What is it about?

This paper discusses an inscription on an Athenian wine cup recording the victory of a young woman named Melosa in a competition against other young women. This adds to our knowledge of the social life of women who lived in the 6th century BCE. Previous attempts to define Melosa by her relationship to men are rejected in favour of her own text which defines her by her place in a female world.

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Why is it important?

This inscription is significant in the pursuit of feminist historical recovery, revealing aspects of female–female social relationships outside the confines of the traditional male–female paradigm traditionally used in interpreting texts from Ancient Greece.

Perspectives

I hope this article encourages others to join in the process of feminist historical recovery.

Ian Plant
Macquarie University

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This page is a summary of: Melōsa and her Prize: The Victory of a Woman in Ancient Greece, Gender & History, August 2022, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/1468-0424.12639.
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