Table of Contents
Premodern Primary Source Material - Classical Greek and Norse Mythology
Rationale
In looking at female and non-binary representations of “warrior women” in classical mythology, we see the origins of the archetypes that will become modern comic book iterations. There are themes and tropes that dominate various mythos. From Greek and Norse mythology we see the influence on western European literature and arts, and the perpetuation of stereotypes about warrior women, themes and tropes dealing with the female breast, and in general, marking these characters as other warriors, per the Simone de Beauvoir definition. We also gained the concept of the tragedy and comedy from their culture, most importantly the concepts of peripeteia and hamartia. In both Greek and Norse mythology, these women serve the gods as soldiers or angels of death.
Greek/Roman Mythology
Aeschylus The Oresteia
Appolonius of Rhodes The Argonautica
Aristophanes Lysistrata
Euripedes Heracles
Fawkes, Glynnis The Book of Greek and Roman Folktales, Legends, and Myths
Geary, Patrick J. Women at the Beginning- Origin Myths from the Amazons to the Virgin Mary
Fry, Stephen Mythos
Hemingway, Colette “Greek and Roman Sculpture”
von Kleist, Heinrich Penthesilea
“Marble Statue of a Wounded Amazon,” Artist unknown, Imperial/1st-2nd century C.E.(Roman)
Myron, Adrian Greek Mythology- Tales of Greek Myth, Gods, Goddesses, Mythical Beasts and the Beliefs of Ancient Greece
Nardo, Don Greek Mythology
Nijinksy, Vaslav Afternoon of a Faun (ballet)
Rothery, Guy Cadogan The Amazons
Sappho “Sappho” (collection of poetry, Norton's Anth.)
Slater, Phillip Elliot The Glory of Hera- A Greek Mythology and the Greek Family, Princeton
Sophocles Oedipus the King
Virgil The Aeneid
Woodard, Roger D. The Cambridge Companion to Greek Mythology
Wilde, Lyn Webster A Brief History of the Amazons Women Warriors in Myth and History
Norse Mythology
Anonymous Story of the Volsungs- The Volsunga Saga
Brown, Abbie Farewell Norse Mythology: Tales of the Gods, Sagas, and Heroes
Crawford, Jackson The Poetic Edda- Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes
Crossley-Holland, Kevin The Norse Myths.
Donahue, Charles “The Valkyries and the Irish War-Goddesses”
Friðriksdóttir, Jóhanna Katrín Valkyrie- The Women of the Viking World
Gaiman, Neil Norse Mythology
Guerber, H. A. Myths of the Norsemen- From the Eddas and Sagas
Led Zeppelin “The Immigrant Song.”
Lindow, John Norse Mythology- A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs
Searfoss, Glenn Cycles of Norse Mythology: Tales of the Aesir Gods
Self, Kathleen M. “The Valkyrie’s Gender- Old Norse Shield-Maidens and Valkyries as a Third Gender.”
Wagner, Richard Die Walkure (opera)
