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Women - Ancient Queens - Warriors - Mothers - Poets - Courtesans

Famous ancient women. Ancient women famous as queens, warriors, courtesans, poets, mothers, and more.
Most Beautiful Women
Myth, history, and legend provide evidence of ancient women who were considered beautiful, but for most of them, we have no reliable portraits. Beauty is an aesthetic consideration. When judging the beauty of a woman, it's tempting to think in terms of the whole person, but that's not this top beauties list. This one is strictly for physical attractiveness. Here are the women I consider the most …
Circe
Circe is a sorceress best known in Greek mythology for her hosting of Odysseus in the Odyssey.
Ancient Women
This is a picture gallery of ancient women. Most of ancient history deals with famous men, but there were also many famous women, most of whom were also mothers. Here are some of the diverse types of ancient mothers from mythology and Greek and Roman history.
Cynisca of Sparta
Cynisca, whose name comes from the Greek for dog, was the daughter of a Spartan king and became the first female Olympic victor.
Dido
Dido was the queen of Carthage whom Aeneas spurned in Vergil's Aeneid.
Enheduanna
Information on Enheduanna, the world's first writer, who was the daughter of Sargon.
Fausta
Fausta was the wife, daughter, sister, and mother of Roman emperors.
Gorgo of Sparta
Gorgo was the daughter of one king and wife of the next Agiad king of Sparta and was renowned for wisdom.
Medea
Medea is the witch of Colchis known for killing the children she and her husband Jason produced.
Olympias
Olympias was the daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Epirus, a wife of Philip II of Macedon, and the mother of Alexander the Great
Poppaea Sabina
Poppaea Sabina was the mistress of one emperor and the wife of another.
Telesilla
Telesilla was a fifth century B.C. Greek poet.
Trying Neaira Review
Review of Debra Hamel's "Trying Neaira - The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece."
Diotima: Essays
Peer reviewed site listing dozens of essays on women, status, legends, etc. Some on homosexuality and pederasty. Covers Greece, Rome, Egypt, and late antiquity.
Wedding
Diotima's bibliography for weddings. See also marriage and divorce.
Women in Herodotus (PDF)
Women in Herodotus who are named, but don't act, women who act in the public sphere (including Tomyris), groups of women in ethnographic accounts, women who act in a family context, priestesses, and founders of religious cults.
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