For Leonteus, bastard son of the former king of Argos, being the hegemon of his half-brother King Diomedes’ bodyguard is what he has trained for his entire life. But the stability of the land of the Achaeans is suddenly rent in two by the abduction of King Menelaus’s queen, Helen, by a prince of Troy. […]
The real women who made the Greek myths
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 […]
Helen’s Judgment by Susan C Wilson
She’s the most scapegoated heroine in Greek mythology, but there’s never just one side to any story. This new framing uncovers the complexities of Helen of Troy — a woman tormented by the blame placed on her by others, and tortured by her own guilt. “We all blamed Helen.” Facing hostility from all sides, Helen […]
Shame and the Ancient Greek hero
Sulky, brutal Achilles; vain, passive Helen. Have we misjudged these characters from the stories of the Trojan War? Susan C Wilson, author of Helen’s Judgement, argues that we need to go back to the Iliad to understand them, and appreciate the importance of the concept of shame, which drove the Ancient Greek heroes and heroines. […]
Historical books to look out for in 2025
Welcome to Historia’s most popular regular feature, our round-up of historical books published by members of the Historical Writers’ Association (HWA) to look out for during the coming year. In 2025, there are over 130 books covering history, biography, and historical fiction and spanning eras from Ancient Greece to the 1980s. And there will be […]
The Heir of Venus by Laura Shepperson
Aeneas, the son of Venus, is destined for greatness, prophesied to father a people who will one day rule the world. But behind every great man are the women the prophecies forget. Creusa, Dido and Lavinia will never meet, yet they are united by the ambitions of one man whose life is pre-ordained to collide […]
Six godmothers of archaeology
Alexandra Walsh pays tribute to six pioneering women who gained respect in the male domain of archaeology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and who inspired her latest novel. They were the ‘godmothers of archaeology’ who worked in Crete, Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Turkey at sites such as Knossos, Babylon and Troy. The […]
The politics of Tutankhamun’s tomb
Nearly a century after the excavations at Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, we are coming to regard the finders, keepers attitude towards ancient objects in countries other than our own as (at least) problematic. No such hesitation troubled Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter at the time, though the discovery would […]