Splitting the Difference

by Wendy Doniger

Wendy Doniger recounts and compares a vast range of stories of women and men who are doubled, whose bodies are split or divided. Her comparisons show that ultimately differences in gender are more significant than differences in culture; Greek and Indian stories of doubled women resemble each other more than they do tales of doubled men in the same culture. In casting Hindu and Greek mythologies as shadows of each other, Doniger shows that culture is sometimes but the shadow of gender.

About the Author:

WENDY DONIGER is the Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago.