Stories of women as witches and wielders of magic abound in the literature and mythology of cultures that promote the gender binary of culture over nature, of activity over passivity and reason over superstition. In these patriarchal societies, women are marginalized from society and have no autonomy of their own; to get what they want, they must resort to means external to society, such as magic. Problems arise when what women want has catastrophic results for men: several literary genres, including Greek mythology, Shakespearean plays, and Roman literature, emphasize that women use magic to bewitch a man into bed or to avenge a false lover. The wrath of wronged women like Medea, Dido, and Phaedra devastates the lives of men, while the seductive powers of Cleopatra and the sorceresses of the Odyssey restrain men from fulfilling their masculine duties. Due to the negative impact that female magic has on the patriarchal order, the universal association between women and magic not only creates the perception of women as "the Other", but also reinforces it: since the woman is the Other , use magic; because he uses magic, he is the Other. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayThat a good number of sorceresses are also foreigners is no coincidence; magic emphasizes the alien nature of women, and foreign women are even more alien than native women. Furthermore, foreign or exiled women have even less freedom of action and fewer rights than others, and therefore the only options available to them are unconventional ones. When Medea is exiled from her native Colchis and then abandoned by Jason in Greece, she has no legal recourse. Politically and socially impotent, and on the verge of being exiled again, Medea resorts to witchcraft, her "natural gift" (Medea 382), to punish Jason for his betrayal. By poisoning Jason's new bride, killing her children, and killing the king of Corinth, Medea poses a serious threat to the patriarchal order. In a supreme reversal of power roles, a foreign woman triumphs not only over her husband, but also over a Greek king. Medea draws a clear line between the magic practiced in civilization and in the so-called barbarian lands. Ironically, in Corinth, Medea is feared and reviled for the same skills that won Jason's heart in Colchis. When Medea's sorcery helped Jason win the Golden Fleece, her magical abilities were a valuable asset; in fact, they may have been her main bargaining chip in extracting a marriage vow from him. Once away from her foreign and barbaric homeland, however, her once prized talent for magic becomes strange and uncivilized, not only to the Greek people, but also to her husband. Undoubtedly, part of the reason why Jason so conveniently discards his wife is that in Greece her magic is out of place: in fact, he accuses her of doing things that "no Greek woman would ever do", and states that she is "not a woman at all, but a tiger" (Medea 1342-1345). The play's dark references to his pact with Hecate, the patroness of black magic, further accentuate the dangerous and subversive nature of his abilities seen in the light of civilization. In Corinth, Medea's witchcraft simply highlights her otherness, while in her homeland it may not have had such a negative connotation. In this way, Medea makes clear civilization's horror towards women who deal with the occult. Like Medea, Virgil's Dido is a foreign woman in exile who resorts to "barbaric" forms of magic when she has no other means toexpress yourself. Since Dido is the queen of Carthage, while Medea is politically at the mercy of King Creon, she seems to have more options available to her. However, a brief history given by Venus at the beginning of the poem reveals that, like Medea, Dido is also a foreign woman in exile who has suffered at the hands of the patriarchy. Originally from Phoenicia, Dido is forced to flee to Carthage after being killed of her husband to escape the persecution of her tyrant brother. As queen of Carthage, finally far from the influence of men, she begins to build her own city and presents herself as an extremely competent and just ruler. When Aeneas lands on its shore, however, Dido's life is once again defined by the actions of the men around her. After falling in love with him, she neglects her political duties and lets her city fall into ruin as she devotes all her time and energy to Aeneas. However, once Aeneas realizes that he must leave to found Rome, Dido is cast aside in order to fulfill his civic duty. Just as Medea is discarded once Jason discovers that he can advance his station in life by marrying the princess of Corinth, Dido's desires become secondary to Aeneas's political priorities. When all seems lost, both women turn to magic in a desperate attempt to reaffirm their desires. Once she learns of Aeneas's plan to escape at night, a desperate Dido asks for help from an Ethiopian priestess expert in the magical arts. . A bizarre and perverse scene follows in which Dido builds a pyre and burns an effigy of Aeneas while the wild-haired enchantress invokes the dark gods, with poisonous herbs and "an amulet of love torn from the forehead of a new-born foal." (Aeneid 711-715) in hand. The perception of woman as Other is clear in the stark contrast between the frantic women reciting their incantations over a blazing fire and Aeneas, sleeping peacefully on his ship. The subversive and diabolical images of matted hair, burning effigies and sinister magical spells combine to create a scene more reminiscent of pagan ritual than civilized society. The foreignness and femininity of both Dido and the Ethiopian enchantress only increase that sense of otherness. The Aeneid shows that when women like Dido are unable to wield magical powers on their own, they will seek out other women who can. This shared female affinity for magic emphasizes women's otherness and highlights their alienation from the world of men. Like Dido, when Hippolytus's Phaedra burns with passion for her stepson, she turns to other women for help. Her old nurse offers to give her a "philter, a calming love spell" that promises "will unite one willing love out of two" (Hippolytus 506-512). Both Phaedra's nurse and Dido's Ethiopian princess are willing to help their companions bend the will of their less than enthusiastic lovers. In the literature, these women are portrayed as colluding with each other, forming alliances that pit the desires of women against those of men. The mysterious and conspiratorial nature of transactions that take place behind closed doors reinforces men's fear that women are plotting against them. Magic is decidedly confined to the realm of women. Unfortunately for both Phaedra and Dido, their potions and spells don't work as expected. Ultimately, unrequited love drives both women to suicide. Phaedra hangs herself once she learns of Hippolytus' rejection, and the implication of the Aeneid is that the use of black magic contributes to Dido's descent into madness and suicide. The fact that both women resort to witchcraft highlights their almost inhuman desperation after beingrefuse. In particular, the image of Dido shortly before her death is that of a completely disintegrated woman: "with her eyes bloodshot and rolling, and her trembling cheeks dotted with spots" (Aeneid 889-891), she finally takes life above the burning pyre. Although Dido and Phaedra both pay for their love with their lives, their magic is not entirely useless: just as Medea manages to take revenge on Jason, Dido finally manages to free herself from her love for Aeneas, and Phaedra punishes Hippolytus for his love . I refuse with his incriminating suicide note. Both Medea and the Aeneid illustrate an important lesson in emythological literature: that relationships with women prevent men from doing their duty. By poisoning Jason's new wife, Medea prevents him from achieving the ultimate male goal of inheriting a throne; similarly, Dido's spells attempt to divert Aeneas from pursuing his destiny as the founder of Rome. The definitive story of a man held from his goal by the magic of women, however, must be Homer's Odyssey. During his long journey home, Odysseus is constantly distracted by sorceresses who convince him to stay with them. Two of the most famous are Calypso, the nymph who bewitches Odysseus for seven years, and Circe, the enchantress who transforms her men into beasts. Isolated on islands without men, both women live on the margins of society and embody the conception of woman as the Other. Indeed, they are almost inhuman in their total alienation from civilization: while they sing hauntingly and weave "enchanting webs" on their "immortal loom" (The Odyssey 10.244), they resemble nothing more than deadly spiders waiting to ensnare defenseless men . It is precisely this otherness that is mesmerizing and repulsive at the same time. Circe and Calypso have a brand of frightening seductiveness that captivates Odysseus' men and makes even the god Hermes "enchanted" (Odyssey 5.84). Unlike Medea, Dido and Phaedra, who resort to magic only when they are opposed in love, the two sorceresses use their magical arts for the sole purpose of enchanting men. Like revenge magic, their seductive allure is portrayed in a negative light because they delay Odysseus from fulfilling his socially prescribed masculine duty. Instead of reclaiming his kingdom and fending off his wife's suitors, Odysseus lingers with Calypso for seven years in a sensual but vegetative state of helplessness. Likewise, he surrenders to Circe's powers for an entire year, and is only spurred into action when his men begin to complain of restlessness. Interestingly, like Aeneas, Odysseus is able to counter both Circe's and Calypso's magic with Circe's power alone. help of the messenger god Hermes. While Aeneas sleeps soundly on his ship while Dido recites her incantations, it is Hermes who warns him to leave; similarly, it is Hermes who shows Odysseus how to defeat Circe's magic (through the extremely phallic method of showing her his sword and then sleeping with her), and who tells Calypso that she must relinquish her hold on the king. The theme of men helping others continues when Odysseus is unable to extricate himself from Circe after a year and needs encouragement from his shipmates before he can regain his senses and depart. In this way both the Aeneid and the Odyssey contrast the world of women with that of men; in both poems there is little intra-gender interaction that is not limited to sex and magic. The only constructive relationships, and the only ones that favor the political objectives of Aeneas or Ulysses, are those between men. The women merely provide annoying magical traps along the way. For this they are punished: all women involved are neglected as they and theirsmagical spells are abandoned without a second thought at the behest of other men and gods. As usual, in the end, women's magic is defeated by the righteous patriarchal order. Centuries after writing the Aeneid and the Odyssey, William Shakespeare will take up the same theme of women using magic to deceive men and keep them from fulfilling their duty in life. his play Antony and Cleopatra. Unlike Circe and Calypso, who are clearly enchantresses with magical powers, the Queen of Egypt is never explicitly credited with magical abilities. However, the numerous references to her as a "gypsy" and the general theme of occultism that runs throughout the play in the form of the fortune teller reinforce the impression that magic is at work. Antony's men complain that she has bewitched their general, and his enemy Pompey rejoices that Cleopatra's "witchcraft" (Antony and Cleopatra 2.1.22) has made him lazy and forgetful. Indeed, even Antony, when away from Cleopatra's charms, describes his time in Egypt as "poisoned hours" (Anthony 2.2.96) during which he neglects his duty to the state. that Cleopatra has over Antony costs him his share in the triumvirate. During the crucial naval battle of Act III, Cleopatra turns her back and, "through the noble ruin of her magic" (Anthony 3.10.19), Antony follows her. In doing so, he loses the battle. Blaming Cleopatra for his defeat, he refers to her as a "witch" in Act IV (Anthony 4.2.37). It is the same theme as the Odyssey: the bewitching enchantress opposes passion to duty. As if she had drugged him with one of Circe's magic potions, Cleopatra's charm causes Antony to completely forget Roman politics and surrender to sensuality. His very manhood suffers under Cleopatra's magic: by lounging in her bed and then losing the naval battle, Antony is emasculated before his men. The play makes it clear that it is only Cleopatra's influence that has this effect on Antony; every time he returns to Rome and in the company of men, he returns to being stubborn and "masculinized". Just as Dido would willingly keep Aeneas from founding Rome, Antony and Cleopatra reveal women to be dangerous deviations who end up costing men their masculinity and making them forget their duty as citizens. Like the sorceresses in the Odyssey, it is partly Cleopatra's open sexuality. this makes her so bewitching. Throughout the play, she is depicted as ribald and lustful, just as sorceresses are "all too willing lovers" (Odyssey 5.172). Antony's sensual existence in Egypt closely parallels that of Odysseus on the islands of Circe and Calypso; for both men the days are filled with parties and the nights with sexual pleasure. The fact is that all women who use magic attach a lot of importance to their sex life. Medea's relationship with her husband overrides her maternal role, Dido's sexual life with Aeneas causes her political skill to disintegrate, and Phaedra's illicit lust for her stepson drives her to suicide. Similarly, Calypso seems to exist for the sole purpose of bewitching men into sleeping with her and the only way Circe can be appeased is in bed, while Cleopatra is constantly referred to as "lewd", "luscious", " salt" and a "trumpet" to highlight his strong sexual desire. In this way, the literature reinforces male fear of female sexuality by portraying sexual women as dangerous and deadly magic users who entangle men in their erotic traps. Interestingly, one of the few occasions where a man and not a woman is accused of using magic is also found in one of Shakespeare's plays. In Othello, the Moorish general is.