By Chris Noon. The Greek world in the last quarter of the fifth century BC was dominated by the Peloponnesian War (431-404), waged between Athens and Sparta, arguably the two most powerful city-states of the day. The literary sources documenting the war are, perhaps unsurprisingly, entirely androcentric. Women are all but absent from Thucydides’ account;… Continue reading No Sex, Please, We’re Hellenic: Female Solidarity in the Lysistrata
By Rhiannon Garth Jones and Tom Dean. For over three thousand years, poetry has been a way to achieve immortality, both for the poet and the subject, making permanent the passing lives of humans. This fragment from Sappho expresses, whether intentionally or not, that belief, and proves it to be justified. Although almost nothing of… Continue reading “I say someone in another time will remember us”: The Legend of Sappho
By Simon Cuff The epitome of discipleship represented by Mary Magdalene is all the more startling both because it contradicts the picture presented by popular culture thanks to Dan Brown, and the traditional Christian idea of her as the reformed prostitute and sinner, and because of what it tells us about ourselves. The Gospels are… Continue reading Mary Magdalene: The Epitome of Faithful Female Discipleship
By Susannah Darby Roman elegy was a very one-sided conversation. Male poets would write to women, both in praise, and in criticism, of them. Although they demanded that their girlfriends be “doctae puellae”, educated girls, and although Sappho was celebrated as the Ninth Muse, we rarely hear the other side of the story. Many, if… Continue reading “Keep your whore with her wool baskets!”: Sulpicia answers back
Bluestocking Oxford 