Curated category
Women of the Trojan war
- HeraThe name Hera appears on clay tablets from Pylos and Thebes written in the Linear B script, dating to the Mycenaean period.
- AphroditeThe name Aphrodite appears in the Cypriot syllabary as a-po-ro-ta-o-i, read right to left, during the eleventh century BC.
- ArtemisScholars have debated the linguistic origin of the name Artemis for centuries. R.S.P. Beekes suggested that the interchange between e and i in her name…
- BriseisThe city of Lyrnessus burned under the torches of Achilles and his Myrmidons. Inside the smoke, a woman named Briseis stood among the captives who had lost…
- AthenaThe name Athena likely comes from the city of Athens, which in ancient Greek is called Athenai. This plural toponym designates the place where she presided…
- Rhea (mythology)The earth goddess Gaia and the sky god Uranus gave birth to Rhea as one of their twelve or thirteen Titan children. She grew up alongside her siblings…
- ThetisA papyrus fragment discovered at Oxyrhynchus in the 19th century reveals a hymn by the Spartan poet Alcman from the seventh century BC.
- EosThe Proto-Greek form of the dawn goddess is reconstructed as auhōs. This linguistic root connects her to the Vedic goddess Ushas, the Lithuanian goddess…
- IphigeniaThe name Iphigenia means strong-born or born to strength. Ancient lexicons define it as she who causes the birth of strong offspring.
- Iris (mythology)The ancient Greek noun for rainbow also meant the halo of the Moon. An inscription from Corinth reveals an original form with a digamma that eventually…
- Helen of TroyHelen of Troy was said to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Around the year 1604, the playwright Christopher Marlowe gave her the line most people…
- CassandraApollo stood before the young princess of Troy and offered her a choice. She could have the gift of true prophecy, but only if she promised to be his lover.
- AmazonsIn the heart of Pontus, on the banks of the Thermodon river, Queen Otrera raised a society closed to men. She was the daughter of Ares and Harmonia, making…