Reading Theophrastus’ Characters, I had two early impressions: all these characters were men, and they were all negative. Theophrastus did, however, make mention of women in his descriptions of some of the characters, so I analysed these. Read more
An alternative ending to the Iliad reads "and then an Amazon came...". Achilles will fall in love with that Amazon—Penthesileia. Hector had married Andromache, who has an Amazonian name. And Herakles and Theseus fought Amazons. In this Gallery we will look at visual representations of Amazons. Read more
In September 2022 the Kosmos Society Book Club read Plutarch’s Virtues of Women. We discussed the main themes: the fight for justice, defeating the oppressor, and Plutarch’s writing skills. However, there were some themes...that made me think of other similar stories, and made me want to do some further analysis. Read more
"the fame of a woman should be known to many. ... man's virtues and woman's virtues are one and the same." Our Book Club selection for September is "Bravery of Women" from Plutarch's Moralia. Discussion starts and continues in the Forum, and we will meet via Zoom on September 27 at 11 a.m. EDT. Read more
Diogenes Laertius’s main intention was to write biographies of male philosophers, but his writings also reveal, sometimes unintentionally, women’s roles and attitudes to women in ancient times. The general themes include misogyny, but he also gave examples of respectful behavior towards women, and of the humor involved in negotiating congenial relationships. Read more
