IX INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MYTH CRITICISM
MYTH AND WOMAN
October 26th-30th, 2026
Complutense University of Madrid

This Conference intends to address the connections between myth and women throughout the centuries; with significant focus on the present day, not only from a theoretical framework, but also a practical one. We aim to comprehend the key role of women inside the mythological universe, because without them it would not exist.

What do women represent in mythological stories? Seen as mythical incarnations, they are always associated with meanings related to the supernatural world. They can also represent a hidden sense, refer to deeply human concerns or enunciate an epiphany of the numinous. What’s the role of the feminine within cosmological and eschatological narratives? How are feminine myths generally manifested in creative productions, such as novels, plays, poems, films and artworks?

The different mythological traditions offer a wide range of female figures, whose ascribed meanings have been continuously reinterpreted. Women are present in the transcendental dimension (goddesses, fairies, witches, nymphs, succubi, and monsters) or come into contact with the sphere and the numinous in their human form.

Although often neglected in academic discussions, a number of female scholars from diverse fields — such as anthropology, psychoanalysis, philology, literary theory, history, and philosophy — have been central to the development of myth studies. What has been women’s approach when studying mythological narrations? Which contributions proposed by women to the study of mythology continue to be relevant today? And how do feminist studies influence myth studies? We hope to answer some of these questions by following in the footsteps of authors such as Jane Ellen Harrison, Jessie Weston, Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn, H. R. Ellis Davidson, Marija Gimbutas, Merlin Stone, Cathérine Clément, and Mercedes de la Garza, among others.

Aiming to help in the preparation of the papers, we propose the following research topics:

Foundation, creation and transgression

• Eve, Pandora, Danu, Ériu, Mokosh, Lada, Freya, Sarah, Rebecca, Pachamama, Coatlicue, Chalchiuhtlicue: female figures in origin myths.
• Lilith and Medusa: women as destabilizers of the patriarchal order.
• Demeter and Persephone: women as a symbol of the life cycle.
• Nótt, Hel and Ixchel: women as personifications of the night or governesses of the underworld.

Wisdom, mediation and revelation

• Cassandra, Frigg, Verdandi, Skuld, Urd: prophetesses or destiny’s weavers.
• Sibyls, Rusalki, Scáthach, Mama Quilla: epiphanies of hidden knowledge or the numinous dimension.
• Psyche, Eurydice, Morana and Valkyries: mediators between the human world and the afterlife.

Power, desire and violence

• Circe and Calypso: hypnotizing and hero-transforming women.
• Helen and Jocasta: women that trigger wars or tragedies.
• Clytemnestra, Electra and Medea: murderess figures.
• Judith: biblical heroines that act as saviors.

Suffering, punishment and rendition

• Niobe and Echo: women punished because of their pride or their voice.
• Antigone: symbol of family loyalty in opossition to law.
• Iphigenia and Völva: enabler victims, sacrificial martyrs or priestesses.
• Leda and Europa: women who were deceived, abducted and raped.

Transformations, boundaries and hybridization

• Daphne and Arachne: metamorphosis as solution or punishment.
• Sphinx, Morrigan, Baba Yaga Itzpapalotl: hybrid creatures as incarnations of enigma and danger.
• Melusine and Angrboda: monstrous maternity.