Deity and Patriarchy: A Feminist Standpoint in Aeschylus’ The Eumenides

Feminism is a global political movement that challenges gender inequality and misogyny. It offers a valuable framework for studying the representation of patriarchal social structures that push females to the periphery. This study aims to investigate the attitude and treatment of the gods toward female sex and their role in legitimizing the patriarchal power structures and social order in Aeschylus’ The Eumenides. Using Textual Analysis, and based on Manne’s theory of misogyny, it analyzes the gender inequality that the gods reinforce through their actions and decisions. The findings show that the gods, particularly Apollo and Zeus, play a crucial role in establishing rigid gender roles that serve to subordinate women to men, that is, the institutionalization of patriarchy. Their treatment of the Furies and the rejection of maternal lineage, diminishing the importance of mother, reflect deep-rooted gender bias in the newly established social order. The Eumenides reinforces the male-dominated values of its time through the authority of the gods. Studying Aeschylus’s play from the feminist standpoint adds to the understanding of how gender, the authority of justice, and divine power intersect to produce and sustain misogyny.