The feminine in early Greek philosophy (Part one: Homer, Homeric tradition, Hesiod, Derveni Papyrus)

Abstract

This paper forms the first part of broader research dealing with the possibilities for a feminine ????, i.e., the starting point or source for a change, in early Greek thinking. Thus, it involves comparative analyses of the material provided by Homer, The Homeric hymn to Apollo, Hesiod?s Theogony and the Derveni Papyrus, the latter text being ?the only one that can, without the shadow of a doubt, be described as ?Orphic?? (Brisson, 2019). The work on the sources resulted in endorsing the following interpretative hypothesis: In the analysed cosmogonies, the concept of ???? is linked and - as I would argue - dependant upon the phenomenon of parthenogenesis, i.e., reproduction without fertilisation, implying a kind of a biological ?self-sufficiency?. Consequently, the employed research strategy throughout the paper consisted of the two following tasks: 1) to assess the feminine emergence as the ???? in light of parthenogenesis; 2) employing the same criterion, to assess the relationship between the feminine and the masculine. The main results thus obtained show that: 1) apart from the fact that none of the analysed cosmogonies posited the feminine and the masculine in the relationship of equality, 2) the role of the feminine otherwise resists putting into ?patterns?, including its position in the so-called paternalistic Homeric tradition. Whether these results will change with the further inclusion of sources or remain as nuanced as they now are, remains to be seen in future research.