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How Women Became Poets: A Gender History of Greek Literature
How the idea of the author was born in the battleground of gender
When Sappho sang her songs, the only word that existed to describe a poet was a male one― aoidos , or “singer-man.” The most famous woman poet of ancient Greece, whose craft was one of words, had no words with which to talk about who she was and what she did. In How Women Became Poets , Emily Hauser rewrites the story of Greek literature as one of gender, arguing that the ways the Greeks talked about their identity as poets constructed, played with, and broke down gender expectations that literature was for men alone. Bringing together recent studies in ancient authorship, gender, and performativity, Hauser offers a new history of classical literature that redefines the canon as a constant struggle to be heard through, and sometimes despite, gender.
Women, as Virginia Woolf recognized, need rooms of their own in order to write. So, too, have women writers through history needed a name to describe what it is they do. Hauser traces the invention of that name in ancient Greece, exploring the archaeology of the gendering of the poet. She follows ancient Greek poets, philosophers, and historians as they developed and debated the vocabulary for authorship on the battleground of gender―building up and reinforcing the word for male poet, then in response creating a language with which to describe women who write. Crucially, Hauser reinserts women into the traditionally all-male canon of Greek literature, arguing for the centrality of their role in shaping ideas around authorship and literary production.
When Sappho sang her songs, the only word that existed to describe a poet was a male one― aoidos , or “singer-man.” The most famous woman poet of ancient Greece, whose craft was one of words, had no words with which to talk about who she was and what she did. In How Women Became Poets , Emily Hauser rewrites the story of Greek literature as one of gender, arguing that the ways the Greeks talked about their identity as poets constructed, played with, and broke down gender expectations that literature was for men alone. Bringing together recent studies in ancient authorship, gender, and performativity, Hauser offers a new history of classical literature that redefines the canon as a constant struggle to be heard through, and sometimes despite, gender.
Women, as Virginia Woolf recognized, need rooms of their own in order to write. So, too, have women writers through history needed a name to describe what it is they do. Hauser traces the invention of that name in ancient Greece, exploring the archaeology of the gendering of the poet. She follows ancient Greek poets, philosophers, and historians as they developed and debated the vocabulary for authorship on the battleground of gender―building up and reinforcing the word for male poet, then in response creating a language with which to describe women who write. Crucially, Hauser reinserts women into the traditionally all-male canon of Greek literature, arguing for the centrality of their role in shaping ideas around authorship and literary production.
376 pages, Hardcover
Published August 22, 2023
About the author
Emily Hauser
12 books323 followersEmily Hauser is an award-winning ancient historian and the author of the acclaimed Golden Apple trilogy retelling the stories of the women of Greek myth. She has been featured on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour and The Guardian alongside Colm Tóibín and Natalie Haynes, and her novel For the Winner was listed among the "28 Best Books for Summer" in The Telegraph. Her latest book, Mythica: A New History of Homer’s World, through the Women Written Out Of It, was an instant Times bestseller.
To find out more, visit her website: http://www.emilyhauser.com
To find out more, visit her website: http://www.emilyhauser.com
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 18, 2026
Holy shit!! I loved this book!
An incredible history of how the greek women in the archaic and Hellenistic period of Ancient Greek literature fought for a voice and for ability to define themselves when the words for that didn’t exist. Emily hauser told an incredibly story that tracks how women searched for a name of their own, against a male-dominated society that was built on the conscious exclusion of women through language and literature.
This incredible interrogation of the past has left me feeling sooooo ..… transformed!
The texts that we are told to praise from Ancient Greece, such as that of Homer, are a product of a “conscious system of gender construction and enforcement” - it cannot be taken for granted how the literature and language one is raised on, shapes the way we see ourselves and our place in the world.
I feel proud to be a woman and to be able to understand the strength and the power that both community and performance holds!!
So much more I could say! But I’ll leave it here! Would thoroughly recommend!!
An incredible history of how the greek women in the archaic and Hellenistic period of Ancient Greek literature fought for a voice and for ability to define themselves when the words for that didn’t exist. Emily hauser told an incredibly story that tracks how women searched for a name of their own, against a male-dominated society that was built on the conscious exclusion of women through language and literature.
This incredible interrogation of the past has left me feeling sooooo ..… transformed!
The texts that we are told to praise from Ancient Greece, such as that of Homer, are a product of a “conscious system of gender construction and enforcement” - it cannot be taken for granted how the literature and language one is raised on, shapes the way we see ourselves and our place in the world.
I feel proud to be a woman and to be able to understand the strength and the power that both community and performance holds!!
So much more I could say! But I’ll leave it here! Would thoroughly recommend!!
February 20, 2026
短评：史料词源学分析。古希腊文学中诗人这一身份从最初就被建构为男性。在几部史诗中，其中的女性角色尽管发出了声音，但依旧被排除在这一gender term之外，她们言说歌唱的力量被模糊被压抑，甚至被挪用。其他的剧作或哲学讨论，将诗歌创作与男性公民的塑造紧密相连，试图使诗歌服务于建构特定的男性公民理想。而萨福等女诗人的出现，则被男诗人们采用性别隔离政策，提及她的时候使用其他的术语，而非公认的诗人一词，在现存的男性创作的希腊文献中，女性极少被称为 aoidos或 poietes。她们通常首先被看作女人，其次才是诗人。她们的诗篇残存于世的基本都是通过男诗人的转述，其本源想来也免不了存在扭曲更改。女性诗人利用母女关系为比喻以及其他女性经验，拒绝了男性诗歌范式，创作出以女性社区和情感为核心的诗歌。
长：比起这个从词源学出发非常字面意思的标题，全书大半的内容其实反倒是在阐述男人是如何成为诗人的。当然这并不是作者的问题，诗人一词从以aoidos的形式出现，几经流传，一直都是一个高度性别化的词汇。
我们熟知的那些希腊史诗里，aoidos们面向的是男性听众，他们言说歌唱的同样也是男人的故事。奥德赛里忒勒马科斯对佩涅洛珀说言语是男人们的事情，表明诗歌的创作、表演和阐释是男性专属的领域。作者针对伊利亚特分析了赫克托尔葬礼上唯一的 aoidos出现之处。三位女性（安德罗马克、赫卡柏、海伦）吟唱的挽歌，挑战了将 aoidos单纯视为男性职业歌手的定义，暗示了女性声音在哀歌这一特定类型中的力量，从而模糊了诗人性别的界限。（这里想起《Veiled Sentiments》，在那样性别不平等的社会结构里。女性是诗歌的主要使用者，不仅是宣泄情感的途径，也是在这样的等级制度之下一种微弱委婉的反抗，却不能挑战改变制度本身。物理本体的面纱是女性从属地位的具像化，即使能借用诗歌来进行表达那些情绪和思想，也不过依旧是veiled sentiments…）而《荷马颂诗·致赫尔墨斯》里赫尔墨斯杀死雌性乌龟并以其壳制作第一把里拉琴的过程，象征着男性对女性创造力的挪用和征服，从而将诗歌的工具牢牢掌握在男性手中。
之后作者论证了男性诗人并非简单地排斥女性，而是采用了一种复杂的权力策略。他们通过将缪斯塑造为一个被驯服、被工具化的女性形象，来为自己的创作提供合法性，同时否定其他女性拥有同样的创作能力。理想国里柏拉图对诗人的攻击，暴露了缪斯机制的性别政治。他之所以要驱逐诗人，正是因为他们通过模仿（包括模仿女人、奴隶、坏人）来扰乱城邦的性别和阶级秩序。第三卷，苏格拉底明确说，优秀的男性卫士绝不能模仿一个女人——无论是与丈夫争吵的女人，还是生病、恋爱、分娩的女人。这不仅是道德规训，更是对诗歌声音所有权的划定：男性的声音不能被女性经验“污染” 。诗人被允许模仿的，只能是“高尚的、男性化的”角色。诗歌被赋予了塑造男性公民勇敢品德的特质，缪斯必须被规训，只生产对男性城邦有用的内容。她从一个可能充满危险、混乱力量的女性神祇，被改造成国家教育体系的工具，专门服务于生产男性公民。
而男性诗人对于同时代女性诗人的提及，也完全是上一部分策略的延续。希罗多德记载萨福时，称她为 mousopoios(音乐制造者)，而非通用的 poietes。将萨福边缘化，拒绝让她进入主流（男性）诗人群体。在现存的男性创作的希腊文献中，女性极少被称为 aoidos或 poietes。她们通常首先被看作女人，其次才是诗人，其作品常被置于一个女性独有的传统中。（文学Canon处处如此，多少女作家在文学史上并未留名的原因也正是因为这个策略）
而女性诗人并非被动接受这一切，她们创造出全新的词汇。Sappho在残篇中自称mousopolos（侍奉缪斯者），这是一个女性化的术语，强调了她与缪斯女神的亲密关系，而非男性诗人如荷马或赫西俄德将缪斯视为灵感来源却保持距离的做法。同时，女性特有的孕育能力也使得她们可以利用母性比喻进行诗歌的创造和传承。她们摒弃了已经高度男性化的术语aoidos/poietēs，采用象征性语言，比如夜莺（aēdōn：希腊文化中与女性歌唱和哀悼相关的鸟类），创造了一个专属于女性的诗人形象。女性诗人通过语言创新、性别隐喻和社区联结，夺回了诗人这个词。
长：比起这个从词源学出发非常字面意思的标题，全书大半的内容其实反倒是在阐述男人是如何成为诗人的。当然这并不是作者的问题，诗人一词从以aoidos的形式出现，几经流传，一直都是一个高度性别化的词汇。
我们熟知的那些希腊史诗里，aoidos们面向的是男性听众，他们言说歌唱的同样也是男人的故事。奥德赛里忒勒马科斯对佩涅洛珀说言语是男人们的事情，表明诗歌的创作、表演和阐释是男性专属的领域。作者针对伊利亚特分析了赫克托尔葬礼上唯一的 aoidos出现之处。三位女性（安德罗马克、赫卡柏、海伦）吟唱的挽歌，挑战了将 aoidos单纯视为男性职业歌手的定义，暗示了女性声音在哀歌这一特定类型中的力量，从而模糊了诗人性别的界限。（这里想起《Veiled Sentiments》，在那样性别不平等的社会结构里。女性是诗歌的主要使用者，不仅是宣泄情感的途径，也是在这样的等级制度之下一种微弱委婉的反抗，却不能挑战改变制度本身。物理本体的面纱是女性从属地位的具像化，即使能借用诗歌来进行表达那些情绪和思想，也不过依旧是veiled sentiments…）而《荷马颂诗·致赫尔墨斯》里赫尔墨斯杀死雌性乌龟并以其壳制作第一把里拉琴的过程，象征着男性对女性创造力的挪用和征服，从而将诗歌的工具牢牢掌握在男性手中。
之后作者论证了男性诗人并非简单地排斥女性，而是采用了一种复杂的权力策略。他们通过将缪斯塑造为一个被驯服、被工具化的女性形象，来为自己的创作提供合法性，同时否定其他女性拥有同样的创作能力。理想国里柏拉图对诗人的攻击，暴露了缪斯机制的性别政治。他之所以要驱逐诗人，正是因为他们通过模仿（包括模仿女人、奴隶、坏人）来扰乱城邦的性别和阶级秩序。第三卷，苏格拉底明确说，优秀的男性卫士绝不能模仿一个女人——无论是与丈夫争吵的女人，还是生病、恋爱、分娩的女人。这不仅是道德规训，更是对诗歌声音所有权的划定：男性的声音不能被女性经验“污染” 。诗人被允许模仿的，只能是“高尚的、男性化的”角色。诗歌被赋予了塑造男性公民勇敢品德的特质，缪斯必须被规训，只生产对男性城邦有用的内容。她从一个可能充满危险、混乱力量的女性神祇，被改造成国家教育体系的工具，专门服务于生产男性公民。
而男性诗人对于同时代女性诗人的提及，也完全是上一部分策略的延续。希罗多德记载萨福时，称她为 mousopoios(音乐制造者)，而非通用的 poietes。将萨福边缘化，拒绝让她进入主流（男性）诗人群体。在现存的男性创作的希腊文献中，女性极少被称为 aoidos或 poietes。她们通常首先被看作女人，其次才是诗人，其作品常被置于一个女性独有的传统中。（文学Canon处处如此，多少女作家在文学史上并未留名的原因也正是因为这个策略）
而女性诗人并非被动接受这一切，她们创造出全新的词汇。Sappho在残篇中自称mousopolos（侍奉缪斯者），这是一个女性化的术语，强调了她与缪斯女神的亲密关系，而非男性诗人如荷马或赫西俄德将缪斯视为灵感来源却保持距离的做法。同时，女性特有的孕育能力也使得她们可以利用母性比喻进行诗歌的创造和传承。她们摒弃了已经高度男性化的术语aoidos/poietēs，采用象征性语言，比如夜莺（aēdōn：希腊文化中与女性歌唱和哀悼相关的鸟类），创造了一个专属于女性的诗人形象。女性诗人通过语言创新、性别隐喻和社区联结，夺回了诗人这个词。
February 2, 2025
Hauser digs deep into the fragments of ancient Greek lit to sniff out a trail of gendered words for "poet." She shows how male poets (in a highly gendered and snarlingly divisive culture) commandeered words for "poet," locking them up in a cage which no female could attain entry. Hesiod, Homer, Plato, the whole bloody lot of them were in on it--a deliberate act of exclusion if Hauser is right. (I'm no expert, but her scholarship is very deep, very learned, very nuanced to the semantic under- and overtones of Ancient Greek, so I am buying her theory.) Not that women can be kept down--or out. We think of Sappho, of course--but look how the boys talked about her! She may have been beloved by the Muses, they said, but we aren't going to call her a poet. To learn how women overcame these cock-blockages and out-maneuvered their male counterparts, dig in! It's a studious and fascinating ride.
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