Information about women is scattered throughout the fragmented mosaic of ancient history: the vivid poetry of Sappho survived antiquity on remnants of damaged papyrus; the inscription on a beautiful fourth century B.C.E. grave praises the virtues of Mnesarete; an Athenian woman who died young; a great number of Roman wives were found guilty of poisoning their husbands; but was it accidental food poisoning; or disease; or something more sinister. Apart from the legends of Cleopatra; Dido and Lucretia; and images of graceful maidens dancing on urns; the evidence about the lives of women of the classical world--visual; archaeological; and written--has remained uncollected and uninterpreted. Now; the lavishly illustrated and meticulously researched Women in the Classical World lifts the curtain on the women of ancient Greece and Rome; exploring the lives of slaves and prostitutes; Athenian housewives; and Rome's imperial family. The first book on classical women to give equal weight to written texts and artistic representations; it brings together a great wealth of materials--poetry; vase painting; legislation; medical treatises; architecture; religious and funerary art; women's ornaments; historical epics; political speeches; even ancient coins--to present women in the historical and cultural context of their time. Written by leading experts in the fields of ancient history and art history; women's studies; and Greek and Roman literature; the book's chronological arrangement allows the changing roles of women to unfold over a thousand-year period; beginning in the eighth century B.C.E. Both the art and the literature highlight women's creativity; sexuality and coming of age; marriage and childrearing; religious and public roles; and other themes. Fascinating chapters report on the wild behavior of Spartan and Etruscan women and the mythical Amazons; the changing views of the female body presented in male-authored gynecological treatises; the "new woman" represented by the love poetry of the late Republic and Augustan Age; and the traces of upper- and lower-class life in Pompeii; miraculously preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 C.E. Provocative and surprising; Women in the Classical World is a masterly foray into the past; and a definitive statement on the lives of women in ancient Greece and Rome.
#1066505 in Books Ian K Steele 1993-05-13Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 5.56 x .56 x 8.25l; .71 #File Name: 0195084268272 pagesThe Last of the MohicansFrench and Indian WarSeven Years WarNorthwest PassageColonial America
Review
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful. A scholarly investigationBy Michael N. RyanDespite the Liberal revisionist description of this book I found it to be an honest scholarly investigation into this event in history which has become one of the darker legends of colonial American history. Clearly not the work of some Amerindian apologist bent on denying or trivializing what happened; this book tries to provide the reader with an honest and unbiased source of what happened. Provides a good source of background on the war and the treatment of captives; including the French Colonial slave trade of American captives. The author makes a sincere effort to determine what actually happened.A good book for those interested in this period.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Nicely written; compelling story!!By Gregory J. GioiaExcellent book. Well written and well sourced. Plenty of firsthand narrative and quotes. Interesting and full of details and facts that keep the story going.2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Honor; Chivalry; and War: the Old World meets the NewBy ct readerAccounts of the siege and fall of Fort William Henry (3-9 August 1757) vary dramatically depending on the source (or movie); but all agree English/Colonial forces were attacked a day after their surrender to Montcalm with the `honors of war.' The causes; responsibility; and number of victims have been widely disputed ever since.This work convincingly reconstructs the actual event from sources drawn from colonial to modern times (all presented). It describes the frontier (from Kalm's 1749 travels); the struggle for dominion; the combatants; and the victims' fate (with a tabulation of killed and missing). It is a lucid; balanced account that sets the record straight and raises larger questions.Each party was betrayed: English/Colonials by the attack; each other; and the absence of Iroquois allies; the French by unreliable native allies (especially those from the pays d'en haut) and Canadians; Canadians by French neophytes in North American warfare; and the perpetrators (Indians allies of the French) by European terms that foreclosed their expectations. It was an event that exposed radically disjointed cultures.One of the Indian perpetrators best explained himself to Sulpician Abbé François Picquet in Montréal en route west after refusing Governor Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnail's attempts to redeem his captive:"I make war for plunder; scalps; and prisoners. You are satisfied with a fort; and you let your enemy and mine live. I do not want to keep such bad meat for tomorrow. When I kill it; it can no longer attack me." The native world had no conception of the `honors of war' or chivalry (save silent days of torture of a captive before inevitable death).A few minor items missing in the text/footnotes:-The Ohio Land Company (formed by George Washington's elder brother Lawrence; Lt-Gov Dinwidde; and others; employing George Washington as a surveyor) which stood to directly profit from the acquisition of western Pennsylvania - claimed by France;-The `assassination' of Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville and ten other Frenchmen after they surrendered to George Washington by Tanaghrisson and his Mingo tribesmen 28 May 1754 at Jumonville's Glen PA (a formative event for war; similarly disputed in subsequent accounts);-Louis Coulon de Villiers's (Jumonville's elder brother) victory at Fort Necessity 3 July 1754 is mentioned; but without any acknowledgment of Villiers's award of `honors of war' to George Washington and Washington's immediate renunciation of them on regaining safety in Virginia (he returned with Braddock the following year and narrowly escaped death at Monongahela 9 July 1755);-The Battle of Carillon 8 July 1758; Montcalm's last victory; in which (deserted by most native allies) his force of 4;200 defeated Maj-General James Abercromby's 17;600 man (including 400 Mohawks) attack.Those points aside (they have more to do with context rather than content); this is an excellent work that is highly recommended.
