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Cover image of Women's Life in Greece and Rome
Cover image of Women's Life in Greece and Rome
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Women's Life in Greece and Rome

A Source Book in Translation

Mary R. Lefkowitz and Maureen B. Fant

fourth edition
Publication Date
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The essential collection of source materials on the lives of women in the ancient world.

Now in its fourth edition, this highly acclaimed sourcebook examines the public and private lives and legal status of Greek and Roman women. The texts represent women of all social classes, from public figures remembered for their deeds (or misdeeds), to priestesses, poets, and intellectuals, to working women, such as musicians, wet nurses, and prostitutes, to homemakers. The editors have selected texts from hard-to-find sources, such as inscriptions, papyri, and medical treatises, many of which have not...

The essential collection of source materials on the lives of women in the ancient world.

Now in its fourth edition, this highly acclaimed sourcebook examines the public and private lives and legal status of Greek and Roman women. The texts represent women of all social classes, from public figures remembered for their deeds (or misdeeds), to priestesses, poets, and intellectuals, to working women, such as musicians, wet nurses, and prostitutes, to homemakers. The editors have selected texts from hard-to-find sources, such as inscriptions, papyri, and medical treatises, many of which have not previously been translated into English. The resulting compilation is both an invaluable aid to research and a clear guide through this complex subject.

Building on the third edition’s appendix of updates, the fourth adds many new and unusual texts and images, as well as such student-friendly features as a map and chapter overviews. Many notes and explanations have been revised with the non-classicist in mind.

Reviews

Reviews

Recommended.

This pioneering collection has been updated with new materials, new translations, and a wealth of references to further reading. It demands to be used not only in gender and women’s studies courses but in every ancient history and civilization class.

New documents, new translations, and new illustrations make this revised, fourth edition a richer and more illuminating resource.

The fourth edition not only offers a wealth of new material, but new translations and illustrations. The book is also more user-friendly for students in important ways, with more comprehensive identifications of the sources in the table of contents and individual headings, and with notes at the end of each chapter. I look forward to using the textbook in my course.

About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
496
ISBN
9781421421131
Illustration Description
40 b&w illus.
Table of Contents

List of illustrations
Preface to the fourth edition
Acknowledgements
1. Women's Voices
2. Men's Opinions
3. Philosophers on the Role of Women
4. Legal Status in the Greek World
5. Legal Status in the Roman

List of illustrations
Preface to the fourth edition
Acknowledgements
1. Women's Voices
2. Men's Opinions
3. Philosophers on the Role of Women
4. Legal Status in the Greek World
5. Legal Status in the Roman World
6. Public Life
7. Private Life
8. Occupations
9. Medicine and Anatomy
10. Religion
Abbreviations
Bibliography
Concordance of sources
Index of women and goddesses
General Index

Author Bios
Featured Contributor

Mary R. Lefkowitz

Mary R. Lefkowitz is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in Humanities emerita at Wellesley.
Featured Contributor

Maureen B. Fant

Maureen B. Fant studied classics and archaeology at the University of Michigan and is now a writer and editor living in Rome, Italy.