It is possible to find a wide range of both female and male heroes in Greek myth. Remarkable battles, brilliant sportsmanship, incredible physical abilities, are just some of the magnificent traits that are part of numerous ancient Greek legends. In this respect, the immense majority of the gods and mythological figures that come to head are male gods and heroic figures like Heracles, the strong and courageous warrior, son of Heracles and
Alcmene, and many other male. The question is, what about the female deities? What about
the beautiful Alcmene or the powerful Artemist?
The study of female deities has been comparatively ignored in compare to that of Heracles and other strong males of Greek myth. It is possible to argue that, in their own different ways, the examination of the legendary tales of female deities like Artemis or Aphrodite can enable the reader to learn a number of ethical and moral lessons on life, in the same way as the examination or Heracles' legend and other stories of male deities can. This essay will look at the main female deities and figures in Greek mythology in order to determine who could be regarded as its greatest heroine. To do so, this report will look at one of the the main female mythological figures, Atalanta, in order to compare and describe their stories to
determine their personality traits and the lessons that can be learnt from their study, to ascertain who could be widely regarded as the greatest female ancient Greek deity.
[...] Hero myths seem to phallocentric in that all heroes are male- Who is the strongest candidate to be the heroine of Greek myth? [pic] It is possible to find a wide range of both female and male heroes in Greek myth. Remarkable battles, brilliant sportsmanship, incredible physical abilities, are just some of the magnificent traits that are part of numerous ancient Greek legends. In this respect, the immense majority of the gods and mythological figures that come to head are male gods and heroic figures like Heracles, the strong and courageous warrior, son of Heracles and Alcmene, and many other male. [...]
[...] Therefore, they can be regarded as the most significant heroines of Greek mythology. However, this discourse can be regarded as demagogic, as the debate would be defining heroism as the successful attainment and use of male usually attributed to males, like strength and courage. The paper will argue that figures like Artemis are certainly heroines, but, other less “man-like” figures like Aphrodite, can also be regarded as significant heroines, through the use of different discourse and theoretical and analytical approaches. [...]
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