Portraits of Women as Goddesses and Heroines in Cross-Gendered Dress from the Roman Imperial Period

• Author / Creator

  Sarah Elizabeth Hollaender

• This study focuses on the private portraits of women as goddesses and heroines in cross-gendered dress – Omphale, Penthesilea, Virtus, Diana, Atalante, as well as the demythologized versions thereof – which were set-up in funerary contexts of Rome especially, between the late 1st and early 4th centuries CE. This is the first comprehensive analysis of these portrait types, connected on the basis of their cross-gendered dress. The production of these portrait types for women initially seems surprising. Female-to-male cross-dressing was perceived as a transgressive act in Roman society; moreover, the portrait types for women typically emphasized their femininity, modesty and passivity. As such, the primary aim is to determine how the visualization of women in cross-gendered dress became a praiseworthy form of commemoration. It is possible to approach these monuments using semiotics, against the background of theories of gender, dress and social memory. The private portraits of women as goddesses and heroines in cross-gendered dress serve as “sites of memory” not just for their families and closest friends, but also for their social groups. This presents certain possibilities for representing the female deceased, while imposing certain constraints. It appears that the sartorial code expresses a particularly “female” virtus not only in its own right, but also in conjunction with other signs, which complements their more traditional virtues in meaningful ways. In the final analysis, this seeming cultural “violation” is certainly striking and exceptional, yet the messages it conveys hardly challenge traditional gender roles, relations and hierarchies.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Classical Archaeology
  • Greek and Roman Visual Culture
  • Mythological Portraiture
  • Gender Studies
  • Dress Studies
  • Cross-Dressing

• Graduation date

  Fall 2021

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-1r8z-6s57

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.