Others: Positive Despite a common perception that most writing in antiquity was produced by men, some important literature written by women during this period has survived. Edited by I. M. Plant, Women Writers of Ancient Greece and Rome is a comprehensive anthology of the surviving literary texts of women writers from the Graeco-Roman world that offers new English translations from the works of more than fifty women. From Sappho, who lived in the seventh century B.C., to Eudocia and Egeria of the fifth century A.D., the texts presented here come from a wide range of sources and span the fields of poetry and prose. Each author is introduced with a critical review of what we know about the writer, her work, and its significance, along with a discussion of the texts that follow. A general introduction looks into the problem of the authenticity of some texts attributed to women and places their literature into the wider literary and social contexts of the ancient Graeco-Roman world.
Genres: classics, nonfiction, poetry
Lists: …
Geoffrey of Monmouth
2022 · 1 review
Others: PositiveVita Merlini, or The Life of Merlin, is a work by the Norman-Welsh author Geoffrey of Monmouth, composed in Latin around AD 1150. It retells incidents from the life of the Brythonic seer Merlin, and is based on traditional material about him. Merlin is described as a prophet in the text. There are a number of episodes in which he loses his mind and lives in the wilderness like a wild animal, like Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel. It is also the first work to describe the Arthurian sorceress Morgan le Fay, as Morgen. Geoffrey had written of Merlin in his two previous works, the Prophetiae Merlini, purported to be a series of prophecies from the sage, and the Historia Regum Britanniae, which is the first work presenting a link between Merlin and King Arthur. The Vita Merlini presents an account of Merlin much more faithful to the Welsh traditions about Myrddin Wyllt, the archetype behind Geoffrey's composite figure of Merlin. Whereas the Historia had Merlin associating with Arthur, his father Uther Pendragon, and his uncle Ambrosius in the 5th century, the Vita's timeframe is during the late 6th century, and includes references to various figures from that period, including Gwenddoleu and Taliesin. Geoffrey attempts to synchronize the Vita with his earlier work by having Merlin mention he had been with Arthur long before.
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Seán Hewitt
2023 · 1 review
Others: MixedA landmark illustrated anthology of queer Greek and Roman love stories that reclaim and celebrate homosexual love and sensuality, from artist Luke Edward Hall and award-winning poet Seán Hewitt. For centuries, evidence of queer love in the ancient world has either been ignored or suppressed. Even today, only a few narratives are widely the wild romance of Achilles and Patroclus; the yearning love of Sappho's lyrics; and the three genders introduced in Plato's Symposium . Yet there is a rich literary tradition of queer Greek and Roman love that extends far beyond the prudish translations of these familiar handful of stories. In 300,000 Kisses , award-winning poet Seán Hewitt and renowned designer Luke Edward Hall collect these stories—including some of the most beautiful and moving in the classical canon—and bring them to vivid life. Alongside celebrated works by Homer, Sappho, Ovid and Catullus, they include a wide range of rarely anthologized raunchy poems, thoughtful dialogues, philosophical treatises, and even a graffiti text salvaged from the ruins of Pompeii. Through Hewitt's contemporary translations and Hall's vibrant illustrations, we encounter relationships that are by turns heartfelt and nourishing, unrequited and lustful, toxic and crude, tender and fulfilling. A groundbreaking anthology that seeks to change the way we see the ancient world, 300,000 Kisses is a fascinating journey through love in all its forms.
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S. B. Pomeroy
1998 · 1 review
Others: Positive"The first general treatment of women in the ancient world to reflect the critical insights of modern feminism. Though much debated, its position as the basic textbook on women's history in Greece and Rome has hardly been challenged."--Mary Beard, Times Literary Supplement. Illustrations.
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Sarah B. Pomeroy
1975 · 265 pages · 1 review
Others: Positive"The first general treatment of women in the ancient world to reflect the critical insights of modern feminism. Though much debated, its position as the basic textbook on women's history in Greece and Rome has hardly been challenged."--Mary Beard, Times Literary Supplement. Illustrations.
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Forough Farrokhzad
2022 · 3 reviews
Others: PositiveIn the years since her tragic death in a car accident at age thirty-two in 1967, Forough Farrokhzad has become a poet as iconic and influential as Lorca or Akhmatova, celebrated as a pioneer of modernist Iranian literature and as a leading figure of contemporary world literature. Farrokhzad, as Elizabeth Gray writes in the preface, “remains a beacon to artists, especially women and marginalized artists, who seek freedom in all its forms.” This thoughtfully curated, deftly translated selection of Farrokhzad’s poems includes work from her whole writing life, early to late. Readers will thoroughly treasure this expansive poet of the quotidian; of longing, loss, and desire; of classical reinvention; of lexical variation and sonic beauty; of terrifying wisdom, hope, and grief.
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Andrew Dalby
1996 · 144 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveThe daily life of classical Greece and Rome, although separated from us by 2000 years, can be recreated in almost photographic detail. The Classical Cookbook is the first book of its kind, exploring the daily culture of the Mediterranean through the center of its social life--food and drink.Combining narrative texts and recipes, authors Dalby and Grainger draw on a mass of fascinating resources to describe household life for different social groups and occasions. Each chapter provides a historical outline, with translations of the original recipes followed by versions for the moderncook. The book is illustrated throughout with delightful scenes of food, hunters, and revelers from wall paintings, mosaics, and Greek vases. And the array of delicacies, from Sweet Wine Scones to Chicken Stuffed with Olives to Honey Nut Cake, is sure to tempt any connoisseur.
What made the match, strongest first
Loved itAnd an excellent book I think to start on this subject which is also accessible and super interesting is women writers of ancient Greece and ancient Rome by Ian Plant but also the women of antiquity. What's phenomenal about this book is it includes translations of the poetry and the medical writings and the philosophy that has been attributed to women writers of antiquity from both Greece and Rome.
