ContentsAcknowledgmentsNote on Abbreviations, Texts and Translations, and TransliterationIntroductionPart I: The Name of the Mother 1. A Traditional Matrona? Between Motherhood and Heroism: Penelope in Heroides 12. To Mētros Onoma: Deianira, Hercules, and Hyllus in Heroides 9Part II: The Body of the Mother: Incest, Abjection, and Literary Childbirth 3. The Reconceptualization of (Step)Motherhood: Phaedra in Heroides 44. The Abject Body: Canace in Heroides 115. Pregnancy, Écriture Féminine, and the Birth of the Text: Dido in Heroides 7Part III: Motherhood in Fieri 6. Motherhood, Metamorphosis, and Autopoiesis: Medea in Heroides 127. The Self and the (M)Other: Hypsipyle in Heroides 6Epilogue: Maternal EnvironmentsWorks CitedIndex