Why read Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves?

Book cover of Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity

Book description

What did women do in ancient Greece and Rome? Did Socrates' wife Xanthippe ever hear his dialogues on beauty and truth? How many many women actually read the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides? When pagan goddesses were as powerful as gods, why was the status of women generally so low?…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Guy D. Middleton

Author

Sarah B. Pomeroy’s book on women in antiquity was a landmark study when it was first published some fifty-odd years ago in 1975.

It remains important both for its discussion but also because of its place in the history of the study of women in the ancient world. Pomeroy works from literary and archaeological evidence to explore the lives of Greek and Roman women from the Bronze Age to women of the early Roman empire, with a particular focus on classical Athens and Rome.

It is erudite and readable, and, despite its age, deserves a place on any ancient history…

From Guy's list on The best books on real women in the ancient Mediterranean.