In an article that Emily Wilson (first woman to translate The Odyssey) wrote for The New Yorker she said: "The Odyssey traces deep male fears about female power, and it shows the terrible damage done to women, and perhaps also to men, by the androcentric social structures that keep us silent and constrained."
It is important that women retake these myths. While translators like Emily Wilson are correcting aspects of misguided translations; authors like Margaret Atwood, Madeline Miller, Emily Hauser, and Pat Barker are retelling the original stories from a female perspective. Helen, Circe, Briseis, Daphne, Penelope, Medusa, Cassandra, all receive fair stories, and through a feminist retelling– redemption.
I don't want to pretend that any of the characters, male or female, from classic mythology are perfect, but like the story of Adam and Eve, relegating women to whores, damsels, and temptresses can be a damaging trope that seeps into other areas of art and literature.
