Life and Death of the Greek Heroine in Odyssey 11 and the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women

Examines the phenomenon of ‘thanatography’, a form of biography which is exceptional for taking as its subject a ghost, rather than a living person. Ziogas investigates the deployment of this phenomenon in archaic literature, particularly in Odyssey 11 and the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women, and focuses on the thanatographies of heroines. In contrast to the stories of dead men, which focus primarily on the manner of their death, Ziogas argues that the thanatographies of women rarely make mention of their death. Indeed, in archaic literature heroines are noteworthy for surviving their suffering into old age, especially in avoiding the pressing perils of childbirth, and outliving their sons. In prioritising the remarkability of their lives, rather than the manner of their deaths, the heroines of the archaic age are remembered in their prime, as young, desirable, and, most importantly, alive.