Our weekly installment on Boccaccio’s De Mulieribus Claris continues with Sappho, one of the greatest female poets of all time. Said to have been born around 630 BC, Sappho came from the city of Eresos on the…
Back to our Women's Wednesday! Our guest this time is Tanaquil, Roman queen of Etruscan descent. Married to Lucumo (whose name meant "king" in Etruscan), Tanaquil believed her husband would make a good leader; for this reason, she…
This week’s Women’s Wednesday stars Rhea Silvia, the woman who gave birth to arguably the most famous siblings in Roman history: Romulus and Remus. Also known as Ilia, our Mulier Clara lived in fame long before…
Not a queen, nor a goddess, nor a mythical or mystical figure: our Women's Wednesday this time is dedicated to a completely normal Greek woman, Pamphila! Living on the island of Kos, Pamphila was the first woman to…
This week’s Women’s Wednesday is dedicated to Nicaula, better known as the Queen of Sheba - the ancient kingdom located in modern-day Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Yemen. Found in several writings under different appellatives, including Maqueda and Bilquis,…
Once again following Aeneas' travels, this week we head over to Africa and, more precisely, to the legendary city of Carthage: our protagonist this time is in fact Queen Dido (also known as Elissa), regarded…
Our journey at the discovery of the women of the Aeneid continues with Lavinia: daughter of Latinus and Amata, she was the last wife of Aeneas. Lavinia spent most of her life being courted by…
Continuing with the women from Homer's epics, this week's Mulier Clara is no one but Penelope: Odysseus' wife, Queen of Ithaca, and cousin of Helen of Troy. Penelope is most famous for her fidelity to her husband during…