The ancient Lycians, supposed to be descendants of the Cretans, always took their names from their mothers, and not from their fathers. When any one was asked to give an account of his ancestors, he mentioned the female branches only. If a free woman married a slave, the children were free; but if a citizen married a concubine or a foreigner, his children could not attain to any political dignity. The inheritance descended to daughters, and sons were excluded. Some say the Lycian women were treated with this remarkable degree of respect, because their prayers to Neptune once removed an extraordinary salt blighting dew from the fields. Others suppose it was because their ancestors, the Cretans, descended from the goddess Thetis. A woman presided over the different companies into which the Cretans were divided, had the entire management of the household, and at table gave the choicest food to those who had most distinguished themselves. The origin of these peculiar customs is obscured by fable, but they probably arose from some great benefit early conferred upon the state by women. The Lycian men mourned for the dead by assuming female garments.
Artemisia, queen of Caria, so famous for her wisdom and bravery, was descended from the Cretans on the mother’s side. By the death of her husband she was left with the government of the kingdom, until her son should be of age. She served with Xerxes in his expedition against Greece, and furnished five of the best ships in the fleet. She endeavored to dissuade the Persian monarch from venturing a naval battle at Salamis; but her judicious advice not being accepted, she commanded her portion of the fleet, and fought with the utmost bravery. When her vessel was pointed out to Xerxes, he exclaimed, “The men on this occasion behave like women, and the women like men.” The Athenian conquerors considered themselves so much disgraced by having a female antagonist, that they pursued her with the utmost vengeance, and offered ten thousand drachmæ to whoever would take her alive. But she escaped in safety to her own kingdom by means of an artifice; for having attacked one of her own allies, with whom she was displeased, the Greeks supposed her vessel to be one friendly to their cause. Some other stratagems, which she used to obtain power over her enemies, were entirely unworthy of a generous mind.
Xerxes entertained so high an opinion of Artemisia, that he confided to her care the education of the young princes of Persia. Her statue was erected at Lacedæmon, among those of the Persian generals.
She became in love with a young man of Abydos, who did not return her passion; in consequence of which she caused his eyes to be put out while he slept, and then, in a fit of remorse, jumped from the promontory of Leucas into the sea.
There was another Artemisia, daughter of a Carian king, who married Mausolus, famous for his beauty. She was so much in love with her husband, that after his death she mixed his ashes with her drink. She erected a monument to his memory, so magnificent, that it was called one of the seven wonders of the world; and from this circumstance the word mausoleum is derived. She offered large rewards to the literary men of the age, for the best elegiac panegyric on her husband. Two years after his decease, she died of grief.
Little is known of the Trojan women. Their condition was probably very similar to that of women in other nations of the same period. Andromache, though a princess, and well beloved by her husband, fed and took care of the horses of Hector. It is to be presumed that she had a good deal of skill in embroidery, for we are told that she made a representation of the death of Hector, surrounded by garlands. The dreams and prophecies of Cassandra, daughter of king Priam, betray the usual tendencies to invest women with supernatural powers.
The Asiatic Greeks, particularly those of Ionia, were distinguished for voluptuous refinement, and the beauty and gracefulness of their women. The celebrated Aspasia, first the mistress, and afterwards the wife of Pericles, was of Ionia. Her wit and eloquence must have equalled her beauty; for we are told that Plato loved to discourse philosophy with her, and that Pericles sought her advice in great political emergencies.
Zenobia, queen of Palmyra and the East, is the most remarkable among Asiatic women. Her genius struggled with, and overcame, all the obstacles presented by oriental laws and customs. She is said to have been as beautiful as Cleopatra, from whom she claimed descent. She knew the Latin, Greek, Syriac, and Egyptian languages; had drawn up, for her own use, an abridgment of oriental history; and read Homer and Plato under the tuition of Longinus. She was the companion and friend of her husband, and accompanied him on his hunting excursions with eagerness and courage equal to his own. She despised the effeminacy of a covered carriage, and often appeared on horseback in military costume. Sometimes she marched several miles on foot, at the head of the troops. Having revenged the murder of her husband, she ascended the throne, and for five years governed Palmyra, Syria, and the East, with wonderful steadiness and wisdom. After a long and desperate resistance she was conquered by the Roman emperor Aurelian, who had grown jealous of the increasing wealth and power of his rival.