Domestic violence, tragedy, and reconciliation in Menander’s Perikeiromene

Abstract

Menander’s Perikeiromene centers on a haircut forcibly imposed on a free woman by her lover, a recently demobilized soldier. This paper interprets the haircut against evidence of domestic violence in ancient Greece, tragic models of self-sacrificing virgins, and contemporary studies of intimate partner violence. Glykera’s loyalty to her natal home shows an internalization of patriarchal values, in the tragic tradition. Although Polemon shows striking similarities with modern perpetrators and victim disfigurement is common, the actual act of cutting the victim’s hair is not and he shows some elements of the kind of abuser who can change.