"I Am not Homer’s Helen": Myths Retold in Amanda Elyot’s The Memoirs of Helen of Troy
"I Am not Homer’s Helen": Myths Retold in Amanda Elyot’s The Memoirs of Helen of Troy

Summary/Abstract: The present article examines the representation of female characters in classical Greek myths and the rewriting of the latter from a feminist and feminine perspective. In Homer’s Iliad, female characters are either reduced to an object, blamed for being the cause of a devastating war, or not given freedom over their life and destiny. From a feminist mythanalytical perspective, Homer’s Iliad participates in the subjugation of women in classical literature. In this androcentric epic, female characters are depicted as passive and submissive creatures. However, some contemporary women writers have sought to deconstruct myth narratives that give power and voice to men at the expense of women. With her novel The Memoirs of Helen of Troy (2005), Amanda Elyot retells Homer’s epic from a female character perspective. Accordingly, the article examines how the character of Helen disavows the classical tale about her and other women. Elyot’s female character provides her own version of the famous epic and its tragic story. Based on the works of feminist literary and social critics, the article argues that Elyot’s Helen is thus no longer Homer’s Helen. On the contrary, she is a new empowered character who evolves in a fictional narrative that gives voice and agency to subjugated women within a text that was initially male-centred.

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