Empress Theodora—Sinner or Saint?
The hooded gaze of an inscrutable Theodora (c.497- 548 CE) greets hundreds of thousands of visitors each year as they pay their respects to her …
The Savagery of Citizen Wives
The dominant paradigm was turned on its head when subjugated women were made autonomous by participating in a feminine fertility festival known as the Thesmophoria. …
The Bible’s Bedeviling Bad Girls: Delilah, Jezebel And Salome
It should come as no surprise to most that the biblical writers were unfair to the gentler sex. After all, ever since Eve bit into …
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Demeter and the Danaids: A Subversive Alliance
It is assumed with some authority that the Greek world’s most venerable feminine fertility festival—exclusive to upstanding citizen wives—had as its unequivocal founders a murderous …
The Mysterious Eleusinian Mysteries
Conjuring up mystical images of secret initiation rites held under cover of darkness, the Eleusinian Mysteries had a reputation as a dark and dangerous festival. …
Clytemnestra: Twilight of the Matriarch
As any self-respecting Greek hero knows, sacking a city and raping its female inhabitants is hard work. So it is no wonder that after Agamemnon …
Augustus’ Draconian Marriage Laws And The Banishment Of Julia Augusti
“Let her be banished for life,” Augustus (63 BC-14 AD) is recorded as saying about the harsh exile of his only biological child, Julia, to …
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Loves Of The Lady Of The Labyrinth: Ariadne Powerful Minoan Goddess
In the Myth of the Minotaur, if not for the ministrations of the humble Princess Ariadne, Theseus—the Greek hero—would not have had a prayer. Although …
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Agrippina the Elder: The Woman Who Would Be Empress
Long before her boat docked at the port of Brundisium in the winter of 19 CE, Agrippina (the Elder—14 BCE- 33 CE) might have known …
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The Highest Altar: Human Sacrifice in Ancient Greece
In the Greek Peloponnese, high atop the summit on Arcadia’s Mount Lykaion (Wolf Mountain) lies an altar at one of the oldest and most revered …
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