College Honors Program
Date of Creation
5-1-2022
Document Type
Thesis
First Advisor
Neel Smith
Abstract
The work of previous scholars has established powerful connections between the process of creating textiles and process of epic oral composition. I build on disparte sources from the fields of archaeology and philology and analyze how the scholia in one epic manuscript of the Iliad, the Venetus A, treat this issue and with a focus on how it interplays with gender, specifically the female characters in the Iliad who produce textiles. I focus on a few major sections of scholia and important scenes of weaving in the Iliad. The key female characters in the novel, both divine and human nearly all have a scene or allusion to weaving. Helen, Hecuba, Andromache, and the three goddesses who's conflict started the war all reveal coded information about their character and motivations and exert narrative control as they create, share, and sacrifice woven textiles.
Recommended Citation
Schaaf, Anne-Catherine, "Woven Words in the Iliad: Gender, Narrative, and Textile Production in the Scholia of the Venetus A Manuscript" (2022). College Honors Program. 49.
https://crossworks.holycross.edu/honors/49
Included in
Classical Literature and Philology Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Fiber, Textile, and Weaving Arts Commons
Comments
Reader: Mary Ebbott