Ancients in Action
2 total works
This series of short incisive books introduces major figures of the ancient world to the modern general reader, including the essentials of each subject's life, works, and significance for later western civilisation. In the newly created tradition of the "Ancients in Action" series, Marguerite Johnson has written a fascinating and accessible account of what remains of the life and works of the Greek poet, Sappho. Sappho's ancient biography is covered in addition to the post-classical accounts of her life, which continue to appear, in a variety of creative and non-creative contexts, in contemporary literature and art. Sappho's poetry, essentially preserved in tantalising fragments, is discussed in a series of thematic chapters that include her religious writings, particularly directed to the goddess of love, Aphrodite; personal interpretations of mythological themes; marriage hymns; and love songs to female companions.
Boudicca (Boadicea), Leader of the Iceni, is synonymous with rebellion and feminine strength, yet what we know of her is often far removed from the time in which she lived and the early authors who first wrote about her.
In this new study, Marguerite Johnson returns to the original sources and interrogates them in order to unearth what the ancients thought of this most enigmatic heroine of British freedom. After a concise overview of Boudicca and the British rebellion against Rome, she turns to the writings of Tacitus and Dio and provides an in-depth analysis of their views on Boudicca and her people.
These readings, which form the centrepiece of the book, are followed by an insightful series of readings of Boudicca post-antiquity, including the scant references to her in the writings that emerged after the fall of the Roman Empire to the most modern re-workings of this most fascinating of historical icons.
In this new study, Marguerite Johnson returns to the original sources and interrogates them in order to unearth what the ancients thought of this most enigmatic heroine of British freedom. After a concise overview of Boudicca and the British rebellion against Rome, she turns to the writings of Tacitus and Dio and provides an in-depth analysis of their views on Boudicca and her people.
These readings, which form the centrepiece of the book, are followed by an insightful series of readings of Boudicca post-antiquity, including the scant references to her in the writings that emerged after the fall of the Roman Empire to the most modern re-workings of this most fascinating of historical icons.