Misogyny

Barker establishes misogynistic behavior as a routine part of female life within the historical setting of the novel through language and actions that dehumanize women. Upon arriving in the Greek camp, soldiers divide Trojan women based on their youth and beauty as though evaluating livestock. This act reduces Trojan women to their appearances, disregarding any interior value they might offer. Greek men further degrade these women by locking them into cramped, airless huts with little food or water and only a bucket in which to relieve themselves. Limiting the necessities afforded to Trojan women suggests that the Greeks perceive them as subhuman and unworthy of comfortable accommodations. When these women are then awarded to Greek soldiers as prizes, Barker further conveys their value only as attractive sexual objects that men can abuse as they please. Later in the novel, Agamemnon offers Briseis, racehorses, and material goods...