Women & weasels : mythologies of birth in ancient Greece and Rome / Maurizio Bettini ; translated by Emlyn Eisenach.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The story of Alcmene saved by the weasel -- The story -- La folia -- The woman in labor -- The enemy -- The knots -- The resolution -- The rescuer -- The first identity of the rescuer -- Dissonance?: Pliny and birth through the mouth -- Animal metaphors and women's roles -- The forest of symbols is full of animals -- The weasel-rescuer is a complicated character -- Wilde Frau, savage midwife -- Godmother weasel -- An encyclopedia without footnotes -- Conclusion: Alcmene's thoughts.

If you told a woman her sex had a shared, long-lived history with weasels, she might deck you. But those familiar with mythology know better: that the connection between women and weasels is an ancient and favorable one, based in the Greek myth of a midwife who tricked the gods to ease Heracles's birth-and was turned into a weasel by Hera as punishment. Following this story as it is retold over centuries in literature and art, Women and Weasels takes us on a journey through mythology and ancient belief, revising our understanding of myth, heroism, and the status of women and animals in.

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