What can history tell us about the lives of women at the time of the Trojan War? Emily Hauser’s new book examines how recent advances in archaeology and science reveal a surprising amount about the real women who made the Greek myths. ‘Myth’. The very word in English appears to mean something that’s not true […]
True love (why the greatest love stories are the ones that actually happened)
The historian Emily Hauser explains why tales of true love – love that really happened – make the greatest love stories of all. “I’m in love”: it’s a phrase that’s been said since the beginning of time. We all care about love, and all of us want more of it in our lives — whether […]
Troy: an ancient story for a modern age
Emily Hauser, classicist and author, reviews the British Museum’s Troy: Myth and Reality exhibition for Historia. It seems that the story of the Trojan War is capturing our imaginations now more than ever before. The past few years has seen an explosion in the numbers of reworkings of the Trojan War myth. My own debut […]
Amazon Warrior Women: The Truth Behind the Myth
Emily Hauser traces the evidence for the real life Amazon warrior women. Last year, DC Comics’ Wonder Woman exploded onto our screens in an epic superhero film that put a woman at the forefront for the first time. In so doing, director Patty Jenkins delved into Wonder Woman’s hidden past as Diana (Gal Gadot), daughter of […]
Jason, the Argonauts – and a Woman?
The myth of Jason and the Argonauts, and their quest for the Golden Fleece, is one of the best-known legends of ancient Greece. It features renowned Greek heroes like Hercules and Theseus, and a journey to the ends of the earth in search of the mythical Golden Fleece, which was said to have been shorn from […]
Women of the Trojan War
The Trojan War, as told in Homer’s Iliad, is perhaps one of the most famous tales to come down to us from antiquity. We are all familiar with the story of the capture of the beautiful Helen by the Trojan prince Paris, and the ten-year war that ensued to get her back. We know the […]