You are invited to an IIHSA In person Lecture on Thursday, February 29, 2024 at 5.30 pm (Irish time) / 7.30 pm (Greek time)/12.30 (EST) by Suzanne Lynch (University College Dublin), Sexual Violence in Ancient Greek Warfare.

Abstract: This paper explores the role sexual violence played in Ancient Greek warfare, focusing particularly on the experiences of war-captive women. From the epics of Homer to the histories of Herodotus to the tragedies of Euripides, Greek literature is full of references to the rape and sexual enslavement of captive women; depictions of the seizure of women during warfare are common in art and iconography too. Often, our sources portray the rape and sexual enslavement of women as pre-meditated and systematic, rather than as a ‘side-effect’ of the looting that accompanies victory. This suggests that sexual violence was of strategic importance to the armed group, and that it was employed as a weapon of war. Why was sexual violence against enemy women a useful tactic for the armed group? What value did captive women hold for their captors? Why is sexual enslavement so often conflated with legitimate marriage in our sources? And what was the experience of capture and enslavement like for the women themselves, whose voices are often overlooked in the historical record? These are some of the questions I will attempt to answer in this talk, drawing on modern theories of conflict-related sexual violence in order to shed new light on the ancient evidence.

.This event will be held in person in the IIHSA seminar room and via Zoom (please register via Eventbrite)