hey I was wondering if you have a (few) 'fav' ancient women that you find interesting and maybe underrated and why? (since I suppose almost all historical women from antiquity are underrated in history). I hope you get what I mean. thanks a lot!
My Favorite Ancient Women
Well, perhaps obviously, I think more attention owes to Olympias, although Beth Carney has rectified that somewhat. In fact, Beth has written a number of books on various Macedonian women, both pre- and post-Alexander, including her recent book on Philip’s mum, Eurydike, as well as Arsinoe II of Egypt.
Aside from Macedonian women such as Kleopatra, Myrtale-Olympias, Thessalonike, and Kynnane, I’m also intrigued by some powerful Ancient Near Eastern queens, especially Naqui’a, mother of Assyrian king Esarhaddon, and grandmother of Ashurbanipal. She was NOT Assyrian, either Ammorite or maybe Hebrew, but she not only managed to get her son on the throne, she made sure her grandson also inherited. And of Assyrian kings? These were two of the most successful, next to Tiglath Pileser. (Naqui’a behind her son in relief.)
If largely a textual ghost in the historical record, I wish we know more about her! Similarly Atossa (below) needs more serious consideration, and we might have better sources for her: daughter of Cyrus, wife of Campyses then Darius, and mother or Xerxes. Like Gorgo of Sparta, Atossa had ENORMOUS influence. There was no assumption that Persian women should “know their place,” even if that horrified more conservative Greek states like Athens.
Last, two better known women of the ancient world I REALLY admire are Kleopatra VII, the last queen of Egypt, and also Gorgo (menioned above), daughter of Kleomenes, wife of Leonnatos, and mother of Pleistarkhos, she saw the pivotal period of the Persian Wars. Plutarch supposedly records several of her quips in his “Sayings of Spartan Women.” She got all the best lines in the rather horrible film “300,” because they just co-opted Plutarch.
Finally, I’ve been fascinated by Perikles’s Aspasia since grad school, and recommend Madeline Henry’s PRISONER OF HISTORY, although it will likely be frustrating for those who want a history of Aspasia, as Henry mostly DEconstructs the few historical attestations about Aspasia that we have. It shows us how much of our “history” about women owes to gossip and hear-say.
