Antigone in Troy: The Women of Troy, by Pat Barker
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34624/fb.v0i21.41471Keywords:
Antigone, Troy, Achilles, Hero, Violence against women, Homeric Poems, SophoclesAbstract
Few figures from Greek mythology have aroused such a profound and creative fascination over time, and particularly in modern times, as Antigone, seen as a heroine of resistance to oppression following Sophocles’ founding play. At the same time, the myths surrounding the Trojan War constitute one of the most productive foundations of the Western imagination, also the object of constant analysis and rewriting. In the novel The Women of Troy (2021), the second in her recent Trojan trilogy, the English writer Pat Barker transplanted to the post-fall of Troy the conflict resulting from the prohibition of performing the rituals due to the dead. In this case, it is Priam who takes the place of Polynices, and Amina, a fragile but stubborn young Trojan girl, who takes the role of Antigone. The trigger for the events is an unexpected Creon: the still-teenaged Pyrrhus, physically imposing and prone to violence, marked by the disregard with which he is viewed simultaneously by Greeks and Trojans, and by the unattainable aura of his father. It is precisely the negative comparison with Achilles suggested by Priam that leads Pyrrhus to kill him, in an excruciating manner, a scene witnessed by the then unknown Amina. The humiliation that the existence of this witness entails for Pyrrhus leads him to kill her after being caught making a second attempt to bury Priam, who had been exposed to the elements for a long time like Polynices and Hector. In the constant process of interaction and deconstruction of the classics, Briseis, the young queen who became Achilles’ slave after the capture of her home city, plays a central role. Pregnant by the dead hero, she had been married by him, shortly before his announced death, to one of his lieutenants, for future protection. Briseis, who continues to perform household chores common to the other prisoners of the Greek masters, behaves as a compassionate and supportive protector of the Trojan slaves – and even of the hideous Thersites – and ends up assuming the role of a prudent Ismene, but is also overwhelmed by her affection for Priam. Much of the narrative is presented from her perspective, which allows for a constant analysis of the subordinate and precarious condition of women in general, and especially of war captives, who are silenced and victims of a terrible abuse, seen as part of war. Underneath Amina’s insistence on defying Pyrrhus’ orders is precisely her refusal to submit to this violence and her purpose of maintaining her dignity intact. The aim of this text is to explore the way The Women of Troy uses and deconstructs the Theban and Trojan cycles, highlighting the enormous relevance of the characters and the episodes they experience.
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