Female body politics: “The Powerful Female Body” in mythological stories

Abstract

In this study, mythological aspects of the female body will be presented in relation to the powerfulfemale body image. It is well-known that in ancient Greek culture, mythology was considered a sourceof power for male and female characters who were parts of mythological stories. However, the femalepower, or the power of being a woman, are considered significant for mythological female creativity,though its essence has always been neglected by the male oriented world. This man-made obstacleover female creativity has also been clarified in mythology, especially in mythological representationsof goddesses or witches. On this basis, this paper aims to bring a close look to “the powerful women”as the mythological female heroines, witches and representatives in ancient Greece, namely Demeter& Persephone, The Amazons, Hecate, Medea and Medusa.