Semonides and ecofeminism

Semonides and ecofeminism

by Deleted user -
Number of replies: 0

I think the Semonides poem is a good example of what Tong talks about in her article Ecofeminism. The first half of the poem goes through the different types of women that the gods made. They are each likened to an animal and described in a very negative light. Women are often "naturalized," according to the Ecofeminism article, when they are described in animal terms. Some of the examples given in the article match the animal terms used in the poem. Then nature is "feminized" so that man can lord over it, "Whatever man may do to nature, he may also do to woman." This poem uses animal terms to paint women in a negative light. 

I like the way the article talks about this topic in the first paragraph on page 256. This paragraph and the Semonides poem go perfectly together in this way. I feel like even in the modern day, women are often characterized by animals. And it is usually used in a derogatory way. Just like the poem. Its interesting to see an example of this from antiquity.