African Book Week: Women of Owu

Women of Owu

Women of Owu is a 2006 book written by Femi Osofisan and published through University Press PLC. Adapted from Euripides' The Trojan Women, the book uses the combination of choruses, songs and dance to depict the history of the people of Owu kingdom after a combined military force of Ife, Oyo and Ijebu invaded the city of Owu for seven years killing all of its male inhabitants and children.

Plot

Women of Owu focuses on the aftermath of a 19th-century war-torn Owu Kingdom. It reflects on the pains, depression and agony of the survivors who were only women after the killing of all males in the kingdom by the combined forces of Ife, Oyo and Ijebu. The relationship between Women of Owu and The Trojan Women has been explored by Olakunbi Olasope.

Characters

• Anlugbua
• Lawumi
• Erelu Afin
• Gesinde
• Orisaye
• Adumaadan
• Okunade The Maye
• Iyunloye

References

·  Hummer, George (3 February 2004). "Review: The Women of Owu". BBC. Retrieved 2 November 2015.

·  ·  Udeze, Edozie (8 June 2014). "For Women of Owu". The Nation Newspaper. Retrieved 2 November 2015.

·  ·  "Endless agonies of Women of Owu". The Nation Newspaper. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2015.

·  Olasope, Olakunbi (2012). "To Sack a City or to Breach a Woman's Chastity: Euripides' Trojan Women and Osofisan's Women of Owu". African Performance Review, Journal of African Theatre Association UK. 6.1: 111–121.