Women in Power

Classical Myths and Stories, from the Amazons to Cleopatra

By: Stephanie McCarter - editor

Narrated by: Isuri Wijesundara

Recommended by Mary Beard as one of the BBC History Magazine's Books of the Year

Classical stories about women who wield power, from the Amazons to Dido to Cleopatra

A Penguin Classic

There is no other anthology that brings together similar stories of ancient women in power. These women threaten male power by stepping into the roles traditionally held by men. They command armies, exercise sexual autonomy and even dominance, speak in public, issue laws, and subject others (even masculine heroes and citizen men) to their control. All of these stories were written by men, and none of them can be read as affirmations or celebrations of women in power. They are instead misogynistic tales that aim to shore up masculine authority by exposing the consequences when women rather than men wield it.

The sexist attitudes voiced in these stories continue to justify women’s exclusion from power in our contemporary world. Yet despite the fear and suspicion the male authors direct toward these women, we can find much to admire in their tales, from the coordinated action of the women of Aristophanes’s Assemblywomen, to Dido’s questioning of the male value system that leads Aeneas to abandon her, to the righteous anger of Boudicca against sexual violence by men in power, to the successful resistance of Amanirenas against Rome’s colonial expansion. Read differently, these tales testify to the long history of women in power and help us forge new paths for female empowerment.

Critic reviews

“...the volume has a significant merit: it identifies a compelling overarching objective that applies to many studies of ancient history. By reconstructing diverse episodes—mythical, legendary, and historical—in which women exercised power, Stephanie McCarter ultimately helps to illuminate the reasons and circumstances that led to the exclusion of women from power in classical antiquity. Moreover, her study can offer us answers to the reasons why power continues to be associated with masculinity in the minds of so many, including women themselves.”-- Bryn Mawr Classical Review

“A refreshing change to read a collection of vivid ancient texts that tell of powerful women, some legendary, some real” —Mary Beard