LONDON ENGLAND

Contents

PAGE
INTRODUCTION[9]
WOMEN OF HOMER
HELEN[15]
ANDROMACHE[29]
PENELOPE[39]
CIRCE[60]
CALYPSO[73]
NAUSICAA[85]
WOMEN OF ATTIC TRAGEDY
I.ÆSCHYLUS
CLYTEMNESTRA[99]
ELECTRA[117]
CASSANDRA[135]
IO[148]
II.SOPHOCLES
JOCASTA[163]
ANTIGONE[185]
III.EURIPIDES
ALCESTIS[209]
MEDEA[227]
PHÆDRA[243]
IPHIGENIA[256]
A WOMAN OF VIRGIL
DIDO[273]

Illustrations

PHÆDRAGertrude Demain Hammond, R.I.[Frontispiece]
Facing page
HELENLord Leighton[20]
ANDROMACHELord Leighton[34]
PENELOPEPatten Wilson[50]
CIRCEPatten Wilson[66]
CALYPSOPatten Wilson[82]
NAUSICAAPatten Wilson[94]
CLYTÆMNESTRAHon. John Collier[114]
ELECTRAGertrude Demain Hammond, R.I.[128]
CASSANDRASolomon J. Solomon, R.A.[140]
JOCASTAGertrude Demain Hammond, R.I.[172]
ANTIGONEFrom the Statue by Hugues[192]
ALCESTISLord Leighton[224]
MEDEAHerbert Draper[238]
IPHIGENIAM. Nonnenbruch[260]
DIDOGianbattista Tiepolo[284]

Introduction

The women in this book are the heroines of Homer, of Attic Tragedy, and of the Æneid of Virgil. Their stories are taken out of the best modern translations of the old poems; and they are retold from the human standpoint, with the minimum of critical comment.

It is curious, when we reflect a moment, how little we really know about the women of the classics. Their names have been familiar to us as long as we can remember. We have always been vaguely conscious of a glory clothing them—sometimes sombre and troubled, often gracious and serene, occasionally enchanting. About the greatest of them some floating hints of identity ripple on the surface of the mind. But we can by no means fit these little fragments into any clear outline of the sublime beauty of their originals. And when we light upon a reference to them in our reading, or stand before one of the innumerable works of art which they have inspired, memory is baffled. We have no clue to the spell that they have cast upon the centuries: the spell itself has no power over us; and we grope in vain for the key which would admit us to a world of delight.

There were reasons for this state of affairs when translations were few and costly: when scholars were merely pedants and when the classics were sealed to women. But nous avons changé tout cela. Fine translations can be bought for a few shillings. Women are themselves engaging in the study of the old languages and of the sciences which are akin to them. Scholarship is growing more human; and the awakened spirit of womanhood, having become conscious of itself, cannot fail to be profoundly interested in that earlier awakening which, twenty-five centuries ago, evoked creatures so splendid. Of the women of Attic Tragedy Professor Gilbert Murray has said, in his Rise of the Greek Epic: “Consider for a moment the whole magnificent file of heroines in Greek Tragedy, both for good and evil.... I doubt if there has ever in the history of the world been a period, not even excepting the Elizabethan Age and the Nineteenth Century, when such a gallery of heroic women has been represented in Drama.”