This collection of essays examines the various ways in which the Homeric epics have been responded to, reworked, and rewritten by women writers of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Beginning in 1914 with the First World War, it charts this understudied strand of the history of Homeric reception over the subsequent century up to the present day, analysing the extraordinary responses both to the Odyssey and to the Iliad by women from around the world. The backgrounds of these authors and the genres they employ - memoir, poetry, children's literature, rap, novels - testify not only to the plasticity of Homeric epic, but also to the widening social classes to whom Homer appeals, and it is unsurprising to see the myriad ways in which women writers across the globe have played their part in the story of Homer's afterlife. From surrealism to successive waves of feminism to creative futures, Homer's footprint can be seen in a multitude of different literary and political movements, and the essays in this volume bring an array of critical approaches to bear on the work of authors ranging from H.D. and Simone Weil to Christa Wolf, Margaret Atwood, and Kate Tempest. Students and scholars of not only classics, but also translation studies, comparative literature, and women's writing will find much to interest them, while the volume's concluding reflections by Emily Wilson on her new translation of the Odyssey are an apt reminder to all of just how open a text can be, and of how great a difference can be made by a woman's voice.

About the Author
Fiona Cox is Associate Professor of French and Comparative Literature at the University of Exeter. Her work focuses on the reception of classical literature, particularly in women's writing, and she has also published widely in the area of nineteenth-century French literature. Elena Theodorakopoulos grew up in Konstanz in Germany, and has been lecturing in Classics at the University of Birmingham for some years now. Her work focuses on Latin poetry and on the reception of classical literature in women's writing.

Reviews
There is a great deal to learn from this book, and much to enjoy. It is one of the merits that the book is not limited to writers in the English language, but also includes women writers from France, Germany and Spain. * Pura Nieto Hernandez, Classical Review *
Homer's Daughters initiates an important and long overdue conversation about women's receptions of Homer, and readers interested in specific authors will find much of value in individual chapters. * Carolyn MacDonald, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198802587
Author Fiona Cox
Format Hardback
Page Count 360
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 594g
Dimensions(mm) 223mm * 146mm * 28mm