Mythology has rarely been kind to women. Across cultures and geographies, it has replicated patterns of patriarchal oppression by trapping women in an inviolable binary of sacrificing mother/wife and evil temptress/hag. Epics centre on the valour of men and the submission of women. Helen is both a trigger and a trophy of war. Her sister, Clytemnestra, has been condemned to literary villainy for the brutal murder of her husband, Agamemnon. Cassandra makes prophecies that no one believes. Medea kills her children to punish her husband.

Closer home, Sita follows her husband into exile, is abducted, fought for, and subsequently abandoned. Surpanakha is punished for her desire and has her face mutilated. Panchali is given in marriage to five brothers. Woman after woman is denied agency in stor

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