Why read Dangerous Voices?

Book cover of Dangerous Voices: Women's Laments and Greek Literature

Book description

In Dangerous Voices Holst-Warhaft investigates the power and meaning of the ancient lament, especially women's mourning of the dead, and sets out to discover why legislation was introduced to curb these laments in antiquity. An investigation of laments ranging from New Guinea to Greece suggests that this essentially female art…

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Topics

Greece
Women

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History

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Why read it?

1 author picked Dangerous Voices as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Fiona McHardy

Author

The focus of this book is on the power women could wield through public lamentation of the dead, with particular attention to their abilities to demand vengeance through their songs. Holst-Warhaft makes use of modern Greek laments to put forward an argument about the dangers of women’s voices instigating violence and to suggest this is why the ancient Athenians wanted to restrict women’s lamentation.

I find particularly fascinating the preserved laments of women from Mani where they claim to have taken revenge themselves, such as the nineteenth-century lament of Kalopothos Sakkakos in which his sister Paraski says she poisoned his…

From Fiona's list on women and revenge in Greek tragedy.