction – Patriarchal Mythology Pg 3

- Chapter 1 – Patriarchal Standards of Beauty Pg 10

- Chapter 2 – Marriages and Husband Selection Pg 17

- Chapter 3 – Gendered Activities Pg 21

- Chapter 4 – Misunderstood Women Pg 23

- Chapter 5 – Reimagining our Male Heroes Pg 30

- Chapter 6 – Horrors Perpetrated by Men Pg 35

- Conclusion – Female Retellings Restore Power to Women Pg 39

- Bibliography Pg 43
 4

Introduction – Patriarchal Mythology

Like most Indians, I grew up with the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Tales of the

glory and might of Arjun, the duty-bound, pious Ram, the strong warriors, loyal

husbands, and rightful kings, were passed down to me. But the female characters ceased

to make a lasting impact. Because the stories were about men, told and written by men.

Over the years, mythology has proved useful in imposing and protecting patriarchal

ideals such as male superiority and female subordination. From Greek mythology to

Indian, it cannot be denied that the function of the female has been systematically

devalued. The cultural nuances set the mythology of one culture apart from that of the

other, but patriarchy serves as a common thread.

According to Joseph Campbell, “in the masculine dream world… the excellence of the

female is supposed to reside in her beauty form, her constancy and respect for the

marriage bed and her ability to inspire excellent males to excellent patriarchal deeds.”1

1
Occidental Mythology, pg. 161
 5

My interest in female retellings of ancient myths was sparked by Chitra Banerjee

Divakaruni’s The Palace of Illusions - Draupadi’s version of the Mahabharata. This

book helped me venture out of the tunnel vision trap laid by patriarchal mythology.

Fascinated by Greek Mythology for the longest time, I took an online course on the

subject by the University of Pennsylvania Professor Peter Struck. The magical world

drew me in but I soon opened my eyes to the misogyny prevalent in not one but most

myths. Mythology is patriarchal not only because of how women are perceived but also

because the stories are rarely told with a female at the centre. According to Robert

Graves, a renowned classicist, the transformation of women from scared beings to slaves,

is central to Greek myth.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni begins The Forest of Enchantments with a scene where Sita

and Valmiki, the sage who devoted his life to writing the work, have a discussion on the

imbalanced narrative in the Ramayana. “I wrote what the divine vision showed me,” says

Valmiki.

“It must have been a God that brought it to you, then, and not a Goddess. For you haven’t

understood a woman’s life, the heartbreak at the core of her joys, her unexpected
 6

alliances, and desires, her negotiations where, in the hope of keeping one treasure safe,

one must give up another,” said Sita, before she set out to compose the “Sitayan.”2

And hence she delves into a world where the female is given a voice. Similarly, in The

Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood gives Penelope a voice - the loyal wife of Odysseus, who

waits years for her husband to return - the betrayed wife, the forgotten wife. Atwood

simultaneously tells the story of Penelope’s 12 maids who meet their untimely, unfair

deaths at the hands of their master, Odysseus. The maids take the form of a Greek chorus

and Atwood tells their story in haunting rhymes.

Mythical material was, with a few exceptions, orally passed on from one man to another,

from one generation to another. Hence, it is no surprise that the female is a fundamental

part of the story only to meet a masculine end. Women who had little to do with war,

exile and violence were either blamed for it or forced to bear the brunt unequally. Such

was the story of the numerous female “prizes of war,” in the Iliad.

“Men are curiously blind to aggression in women. They’re warriors, with their helmets

and armours, their swords and spears, and they don’t see our battles, they prefer not to.

2
The Forest of Enchantments, pg. 7
 7

Perhaps if they realised we’re not the gentle creatures they take us for, their own peace of

mind will be disturbed,” says Briseis, the woman won by Achilles during the war. 3

Pat Barker tells the story of these “war prizes”, who were doomed to think of themselves

as objects, not people.

In these stories, women are portrayed as unrealistically good or unrealistically bad. Helen

was blamed for the Trojan war, even though the war was initiated by men. “It is, in fact,

amazing to what extent the female figures of epic, drama and romance have been reduced

to mere objects; or when functioning as subjects, initiating action of their own, have been

depicted as incarnate demons or as mere allies of the masculine will.” 4

In the Odyssey, Athene, albeit one of the most powerful Goddesses was portrayed as the

means to Odysseus’ end. She often appeared to help him - in Campbell’s words, a “mere

ally of the masculine will.” Circe, an incredibly powerful witch was one of the designated

demons of Odysseus’ story. She is remembered as the vile witch who turns Odysseus’

3
The Silence of The girls, pg. 7

4
Occidental Mythology, pg. 158
 8

men into pigs and then forces him to sleep with her. Madeline Miller takes us through her

entire life in her book titled Circe.

I studied the above-mentioned books in order to understand the importance of retelling

age-old myths. Telling these stories from a female perspective does not right the wrong

done to women in the past, but it certainly gives us balanced versions of the same stories,

while painting women as multi-dimensional, multi-faceted people with voices that refuse

to be silenced.

Through the chosen readings, I will be looking at patriarchal constructs that imprisoned

the women of the time. By retelling myths and paying homage to the forgotten and

misunderstood women of mythology, we will be able to restore power to them, question

norms and standards, and inch closer to a society where women are just as important to

history as men.

In my dissertation, I will be discussing the chosen female retellings and studying the

elements of patriarchy in them. For the longest time, I contemplated on whether this

study should be titled “Female Retellings of Greek and Indian mythology,” or “Feminist

Retellings of Greek and Indian mythology.”

I settled for feminist because the authors, through their chosen characters question

patriarchy so subtly, that it stings. They serve as a reminder that women in the stories,

some forgotten and some remembered for the wrong reasons are heroes indeed, despite

being victims of patriarchy.

Patriarchal Standards of Beauty

Beauty, its presence and its absence, is central to female retellings because it was the

most prized quality in a woman. Historically, patriarchy expected its women to be

beautiful, yet in many cases punished them for it. Such was the case of Helen, over whom

the Trojan war was fought. Even though infidelity and polyandry were common amongst

men, she is often seen as the villain - the cause for the war because she left her husband

Menelaus (a Greek) and then ran away with Paris (a Trojan).

According to Joseph Campbell, “Patriarchal displacement” is common even in modern

classical scholarship. “It took the late and wonderful Jane Ellen Harrison to remark the

triviality and vulgarity of the episode from which the whole constellation of the glories

and tragedies of the Trojan War were supposed to have derived: The judgement of

Paris.”5 After years of study, scholars are able to concede that the war was not entirely

Helen’s fault.

The way men make light of death and women’s problems is highlighted in the first few

pages of Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls. When Lyrnessus was captured by the

5
Occidental Mythology, pg. 161
 11

Greeks, they killed the men one by one, robbed the village of every last treasure and then

turned their attention to the women.

These women were nothing more than mere objects for the soldiers. Briseis, a Princess

was one such woman who lost her brothers, father, and husband on that very day. Along

with the treasures, the Greek hero, Achilles, received her as a gift, “a prize of war.” In

Homer’s Iliad, the prizes of Troy are mentioned casually. “Cauldrons and tripods and

horses and mules and strong oxen and well-girdled women and grey iron.”6

After Achilles studied Briseis’ face and body, he says, “Cheers lads. She’ll do.” Every

man in the arena then took to laughter.7

This scene is reflective of the themes that run through the Iliad - one that trivialises

women’s woes and objectifies them. There were some women whose lives had changed

for the better, such as a slave girl who was considered lucky as she was now the

concubine of a great lord. Her owner, on the other hand, was rotting in the same

compounds.

6
The Iliad, lines 259-261

7
The Silence of The Girls, pg. 17
 12

“Nothing mattered now except for youth, beauty, and fertility,”8 thinks Briseis, the

protagonist of the book.

For every beautiful woman, there was a less beautiful woman. And even though all

women were treated as slaves, some were treated better. George Orwell would have said,

some slaves are more equal than others.

Women were so suppressed by patriarchy that they were forced to look at themselves

through the eyes of men, and judge themselves based on qualities valued by men.

Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, was often compared to her beautiful cousin Helen- the same

Helen over whom the Trojan War was fought. Even though she was sharp and clever,

Penelope is often seen dwelling on her lack of beauty. This causes her to describe her

cousin as “intolerably beautiful.”9

“Odysseus had been among the suitors for her hand. Now he was only competing for

what was, at best, second prize,”10 Penelope tells herself.

8
The Silence of the Girls, pg. 46

9
The Penelopiad, pg. 28

10
The Penelopiad, pg. 28
 13

This same standard set by men was the cause for pitting one strong woman against

another.

“I was a kind girl - kinder than Helen. I was clever, everyone said so - in fact, they said it

so much, I found it discouraging - but cleverness is a quality a man likes to have in his

wife, as long as she is some distance away from him.”11

Beauty was so severely valued over intelligence that she found it discouraging to be

clever.

However, it is ironic that the same beauty standards are what killed Penelope’s 12 maids.

While Odysseus is away for 20 years and Penelope’s suitors fight for her hand, Penelope

tries to keep them at bay with the help of 12 maids, who keep an eye on them while

sleeping with them. They are of the opinion that they are serving their master by

watching out for thieves and competitors. Given their youth and beauty, they are wanted

by most of the men in Odysseus’ estate.

11
The Penelopiad, pg. 24
 14

“Sleep is the only rest we get;

It is then when we are at peace

We do not have to mop the floor

And wipe away the grease.

We are not chased around the hall

And tumbled in the dirt

By every dimwit nobleman

Who wants a slice of skirt.”

- The Chorus Line 12

However, when Odysseus returns and kills Penelope’s suitors, he also decides to end the

lives of the maids, for being “disloyal,” and sleeping with the enemy. When Penelope

unearths the knowledge of the ruthless killings, she acknowledges the paradox. “The ones

who had been raped. The youngest, the most beautiful.”13

And hence comes an end to the lives, of 12 powerless slave girls, for no fault of theirs but

the beauty they possessed.

12
The Penelopiad, pg. 99

13
The Penelopiad, pg. 117
 15

The lack of feminine traits was at the core of Circe’s banishment. Ever since she was a

child, her family would disregard her for how she looked. Her brother and sister would

routinely tease her. “Her eyes are yellow as piss. Her voice is screechy as an owl.”14

Circe fell in love with Glaucus who was enamoured by the beautiful Scylla. Circe, a

relentless witch, then turned Scylla into a monster. The function of both the women was

determined by “fate.” Unhealthy competition among the women created not one, but two

monsters. We all know how essential monsters are to Greek myths. The Gods,

particularly Zeus, wholeheartedly welcome these monsters because they receive more

prayers and reverence from mortals. For others, the presence of monsters signifies more

adventurous stories. Both Scylla and Circe are portrayed as evil forces that Odysseus had

to battle in his journey to Ithaca.

In the Ramayana, Sita’s beauty and wit is not only an object of admiration but also does

it inspire jealousy in other women. Her husband’s step-mother, Kaikeyi, wishes to

compete with her after hearing of her skill in warcraft. However, their similarities

14
Circe, pg. 6
 16

eventually bring them closer. In fact, Kaikeyi tells Sita, “Finally there’s another woman

in the royal palace with brains and guts and good looks, too.”15

When Ram and Sita were sent to the forest by Kaikeyi, Surpanakha, Ravan’s ‘asura’

(demon) sister, was envious of Sita’s beauty. She wished to compete with her for Ram.

This unfavourable jealousy leads Surpanakha to visit the Ram, Lakshman, and Sita and

declare her love for Ram. Ram denied her as he had made a promise to marry only once.

This infuriated Surpanakha who blamed Sita.

“You puny little female! You’re the cause for the whole problem, isn’t it?”

Ram and his brother Lakshman refused to let a rakshasa threaten Sita. Hence, Lakshman

mutilated Surpanakha. This incident was one of the reasons for the war with Lanka. Had

the brothers retaliated more kindly, the war may have been evaded.

Sita, the one, who should have been offended, thinks to herself. “The girl had gone

beyond the norms of maidenly behaviour,”16 but she did not deserve such a harsh

punishment.

15
The Forest of Enchantments, pg. 85
 17

Marriages and Husband Selection

‘Swayamvaras’ are commonly defined as self-selection of husbands. However, in many

cases, it was a test of skill and the woman had to accept as her husband - whoever was

deemed fit by the task set before him.

The Adi Parva, the first of 18 books in the Mahabharata, narrates the story of the

swayamvara of Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika, daughters of the king of Kashi. Bhishma

went to the swayamvara to win the three princesses for his step-brother, Vichitravirya.

However, Amba was secretly in love with Salva and had promised to marry him.

Bhishma battled the other suitors and abducted the three princesses.

When Amba confesses her love for Salva to Bhishma, he sends her back to Salva.

However, Salva no longer accepts her. “Bhishma has taken you by the hand. You’ve been

contaminated by his touch. You belong to him now,” he says.

16
Forest of Enchantments, pg. 149
 18

“I said if someone grasps my hand against my will, does that make me his?”17

The idea that women are given a choice while choosing their husbands during

swayamvaras, is a deceptive one. Amba was given no choice and was forced to approach

Bhishma to marry her, in order to save face. He too, denied her as he had vowed to be

celibate all his life. The obstinate woman vowed to avenge Bhishma. After years of

penance, she was reborn as Shikhandi, who eventually killed Bhishma.

Sikhandi’s sister, Draupadi, the central female character in the Mahabharata, also had a

Swayamvara. Her beauty was so splendid that it turned the men around her into each

other’s enemies. Kings from all over the country attended the event but few could lift the

‘Kindhara bow’ from the ground. Those who could, were far from shooting the fish’s

eye, the primary target. Arjun, dressed as a Brahmin wins the contest, while Draupadi had

to marry him without any knowledge of his identity.

Arjun takes Draupadi home to his brothers, Yudhisthir, Bheema, Nakul, Sahadev, and

his mother, Kunti. The brothers casually tell their mother that they have won alms. She

asks them to share whatever it is, that they have won. Abiding by their mother’s word,

17
The Palace of Illusions, pg. 48
 19

the five brothers were married to Draupadi. Draupadi, who had no say in the matter of her

own marriage, was forced to take five husbands.

“Five husbands! You know what they call a woman with more than one man, don’t you?

Though no one seems to have a problem when men sleep with a different wife every day

of the week,”18 says dhai ma, Draupadi’s foster mother.

In Greece, Swayamvaras didn’t exist, but Penelope too was passed on from one family to

another. After choosing Odysseus from a gathering of suitors, who were competing not

for her, but for the royalty attached to her, she says “And so I was handed over like a

package of meat, in a wrapping of gold, mind you.”19

A few years into their marriage, Odysseus left to fight the Trojans. When Odysseus

returns to Ithaca, his hometown after many years, he wishes to test if she had been loyal

to him. He had, however not resisted sleeping with other women, namely Circe,

Nausicaa, and Calypso. Penelope thinks that if she slept with any of the suitors when

Odysseus was away, he would come back and chop her into pieces.

18
The Palace of Illusions, pg. 42

19
The Penelopiad, pg. 33
 20

And hence, when he returns, he sets a test for her rather than it being the other way

round. Odysseus had carved a bed from an olive tree and told her that if anyone ever got

to know about the bed, he would know she had been unfaithful to him. The secret of the

bed was a test of their fidelity to one another.

“But now since you have spoken signs easy to recognise of our bed, which no other

mortal man has ever seen…” said Odysseus “...you indeed persuade my spirit, though it

is very unfeeling.”20

Throughout Penelope's first marriage and what we call her remarriage, the illusion of

choice resided with her, but in reality, she was the one who was left with no choice but to

marry and wait and then prove her fidelity to her infidel husband.

20
Odyssey, lines 225-230
 21

Gendered Activities

In ancient Greek, weaving was an exclusively female activity. In fact, Freud's

controversial penis-envy theory has its roots in Ancient Greece. “Women invented

weaving to conceal their genitals, the locus of their lack and the envy of the male’s

procreative capacity.”21

According to popular belief at the time, every time Helen cut a thread in her weaving, a

man died on the battlefield. However, when Briseis met Helen, she perceived Helen’s

weaving differently.

“Helen was seizing control over her story. She was so isolated in that city, so powerless, I

could see that those tapestries were a way of saying, I’m here. Me. A person. Not just an

object to look at and fight over.”22

For Helen, Penelope and Circe, weaving was a way to gain control of their lives, since

they had been rendered powerless by the construct of gender.

21
A paper by the MIT Press, pg. 13-14

22
The Silence of the Girls, pg. 130
 22

When Penelope was fraught with the issue of picking a husband from the hundreds of

suitors that she did not intend on marrying, she hid behind her tapestries. She said that

she was weaving a magnificent shroud for her father-in-law and could not marry until it

was complete. She used weaving as a coping mechanism.

And when in Madeline Miller’s version of the story, Circe and Penelope meet after

Odysseus’ death, weaving was the thread that bound them together. Since it was one of

the few activities that women were allowed to indulge in, they decided to weave their

own tales and empower themselves with the little that they had.

In India, several subjects were kept away from women. Draupadi was envious of the

lessons that her brother, received but she didn’t. “Dhri was given other lessons, though

these, I could not share.” The lessons included fighting with swords and spears, wrestling

with horses and elephants, managing chariots. Politics came under the male domain too.23

23
The Palace of Illusions, pg. 27
 23

Misunderstood Women

Draupadi existed in a time where a woman’s sole duty was to please her husband. But she

was not one of them. However, she was not only equal to her husbands but sometimes

more powerful. Therefore, she is known as an early feminist, someone who was vocal

about her ambition, central to her family and an equal to her husbands, when such things

were unheard of, even tabooed.

After taking five husbands, against her will, she was given a boon by Vyasa that would

turn her into a virgin every year as she embraces a new husband. “I would be wife to each

brother for a year at a time... Each time I went to a new brother, I would be virgin again.”

However, she acknowledges how different her situation was from men with many wives.

Men could pick whom they wanted to sleep with. “Like a communal drinking cup, I

would be passed from hand to hand whether I liked it or not.”24

24
The Palace of Illusions, pg. 120
 24

She was not delighted about the boon that made her a virgin each year since that had been

more a boon for her husbands than her. She would have her hymen break every year. The

Indian obsession with female virginity can be traced to Draupadi’s misfortune. Her

husbands married again, but there was no need to restore their virginity.

Draupadi grows to love each of her husbands differently. She is unapologetic about how

she learns to use her power as a woman. She throws tantrums to get her way and turns

into a woman who exercises control over her husbands. And since this was so rare then,

people would often term her as the cruel tongued queen or the tantrum-throwing wife.

Yudhishtir, the oldest of the Pandava brothers, staked the palace that Draupadi treasured

immensely, and his brothers in a game of dice. After losing which, he staked himself and

when even that did not work, the enemy, Duryodhana asked for Draupadi. She cites a

passage from the ‘Nyaya Shastra’ to prove that if a man loses himself, he no longer had

jurisdiction over his wife.

None of that worked for she was shamed in front of an entire court. An attempt to strip

her of her sari was made but in vain. A miracle kept adding material to her sari. Karna

who had ordered this was avenging her denial of his hand because he was of a lower
 25

caste. “The punishment was greater than my crime,”25 thought Draupadi. For turning into

someone else, Draupadi does not blame herself, but her circumstances. She only did what

the situation forced her to. While referring to her old persona she says, “She is dead. Half

of her died on the day when everyone she had loved and counted on to save her sat

without protest and watched her being shamed. The other half perished with her beloved

home. But never fear. The woman who has taken her place will gouge a much deeper

mark into history than that naive girl ever imagined.”26

And she did indeed leave a mark in history, not for being a victim of patriarchy, but for

being one of the first to question it. During the year when Draupadi and her husbands had

to hide from Duryodhana, she worked as a maid in Sudeshna’s palace. Sudeshna’s

brother, Keechak used to eye the young and beautiful maids. When Draupadi herself was

subject to such treatment, she was enraged. She promised herself to ensure that men treat

women better once she was the queen again.27

25
The Palace of Illusions, pg. 194

26
The Palace of Illusions, pg. 206

27
The Palace of Illusions, pg. 228
 26

Kaikeyi was another woman who was forced by circumstances to act wicked. Since every

story needed a female villain in order to make the male protagonist look good and play

his part, Keikeyi did as she was expected to. Till date, people name their daughters Sita,

Kaushalya and Sumitra, but few name them Kaikeyi. Like Sita, she was a strong

character, skilled at making herbs and fighting.

She was one of the few queens of the time to accompany her husband to war against a

demon. She saved her husband’s life and hence, he granted her two boons, which she was

to exercise later. When the time came, she had to exile Ram so that Ravan could

eventually be killed.

Ram’s destiny was preordained. Even the Gods knew that he would leave for the forest.

Yet, she was hated by all for taking such a step. In the modern re-interpretation, Sita

forgives her mother-in-law for sending her into an exile that almost ended her life. “She

hadn’t hurt me any more than Ram had,28” says Sita.

28
The Forest of enchantments, pg. 286
 27

Men who embarked on similar or worse endeavours were often forgiven by history, but

the wickedness of Kaikeyi is remembered even today. This is why we need to balance the

myriad myths told from a male perspective, but reading those told by women.

Circe, a nymph Goddess with magical powers, was banished by her father, the Sun God,

Helios, for using her powers. When she was young, she fell in love with Glaucus. She

used ‘pharmaka’ (magic) to turn him into a God. But once he took the form of a God, he

refused her. Circe had been rejected and isolated over and over again because she was not

considered conventionally beautiful.

The use of power and magic, so common in men, caused Circe's banishment to a far-

away island. Zeus, an Olympian wanted to contain the power of Circe’s brothers and

sister as they were Titan children, born to Helios and Perse. And hence Circe was bound

by a lifetime of imprisonment in Aiaia.

“Zeus is terrified of witchcraft and wanted a sacrifice. Father picked you because you are

worth the least,” said Aeetes, Circe’s favourite brother before she was sent away. 29

29
Circe, pg. 128
 28

Each of the men in her life abandoned her cruelly. Glaucus fell in love with Scylla. Her

father sent her to a distant island to spend the rest of her life alone. Her brother, Aeetes,

bid her a cold farewell. None make an effort to stop the banishment from taking place.

When she left her father’s chariot, he did not say a word to her. “I had a little pride. If

they did not weep, I would not either. I pressed my palms to my eyes until they cleared. I

made myself look around.”30

Over the years, Aiaia became “a good place to send difficult daughters.” Circe was not

very happy about this for she had begun to practise magic freely, in the absence of others.

“At least I told myself it was not their brothers who would have bragged and hunted

down my wolves. But that was never the real problem. Sons were not punished.”31

She grew attached to Daedalus who abandoned her. Her companion Hermes, only visited

her island when he needed her. Sailors would stop by at times to seek shelter when the

sea was rough. Many of them would rape her.

30
Circe, pg. 67

31
Circe, pg. 159
 29

“The man threw me back against the wall...I opened my mouth to cry out the spell (sleep-

spell) but he jammed my windpipe and the sound was choked off.” 32 The captain raped

Circe while the other men watched. After he was done, the other men discussed if she

was dead before they got their turn.

This was the first time she cast a spell that turned men into pigs. “The sleep-spell I had

been going to say was gone, dried up. I could not have cast it even if I wanted to. But I

did not want to. Those herbs had another use, and I knew what it was.”33

She is remembered in mythology and history as the wicked witch who turned men into

pigs, she is not remembered as a woman who avenged her rapists.

Hence arises the need for female retellings by female authors. Circe is a character with

flaws too. But she is detested even today, for nothing but exerting her power. Such stories

were accepted with a male at the centre. Throughout patriarchal myth, she was portrayed

as someone who was inherently evil.

32
Circe, pg. 164 – 165

33
Circe, pg. 164 - 165
 30

Reimagining our Male Heroes

The bards have been singing about Achilles and Ram for years, poets writing about them,

epics telling their stories. But rarely do we look at them through the eyes of the women in

their lives. Were they just excellent warriors? Or were they decent human beings too?

That can certainly be gauged from the way they treated their women.

“Great Achilles, Brilliant Achilles, Shining Achilles, Godlike Achilles...how the epithets

pile up. We never called him any of those things. We called him butcher.”34

“We” refers to the women of Lyrnessus, who were abducted by the Greek army that

overthrew their city. Any trace of Achilles’ genuine feelings for Briseis, his “prize” was

absent from Homer’s Iliad. Achilles paraded Briseis around at all times. “At first I

couldn’t understand why he wanted me there, but then I remembered that I was his prize

of honour, his reward for killing 60 men in one day, so of course he wanted to show me

off to his guests,”35 says Briseis.

34
The Silence of the Girls, pg. 3

35
The Silence of the Girls, pg. 37
 31

When Chryseis’ father, the High priest of Apollo requests Agamemnon for his daughter

back, he refuses. Apollo avenged the army, by infesting the army with the plague. Hence,

Achilles tells Agamemnon, the Commander of the Greek army to return the girl to her

father. Angered by this, Agamemnon says that he wants a replacement. And in the blink

of an eye, Briseis was passed on from one man to another.

When the time for the valiant Achilles to be brave arises, he takes a cowardly step. “I

won’t fight for her. Why should I risk my life?” says Achilles. “Oh, he’d fight for death,

for any of his possessions but not for me,”36 Briseis thinks to herself.

When Agamemnon, in a bid to end the rivalry, sends Briseis back, Achilles refuses her

and sends her back, like he would, a package of meat that was of no value to him.

“There was nothing that stops Agamemnon handing me over to his soldiers for common

use. I’d seen the lives of those women. Patroclus’ dogs lived better,”37 thought Briseis.

In fact, Achilles’ trusted friend, Patroclus, was more honourable. He often lent Briseis a

helping hand, particularly when she needed a friend. Whether Patroclus and Achilles

36
The Silence of the Girls, pg. 102

37
The Silence of the Girls, pg. 162
 32

were lovers or friends is a debatable matter. After Hector killed Patroclus in the

battlefield, thinking he was Achilles, Achilles goes into a rage, kills Hector and refuses to

bury him. However, for a woman that he shared an intimate relationship with, he refused

to even raise his voice.

Ram’s valour, honesty, modesty, and perseverance have been talked about for ages. The

just king, always bound by duty to his land and people, failed his wife when he needed to

support her. Until the day when his wife Sita was abducted by Ravan, one would imagine

that nothing could come in between Ram and his wife.

Sita was tortured in Ravan’s palace and courted from time to time. Sita, unswayed by

Ravan’s persuasion, remained loyal to Ram. “Ram is my entire universe. I’ve given him

all my heart, all of it forever. Even if I wanted to, I could never enjoy another person.”38

Naive Sita waited for Ram, sure that he will rescue her. And he does but displays no

emotion after doing so. “I have rescued you Sita...I have built a bridge over the ocean and

crossed over it with my allies of the monkey nations. My followers and I have suffered

38
The Forest of Enchantments, pg. 202
 33

greatly in the process, for the Rakshasa army was a powerful one. Now, I have slain

Ravan and set you free. Here, ends my duty to you, and my responsibility. Go where you

will and live out the rest of your days.”39

Even after Sita devoted years of her life to Ram during his exile, she was deserted when it

was time for him to trust her. He questions her devotion to him and wonders what kind of

a relationship Sita had with her abductor, Ravan. He pays no heed to the fact that she too,

had suffered a great deal or that she did not get on Ravana's chariot willingly. She was

tricked and kidnapped by a man. And then, she was abandoned by another for no fault of

hers except for being a woman.

Filial duty and kingly duty was important to Ram, but his duty to Sita was as fickle as a

thread that could be cut with his own knife of mistrust. Sita proves that she is innocent.

She asks her brother-in-law Lakshman to build her a fire, even before she knew that she

was the Goddess of fire. She wishes to walk into her death, for she did not want to be

mistreated and insulted when all she had done was wish to come home to a husband who

valued her as much as she, him.

39
The Forest of Enchantments, pg. 242
 34

She steps into the fire but emerges from it, unscathed. Ram then rushes to her and

apologises, only to abandon her again. In Valmiki’s Ramayana, when the couple returns

to Ayodhya, whispers about Sita fill the city. Hence, Ram asks Lakshman to take Sita to

the forest and leave her there.

Lakshman says, “He’s always believed that the reputation of a king should be above

reproach, even more so, the reputation of a queen. It’s what his whole life is built around.

He can’t change his nature; no more than a leopard can change its spots.”40

Earlier in the story, Sita is seen wondering what would happen to her if Ram chooses his

duty to the people over his duty towards her. “Love and duty battled on his face. Duty

won,”41 thinks Sita when Ram leaves his father in a terrible condition, in order to abide

by Kaykeyi’s demands. He fulfils his duty to many, but he fails his wife more than once.

40
The Forest of Enchantments, pg. 357

41
The Forest of Enchantments, pg. 118
 35

Horrors Perpetrated by Men

Sita, Ram, and Lakshman were exiled for 14 years to the forest. On the 13th year, the

‘rakshasa’ (demon) Ravan abducted Sita. When atrocities escalated on both sides, Sita

thinks to herself, “All this death for my sake, what a waste it was!”42

Similarly, Helen left Troy for Greece. The common factor in both the stories is that the

men waged war unthinkingly.

Throughout mythology, there was little regard for life, particularly that of women.

Violence was applauded by men, even eulogised. The women were typically made to

wait at home until the victorious army came and claimed control over them. The female

characters of these stories have, more often than not, been averse to war and violence.

The horrors that followed were no less disastrous. After taking down Lyrnessus, the men

raped women who had lost their families on that very day.

42
The Forest of Enchantments, pg. 223
 36

“The slave women in the basement were dragged out first. Still watching from the roof, I

saw a woman raped repeatedly by a gang of men who were sharing a wine jug, passing it

good-naturedly from hand to hand while waiting their turn.”43- Briseis.

The same men who had waged war over women of higher status, failed to treat women of

the lower classes and foreign lands, as human beings. In the Odyssey too, the women who

had the toughest endings were the slave girls.

Penelope’s 12 maids who were raped by her suitors and noblemen were then killed by

Odysseus since they had been raped by his enemy. In The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood

constructs a court case scene where the 12 maids demand justice.

Odysseus’ defence blames the maids for their disloyalty, by sleeping with the enemy.

The lawyer defending the maids says, “It wasn’t the fact that their being raped that told

against them, in the mind of Odysseus. It’s that they were raped without permission.”

43
The Silence of the Girls, pg. 16
 37

“Judge: Isn’t that what rape is, without permission?”

“Defence: Without permission of their master.”44

Justice was rare among women. Even Ahalya in the Ramayana was tricked by God Indra

into sleeping with him. He took the human form of her husband Gautam. When Gautam

learned about this, he cursed her and turned her to stone. Her curse would be broken

when Ram’s foot brushed against her.

Sita, curious about Gautam’s hasty judgement, asks Ahalya why she was punished. She

responds by saying, “When you put your hand in the fire, knowingly or unknowingly, do

you not get burned? Such is the ancient law of the universe, of karma and its fruits. The

idea of motive is irrelevant to us.”45

Slavery was widely-accepted in Greek society. Aristotle noted in Politics, “in nature,

there are elements due to exert command and elements due to obey. Slaves have been

born to subordinate men, and women subordinate of men.”

44
The Penelopiad, pg. 146

45
The Forest of Enchantments, pg. 134
 38

The disregard for slave lives runs through the Odyssey and the Iliad. At the same time,

the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are brimming with instances of Brahmanical

patriarchy. “The safeguarding of the caste structure is achieved through the highly

restricted movement of women or even through female seclusion. Women are regarded as

gateways—literally points of entrance into the caste system.”46

Society viewed female infidelity as much worse than male infidelity. This is partly the

reason for Draupadi’s tainted reputation and Sita’s abandonment by her husband after

being abducted. Draupadi, a great beauty of her time is made to question her appearance

because of her dark skin. Gender, skin colour, caste, and class were inextricably linked in

ancient India, even more, than they are today.

46
Conceptualising Brahmanical Patriarchy in early India by Uma Chakravarti
 39

Conclusion - Female Retellings Restore Power to Women

Most women have been treated a certain way throughout history - as objects to be

silenced, objects of hatred, blame, and sympathy. Either that or they have been forgotten,

hidden and subdued. And some of the oldest written texts, ie. The Ramayana, the

Mahabharata, the Odyssey, and the Iliad reinforce these views of women.

That is not to say that powerful women do not appear in these stories. However, in order

to paint them as multi-dimensional characters, we need to understand them through a

female perspective. The authors, who retell these tales, have questioned patriarchy while

restoring power to the women who have been forgotten by history.

Not all myths are true. Yet, they have reflected the society they were born in, and the

societies through which they have passed. The patriarchy that exists in these books did so

in reality too. Homer, Valmiki, and Vyasa wrote in beautiful verses, their versions of

these great stories. We can commemorate their legacy while celebrating contemporary

authors who address the discrepancies in the traditional stories by telling the same from a

feminist lens.
 40

In fact, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni gives Sita the same ending that Valmiki did, the one

that reinforces the fact that she was one of the most powerful women of her time. C.

Rajagopalachari and Kamala Subramaniam in their versions of the Ramayana, omit this

part.

After Ram and Sita return to Ayodhya, Ram influenced by the rumours about his wife

banishes her to the forest forever. She lives in the ashram of the great sage and writer,

Valmiki himself. Her sons, Lav and Kush, grow up in the forest as well. Ram calls her

back to the court after many years.

Ram demands that she undergo another ‘agni-pariksha’ (test by fire). Unwilling to get

insulted by the man who sets tests for her time and again, Sita refuses to comply.

“If I do what you demand, society will use my action forever after to judge other women.

Even when they aren’t guilty, the burden of proving their innocence will fall on them.

And society will say why not? Even Sita went through it.”47

47
The Forest of Enchantments, pg. 356-357
 41

As she says this, the earth cracks open with a deafening roar and engulfs her. She returns

to the earth, just as she was born to it.

Margaret Atwood gives Penelope and her 12 maids an equally powerful ending, even

though their death in Homer’s story did not occupy more than a few sentences.

“What is it that our number, the number of maids - the number twelve suggest to the

educated mind? Could it be that we were not the 12 maids, but the 12 maidens? The 12

moon maidens, companions of Artemis virginal but deadly Goddess of the moon.”48

Artemis, Zeus’ daughter was a widely worshipped Goddess. Her temple at Ephesus was

one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. She refused to bow to and consort to the

rule of men.

“Thus possibly our rape and subsequent hanging, represent the overthrow of a matrilineal

moon cult by an incoming group of usurping patriarchal father-God worshipping

48
The Penelopiad, pg. 129-130
 42

barbarians. The chief of them, notably Odysseus, would then claim kingship by marrying

the High Priestess of our cult, namely Penelope.” – The chorus line. 49

This is only a theory, devised by Margaret Atwood. But it sets our brains ticking. Maybe

the women of myth, however, restrained by society, had a higher purpose to serve. Sita,

the Goddess of fire and earth, is a reminder to women of the future to refuse to succumb

to the will of a man. Circe is proof that women can be different, unconventional and

seductive and still be powerful. Draupadi, an early feminist pushes women to fight for

their rights. Briseis serves as an inspiration for women who have suffered hardships.

Penelope and her maids, a reminder that none of our lives go to waste.

It is never too late to retell history and reinterpret stories as old as civilisation itself.

Retellings are essential to feminist thought and take us closer to an equal society. Only if

we can perceive myths through a lens that is not skewed by patriarchal norms and agree

that the men in the stories have been barbaric, can we set out to do justice to all those

women of history, who have been robbed of it.

49
The Penelopiad, pg. 130
 43

Bibliography

- Occidental Mythology by Joseph Campbell

- Oriental Mythology by Joseph Campbell

- The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Davakaruni

- The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Davakaruni

- The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

- Circe by Madeline Miller

- The Silence of the Girls Pat Barker

- Vyasa’s Draupadi: A Feminist Reinterpretation by Saptorshi Das published in

International Journal of Gender and Women’s Studies

- Portrayal of Women in the Iliad by S. Farron, University of Witwatersrand.

- The (Re)Marriage of Penelope and Odysseus Architecture Gender Philosophy by

Ann Bergren, published by the MIT Press

- Conceptualising Brahmanical Patriarchy in Early India, an essay by Uma

Chakravarti
 44

In honour of the real heroes of Greek and Indian

Draupadi

Sita

Kaikeyi

Urmila

Ahalya

Kaushalya

Circe

Penelope

Helen

Briseis

Chryseis

The numerous “prizes of war”

Penelope’s nameless maids