The Faces of the Mediterranean Woman in Myth, History and Art

Carlo Di Lieto , professor of Italian Literature at the University of Naples “Suor Orsola Benincasa”, presented the monograph “Mediterranean Woman. Images and Thought”, edited by Italo Abate and Maria Grotta for Edizioni Iuorio (2025), during the recent Franciscan meeting of the Mediterranean OFS “Mediterranean: between waves and horizons”. Prof. Di Lieto emphasizes that the specific study represents a scientific contribution of extraordinary value in the panorama of studies on Mediterranean women and stands out for its interdisciplinary approach and the breadth of the critical investigation. The text was published on the website Ambiente e Cultura Mediterranea , a Neapolitan cultural association that develops the scientific debate on Mediterranean women. The volume rigorously examines the Mediterranean identity of women across a time span that ranges from the 6th century BC – 6th century AD, a crucial period for the formation of Mediterranean civilization . The research makes use of an extraordinary documentary apparatus that integrates mythological sources, historical testimonies, archaeological evidence and artistic representations, offering a wide-ranging vision of the ancient female universe.

The originality of the approach lies in having overcome the traditional historiography "declined in the masculine", as Florindo Di Monaco highlights in his contribution on Greek female philosophers; the text gives voice and visibility to female figures too often relegated to the margins of the official historical narrative. The corpus of personalities analyzed ranges from heroines of myth to historical women, from poets to philosophers, from women of science to libertines. Andromache, masterfully outlined by Lorenza Rocco Carbone in the monograph, emerges as the incarnation of the classical ideal of Kalokagathia , a perfect synthesis of physical beauty and moral virtue; Iphigenia, analyzed by Silvia Zoppi Garampi through Euripidean tragedies, becomes a symbol of sacrifice and resistance to the violence of war.

The volume “Mediterranean Woman. Images and Thought”, documents the presence of about thirty female students in the Pythagorean school of Crotone, including Teano, wife of Pythagoras, and her daughter Arignote. The analysis extends to Aspasia, companion of Pericles and teacher of culture, Diotima of Plato's Symposium, up to the famous Hypatia of Alexandria, martyr of free thought and icon of female wisdom in the late-ancient world. The mythological investigation constitutes one of the pillars of the research. Helen, analyzed by Cesare Azan through the theme of the Eidolon (the ghost), becomes a paradigm of the “poetics of the double” and the search for identity. The Sirens, studied by Maria Pallante, represent the enigma of fatal seduction and ontological ambiguity, symbol of the liminal nature between life and death, knowledge and destruction.

Sappho emerges not only as a poet but also as an educator and founder of a “countercurrent” space in Greek society in the 5th century BC, where the thiasos becomes a place of cultural and emotional emancipation for young aristocrats. Vincenzo Franciosi and Carla Pepe instead analyze the rites of passage for women in ancient Greece, correlating historical and literary documentation, epigraphic sources and archaeological evidence. The iconography of the crocus sativus is studied as a symbol of the passage from adolescence to adulthood. The iconographic apparatus, with works by contemporary artists such as Mariano Goglia, Irma Servodio, Letizia Caiazzo and Ivana Storto , establishes a fruitful dialogue between ancient and modern, demonstrating the persistence of the archetype of the Mediterranean woman in the artistic imagination.

Finally, Prof. Di Lieto concludes by dwelling on the importance of the volume, edited by Italo Abate and Maria Grotta, which stands out for the integration of different disciplinary perspectives; the monograph is an indispensable tool for scholars of the ancient Mediterranean.

The work of synthesis carried out by the curators is defined by the professor as “ dowsing ” in its ability to bring out profound meanings, to offer a unitary vision of the “Mediterranean woman” as a transversal cultural category, characterized by virtues and passions, culture and power, beauty and tragedy. “Mediterranean woman. Images and thought” imposes itself as a fundamental work for the understanding of Mediterranean civilization through the prism of the feminine universe.

For the text go to the link:

https://www.ambienteculturamediterranea.it/cultura-mediterranea

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