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Many myths tell stories of transformation and change, as does Suzanne Collins's coming-of-age trilogy The Hunger Games (2008-10), which tells the story of one young woman's transformation from child to woman, and from poverty-stricken hunter to revolutionary symbol. The trilogy's original book covers depict this change with an icon: The Hunger Games's cover displays the heroine's pin, a gold bird in a circle; Catching Fire's cover shows a similar bird raising its wings as if coming to life; and Mockingjay shows that bird extending its wings to break the confines of the circle. The trilogy's plot also focuses on transformation, and its heroine, Katniss Everdeen, finds herself similarly (if metaphorically) transformed into a bird, reminiscent of the metamorphoses prevalent in ancient myths. Collins has identified some of the specific mythic influences on The Hunger Games, most notably Theseus and the Minotaur, saying that "I was a Greek mythology fanatic as a child" (Grossman, "Gladiator Game"). The trilogy's invocation of Greco-Roman myths connects Katniss's dystopian future to our historic past, but it also emphasizes the violence and brutality that hallmark those myths. Moreover, the presence of mythic elements points to the dangers of reproducing beliefs inherited from the past. I argue that in addition to the trilogy explicitly employing mythic elements, Katniss implicitly displays many of the traits of heroines from Greek myth during her formation of her gender identity. Specifically, the figures of Artemis and Philomela exist within Collins's trilogy as potential paths of femininity for Katniss to follow, and she tries both paths in an attempt to construct her gender identity.1 The two figures provide Katniss with ways of navigating a dictatorial patriarchy, culminating in her ultimate rejection of both mythic characters to create a form of femininity that allows her to break free from her past and to change her society.
While Katniss displays elements of both Artemis's and Philomela's personalities, she does not perfectly align with either. For instance, while Artemis is a goddess, Katniss is mortal, and her life is in peril throughout Collins's trilogy. Artemis is also Apollo's sister and hunting partner, but while Katniss has established a hunting partnership with fellow District 12 citizen Gale Hawthorne, the possibility of romance between the two makes clear that they do not...