Helen: Myth, Legend, and the Culture of Misogyny

by Robert Emmet Meagher

Helen's face not only launched a thousand ships, it also launched countless books about Helen herself. These books have idealized, worshiped, slandered, celebrated, constructed, and deconstructed her. The present work draws on the most reliable of these books and offers a portrait of Helen as the archetypal woman of Western culture. This is the story of a consistent, however dissembling, hatred for women. It is not only the story of the hatred of men for women, but also the story of the self-hatred of women instilled by the culture of misogyny. Based on the best scholarship, this is also a psychological analysis of why a species so prone to loneliness and self-doubt would sever itself in two, deny itself the intimacy, recognition, and comfort of equals, and make the embodiment of beauty and life into an icon of shame. This is a book that will fascinate all feminists and infuriate some men.

191 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1995

Reviews

[Laura Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting in some of its ideas, but outdated in much of its research, particularly in the area of Paleolithic/Neolithic/New Age Goddess theory. Meagher also has a tendency to meander off into tangents that I found annoying. Bettany Hughes does a far better job analyzing the historical, mythical, and cultural Helen in her book Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book with many subjects centered on one figure, Helen of Troy. The footnotes should be read as they add immensely to one's knowledge regarding the interconnectedness of philosophy, cultural development, history, mythology, religion and misogyny. The author argues that Helen, whether a historical figure or not, was a symbol of all women. As an image she stands in for that which men desire most, power. One must also consider the book a bit of literary criticism because it analyzes, in ways, various Greek plays and stories.