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    The Book of the City of Ladies

    Christine de Pizan

    (c.1364-1430)

    Malaspina Great Books

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    Life

    Born Venice c. 1363

    Moved to Paris at age 5 with father Thomas de Pisan

    Father was astrologer and secretary to King Charles V

    Married at 14 to Etienne du Castel

    Widowed at 25

    Earned living by writing

    Compared (in her day) to Cicero & Cato

    Instructional: Wrote Le Livre de Paix, a treatise dealing with the education of princes(note: de Officiis & The Prince)

    Poetry & Music: Le Livre des Mutations de Fortune; Le Chemin de Longue Etude; LeLivre des cent Histoires de Troie: Hymn to Joan of Arc(last known work); collection ofshorter Ballades and Rondeaux several set to music later by 3rd parties

    Biography: The Book of the Deeds and Good Manners of the Wise King Charles V

    Autobiography: Vision of Christine (approx. 75 years after Dantes Comedy) Prose: The Book of the City of the Ladies; The Treasure of the City of Ladies;

    Lamentations on the Civil War; The Book of Feats of Arms and Chivalry; Livre ducorps de policie

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    Preface (a letter from Christine)

    The Romance of the Rose (Jean de Meun)

    Letter from Royal Secretary Master Gontier Col, Secretary of the King ourLord whocriticized Pizans objections to The Romance of the Rose:

    ....Thus you accuse me, a woman, of folly and presumption in daring to correct andreproach a teacher as exalted, well-qualified, and worthy as you claim the author of

    that book to be. Hence, you earnestly exhort me to recant and repent....

    And if you despise my reasons so much because of the inadequacy of my faculties,which you criticize by your words, "a woman impassioned," etc., rest assured that Ido not feel any sting in such criticism, thanks to the comfort I find in the knowledgethat there are, and have been, vast numbers of excellent, praiseworthy women,schooled in all the virtues---which I would rather resemble than to be enriched with allthe goods of fortune.

    But, further, if you seek in every way to minimize my firm beliefs by your anti-feministattacks, please recall that a small dagger or knife point can pierce a great, bulgingsack and that a small fly can attack a great lion and speedily put him to flight.

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    AnotherLetter

    This to Pierre Col another royal secretary

    ....And since you are angry at me without reason, you attack me harshlywith, "Oh outrageous presumption! Oh excessively foolish pride! Oh opinionuttered too quickly and thoughtlessly by the mouth of a woman! A womanwho condemns a man of high understanding and dedicated study, a manwho, by great labor and mature deliberation, has made the very noble bookof the Rose, which surpasses all others that were ever written in French.When you have read this book a hundred times, provided you haveunderstood the greater part of it, you will discover that you could never haveput your time and intellect to better use!

    My answer: Oh man deceived by willful opinion! I could assuredly answer

    but I prefer not to do it with insult, although, groundlessly, you yourselfslander me with ugly accusations. Oh darkened understanding! Ohperverted knowledge.... A simple little housewife sustained by the doctrineof Holy Church could criticize your error!

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    L'Avision-Christine (1405)

    An allegorical dream vision in which Christine learns about the history ofFrance, its present problems, and the meaning of her own life

    I was already midway through the journey of my pilgrimage when one dayat eventide, I found myself fatigued by the long road and desirous of shelter.Since I had arrived here through a desire for sleep, after I said grace andtaken and received the nourishment necessary for human life, Irecommended myself to the author of all things and betook myself to a bedof troubled rest.

    Soon thereafter, my senses bound by the weight of sleep, an amazingvision overcame me as a strange, prophetic sign. Even though I am hardlyNebuchadnezzar, Scipio, or Joseph, the secrets of the Almighty are not

    denied to the more unsophisticated.

    I wish to reveal everything to you.

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    L'Avision-Christine (1405)

    A crowned lady, whom Christine's preface has identified as at once theearth, the human soul and France, appeared and gave Christine a task:

    "Friend, to whom God and Nature have conceded the gift of a love of studyfar beyond the common lot of women, prepare parchment, quill, and ink,and write the words issuing from my breast; for I wish to reveal everything toyou."

    ...[W]hen I was at the two fonts of Philosophy themselves---those noblefountains so bright and wholesome---I, like a young and pampered fool, tooknot my fill of them, even though the beautiful water pleased me; rather, justlike the simpleton who sees the bright sun shining and considers not therain but thinks it will last forever, I neglected those things and thought torecover my loss in time....

    For with my present desires, if I had such clarity at my side now, beingcompletely devoted to study and wearied of all other useless occupationsand pastimes, I would replenish myself from those fountains so exceedinglyand thoroughly that no woman born for a long time would surpass me.

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    L'Avision-Christine (1405)

    Then Nature ordered Christine to write

    She told me, "Take the tools and strike the anvil. Thematerial I will give you is so durable that neither iron or

    fire nor anything else will be able to destroy it. So forgepleasing things.

    "When you carried children in your womb, youexperienced great pain in order to give birth. Now I want

    books brought forth from you which will present yourmemory before the worldly princes in the future and keepit always and everywhere bright; these you will deliverfrom your memory in joy and pleasure notwithstandingthe pain and labor."

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    Diti de Jehanne d'Arc

    (1.XXII) Blessed be He who created you, Joan, who were born at apropitious hour! Maiden sent from God, into whom the Holy Spirit pouredHis great grace, in whom there was and is an abundance of noblegifts, never did Providence refuse you any request. Who can ever begin torepay you?

    (1.XXVIII) I have heard of Esther, Judith and Deborah, who were women ofgreat worth, through whom God delivered is people from oppression, and Ihave heard of many other worthy women as well, champions every one,through them He performed many miracles, but He has accomplished morethrough this Maid.

    (1.XXXIV) Oh! What honour for the female sex! It is perfectly obvious that

    God has special regard for it when all these wretched people who destroyedthe whole Kingdom - now recovered and made safe by a woman, something that 5000 men could not have done - and the traitors [have been]exterminated. Before the event they would scarcely have believed thispossible.

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    Ballade

    Severe or slight, my heart has felt no wound

    From Loves sharp arrows that they say make war

    In many of us folk, Ive not been bound

    God be thanked, by prison or snares, whats more,

    Of the god ofLove.

    Nothing I ask, nothing I seek to move,Without him I live in joy and sunlight:

    I love no lover: I want no loves delight.

    Im not afraid either of being enslaved

    By a glance or a gift or a long pursuit,

    Nor of drowning deep in flatterys wave,

    For my heart theres no man would suit:Let none call above

    For succour from me, Id reject his love

    Immediately, and tell him outright:

    I love no lover: I want no loves delight.

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    Ballade (Continued)

    I laugh indeed at a woman whos bound:

    In such danger, shed surely be better

    To seize any sword or dagger aroundAnd kill herself, having lost her honour.

    And therefore I choose

    To pass my days in this state and muse:

    Saying to all who would love me quite:

    I love no lover, I want no loves delight.

    Lord ofLove, what use at your court am I?

    I love no lover, I want no loves delight.

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    Valentine

    Not long ago, in the early morning,

    The white sun, bearing his candle-shine,

    Into my close chamber came stealing

    In secret: the day was Saint Valentines.

    All the brightness he had brought

    Wakened me from the sleep of Care,

    In which Id passed the whole night there,

    On the harsh bed of Wearied Thought.

    On that day too all the birds came flocking

    To share what they had ofLoves treasure,

    Aloud in their own sweet Latin calling,

    Demanding Nature grant equal measure

    All She ordained for them they sought:

    A mate that is, as each might select.

    Their noise was such none could have slept

    On the harsh bed of Wearied Thought.

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    Valentine (continued)

    Then drenching my pillow with my tears,

    I lamented my cruel destiny,

    Saying: You birds can have never a fear

    Of finding the joy and pleasure you seek:

    Each one an agreeable mate has caught

    While I have none, for Death has betrayed me,

    Taken my mate, so I languish grieving,

    On the harsh bed of Wearied Thought.

    Let them choose a Valentine as they ought

    Those men and women ofLoves party,

    This year Im alone, no comfort for me,

    On the harsh bed of Wearied Thought.

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    Grief and Care and Melancholy

    Off with you now, away, away,

    Grief and Care and Melancholy!

    Think you to take control of me

    All my life, like yesterday?

    I promise you, no, never, I say:

    Reason shall have the mastery.Off with you now, away, away,

    Grief and Care and Melancholy!

    If you ever come back this way

    You and your whole, company,

    May God curse you, all you three,

    And whatever brought you, I pray:

    Off with you now, away, away,

    Grief and Care and Melancholy!

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    OF ALL THE LILIES OF THE

    FIEL

    D...

    Of all the lilies of the field

    fairest, worthiest of praise,at my will in all ways,

    my choice, unparalleled.

    Young, beautiful and mildof manner: my courteous prizeof all the lilies of the field.

    And if I bloom, fulfilled

    in his love; if he ismy all, blame me the lessthat it was him I chose and heldof all the lilies of the field.

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    Christine to Her Son

    I have no great fortune, my son,To make you rich. In place of oneHere are some lessons I have learned--the finest things I've ever earned.Before the world has borne you far,Try to know people as they are.Knowing that will help you take

    The path that keeps you from mistake.

    Pity anyone who is poorAnd stands in rags outside your doorHelp them when you hear them cry!Remember that you, too will die.

    Love those who have love for you

    And keep your enemy in view:Of allies none can have too many,Small enemies there are not any.

    Never lose what the good Lord gaveTo this, our world too much enslaved:The foolish rush to end their lives.Only the steadfast soul survives.

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    Gilles Binchois: Dueil angoisseux(text by Christine de Pisan)

    grievous despair, full of madness,

    endless languor and cursed life,

    filled with tears, anguish and torment,

    doleful heart which lives in darkness,ghostly body at the brink of death,

    I have ceaselessly,continually;

    and so I can neither be healed nor die.

    Disdain, harshness without joy,

    sad thoughts, deep sighs,

    Great anguish locked in the weary heart.

    Fierce bitterness borne secretly,

    mournful expession or without joy,dread which silences all hope,

    are in me and never leave me;

    and so I can neither be healed nor die.

    Cares and concerns which have continued forever,

    bitter waking, shuddering sleep,

    pointless labor , with languid expression,

    doomed to the torment of grief,

    and all the evils which one could evertell or think about, without hope of cure,

    torment me immeasurably;

    and so I can neither be healed nor die.

    Envoi:

    Princes, pray to God that very soon

    he will give me death, if he does not wish

    by any other means to cure the suffering in which I so bitterly anguish

    and so I can neither be healed nor die.

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    Seulete sui. . .Alone am I Alone am I and alone I wish to be,

    Alone my gentle friend has left me,

    Alone am I, with neither master nor companion,Alone am I, in bitterness and in pain,Alone am I in tormented lamentation,Alone am I much more than any wandering soul,Alone am I and without a friend remain.

    Alone am I at door or at the window,Alone am I when huddled in the corner,

    Alone am I and have shed my fill of tears,Alone am I, whether mourning or consoled,Alone am I,--and nothing suits me so--Alone am I shut up inside my chamber,Alone am I and without a friend remain.

    Alone am I in every place and state,Alone am I, where e'er I go or sit,Alone am I much more than any earthly thing,Alone am I, by one and all forsaken,Alone am I and deeply down am sunk,Alone am I and so often drowned in tears,Alone am I and without a friend remain.

    Prince, now is my pain begun.Alone am I, as every grief afflicts me,Alone am I, by darkness overtaken,Alone am I and without a friend remain.

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    Feminism

    1. The belief that women and men are, and have been,treated differently by our society, and that women havefrequently and systematically been unable to participatefully in all social arenas and institutions.

    2. A desire to change that situation.

    3. That this gives a "new" point-of-view on society, when

    eliminating old assumptions about why things are theway they are, and looking at it from the perspective thatwomen are not inferior and men are not "the norm."

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    Pizans Internalized Inferiority

    But just the sight of this book, even though it was of no

    authority, made me wonder how it happened that somany different men and learned men among them

    have been and are so inclined to express both in

    speaking and in their treatises and writings so many

    devilish and wicked thoughts about women and their

    behavior (Pizan on Matholeus)

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    Pizans Depression

    And I finally decided that God formed a vile creature when He madewoman, and I wondered how such a worthy artisan could havedeigned to make such and abominable work

    great unhappiness welled up in my heart, for I detested myself and

    the entire feminine sex, as though we were monstrosities in nature.

    I considered myself most unfortunate because God had made meinhabit a female body in this world.

    Women have been defined out and marginalized in every

    philosophical system and have therefore had to struggle not onlyagainst exclusion, but against a content which defines them assubhuman and deviant (Gerda Lerner)

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    Pizans Strategy

    Christine acknowledges a pressing need for female dialectic,communication, information flow, and support between women.

    However, she understands there is a missing feminist consciousness alack of female voice. Without knowledge of the past, no group of womencould test their own ideas against equals, those who had come out of

    similar conditions and life experiences. Every thinking woman had to arguewith the 'great man' inside her head

    The actual plot ofThe Book of the City of Ladies begins when threeallegorical goddesses arrive and tell Christine that she must build a city forhonorable women of all types. Reason, Rectitude and Justice tell Christine:We have come to vanquish from the world the same problem upon which

    you have fallen, so that from now on, ladies and valiant women may have arefuge and a defense against the various assailants.

    This allegoric need for a space where women can come together points tothe key element of feminist history: the formation of group subjectivity andshared consciousness between women of all sorts.

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    Pizans Solutions

    Clearing the Field of Letters

    Building Walls

    Revisionism

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    Clearing the Field of Letters

    Pizan moves away from scholarly fact and toward her ownpersonal experience (the personal as political). In addressing theRomance of the Rose and other texts like it that speak poorly ofwomen, Christines first response is to debunk their writing on thebasis of common-sense logic. I could not see or realize how theirclaims could be true when compared to the natural behavior andcharacter of women. This argument is the first step in her allegoricalprocess of clearing out the field of letters for the foundation of hercity: with a literary shovel, Lady Reason helps her debunk this andother miscomprehensions of misogyny.

    The stance that personal experience is a valid match for scholarly

    evidence becomes a platform for new histories based in theexperiences of groups outside the norm.

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    Building Walls

    Pizan then appropriates the medieval tradition ofexemples: lists of biblical, mythical and historicprecedents, to help her argument.

    These serve the dual purpose of defending the sexagainst anti-feminist rhetoric and of giving womenreaders an impressive, expansive sense of the manyhistoric role models that are available to them.

    Christine de Pizan offers the idea that women shouldlook to other women for their defense, and that acollective past of women could be a source of energy intheir collective struggle for justice.

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    Revisionism

    Finally, Pizan rewrites history in a revisionistspirit. She reorders these women, excludes allevil women, and reinterprets stories of womenwith bad reputations. (example ofMedea where

    she shifts blame to Jason).

    Pizans goal is to restore women to history,restore history to women. The foundation that

    Christine builds for herCity of Ladies is todevelop an historic base upon which a traditionof feminist thinking, strategizing, andhistoricizing can begin.

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    Pizans Choices

    Analyze examples under rubric of Clearing

    the Field ofLetters, building of walls and of

    revisionism

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    Queen Fredegunde (c.545597 )

    Frankish queen. The mistress of King Chilperic I ofNeustria, she became his wife after inducing him tomurder his wife Galswintha (567). Fredegunde andBrunhilda, Galswintha's sister and wife of King Sigebert I

    of Austrasia, were among the leading figures in the longwar (561613) between the Frankish kingdoms ofNeustria and Austrasia. Fredegunde procured the deathsof Sigebert I and of her own stepchildren. AfterChilperic's murder (584) she acted as regent for her son

    Clotaire II. Clotaire had Brunhilda put to the rack andstretched for three days, then chained between fourhorses and eventually ripped limb from limb.

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    Pizans Account

    Although the lady was unnaturally

    cruel for a woman, she nonetheless ruled

    over the kingdom of France most wisely

    after her husbands death[she]managed to save her son from his

    enemies. She even brought him up

    herself and crowned him with her own

    hands. All this would have been

    impossible had she been lacking inprudence (p. 31)

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    Semiramis Semi-legendary

    Assyrian Queen (9th c. BCE)

    King Ninus of Babylon became captivated by her beauty, and afterher first husband conveniently committed suicide, he married her.

    Semiramis, now Queen of Babylon, convinced Ninus to make her"Regent for a Day." He did so - and on that day, she had him

    executed, and she took the throne. She is said to have had a long string of one-night-stands with

    handsome soldiers. So that her power would not be threatened by aman who presumed on their relationship, she had each lover killedafter a night of passion.

    There's even one story that her army attacked and killed the sunitself (in the person of the god Er), for the crime of not returning herlove. Echoing a similar myth about the goddess Ishtar, she imploredthe other gods to restore the sun to life.

    Rossini's opera, Semiramide, premiered in 1823.

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    When Semiramis was quite young it

    so happened that her husband Ninus

    was killed by an arrowSemiramis

    confronted any type of danger with

    such courage that she crushed all herenemies it is true that some

    authors have criticized Semiramis

    for having married her own son

    [but] no other man was worthy of her

    if she hadthought she was doing

    anything wrong she would haverefrained from doing as she did. (p.

    37)

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    Amazons (legendary?)

    The historical factuality of Amazons as a people is still in debate. These

    warrior women are described in the Iliad as "antianeirai", meaning: thosewho go to war like men.

    They were also described by Herodotus as "androktones", killers of males.It is believed they resided in Pontus, Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) butthere are differing views as to how many nations of Amazons there were.

    Amazons worshiped Artemis the virgin goddess of the hunt, and Ares thegod of war. They also took men prisoner in battle, after choosing the mosthandsome they then used them for their sexual pleasure, and would eitherkill them or use them as slaves once their usefulness had been expended.

    If they gave birth to a male, they would kill, blind or cripple the infant. If theykept them alive they would then use them when they grew into young men

    (if they were suitable) as a supply of male seed.

    In medieval times, their kingdom was called 'Femyny'.

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    Pizans Account

    If they gave birth to a male child, theywould send them away to be with their

    fathers

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    Queen Penthesilea

    Penthesilea was the queen of the Amazons and the daughter ofAres and Otrere.

    Penthesilea accidentally killed an ally Amazon queen (Hippolyte,Melanippe, or Glauce). To be purified of her crime, Penthesilea wentto Priam.

    Apparently in return for Priam's help, Penthesilea, with herAmazons, entered the Trojan War on the side of the Trojans. Sheentered the war in its 10th and final year, after the death of Hector.

    Achilles defeated Penthesilea, but when he saw her beauty, he fellin love with the brave Amazon and quickly lamented his act.

    Thersites, a Greek, mocked Achilles and removed Penthesilea'seyes with his sword. With a single blow, Achilles killed Thersites.

    Some traditions state that Achilles committed necrophilia with thefallen Penthesilea, and one author even goes so far as to say thatthe dead Penthesilea bore a son, Caystrius, to Achilles.

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    Pizans Account

    The Queen, distraught over the death of

    the Trojan Hector (killed by Achilles),

    seeks out and severely wounds Achilles

    son Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus later returns and

    after other Greeks tear off her helmet,

    Pyrrhus splits her skull in two with an axe.

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    Zenobia, Queen of Palmyria

    (c. 231--271)

    Many modern historians believe she was descendedfrom Cleopatra VII of Egypt.

    In 269, she crushed an Egyptian who challenged Roman

    rule and proclaimed herselfQueen of Egypt. Zenobia was captured and paraded wearing gold chains

    by the Roman emperor Aurelian. She was granted a villain Tivoli, Italy, where she spent the rest of her life as aphilosopher and socialite.

    It is probable that she treated the Jews in Palmyra withfavour; she is referred to in the Talmud, as protectingJewish rabbis.

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    Pizans Account

    The noble Zenobia had an extremely

    beautiful face and body but she paid no

    attention to her looks she consented

    to intercourse solely for the purpose ofhaving children She ate off plates

    decorated with gold and precious stones

    and dressed in luxurious robes her

    greatest accomplishment was her

    knowledge of the arts she was well

    schooled Her chosen teacher wasLonginus the philosopher she wrote a

    very elegant abridged history of

    contemporary events in Latin and Greek

    she wanted her children to have an

    education similar to her own

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    Queen Artemesia

    (Herodotos) I consider her to be a particular object of admirationbecause she was a woman who played a part in the war againstGreece. She took power on the death of her husband, as she had ason who was still a youth. Because of her courage and spirit shewent to war although she had no need to do so.

    For, according to the story, the king was watching and saw that itwas her ship that made the attack. What is more, one of the peoplewith him said, " Master, do you see how well Artemisia is fighting?She has sunk an enemy ship." When the king asked whether it wasreally Artemisia who had done so, they confirmed it was becausethey recognised her vessel's flag clearly and assumed that she had

    sunk an enemy ship. As far as the rest of the story goes, the incidentturned out to her advantage because no one from the Calyndianship survived to bring a charge against her. Xerxes is said to havereplied to the news, "My men have become women and my women,men." This, they say, was the king's response.

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    Artemisia - Rembrandt

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    Pizans Account

    In short, she fought so well that she

    crushed Xerxes as thoroughly on sea as

    she had done on land. The dishonourable

    king then took to his heels and fled (p.

    53)

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    Cloelia

    Modern historians debate whether the story of Cloelia isa genuine historical record or a myth, although the truthof the account was widely upheld by the Romansthemselves. According to Roman tradition, Cloelia wasone of the young Roman girls given as hostages to Lars

    Porsenna, king of the Etruscan town of Chiusi. Cloelia,however, escaped her captors, swimming across theriver Tiber. She also led many of the other Roman girlsto safety. Porsenna was furious when he learned of theescape, but he eventually came to admire Cloelia's

    courage. He granted her a promise of safety, should shereturn to his camp, and even swore to return her to herparents when his troops had left Roman territory. In latertimes of peace, Rome celebrated her courage bybuilding a statue of her on the Via Sacra.

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    Manto

    The daughter of Tiresias of Thebes. After Thebes wastaken by the Epigonoi, Manto was brought back to Apolloat Delphi as war prize. Apollo ordered the girl to found aoracle of him in Colophon (Asia Minor). There, she

    became the mother of the seer Mopsus. According toanother tradition, she ended up in Italy where shebecame by Tiberinus the mother of Ocnus, the founderof Mantua (Mantova) (Virgil X, 199). Other sourcesmention that the city was named after a different Manto,

    who was regarded as the daughter of Heracles. Mantuais also connected to Mantus, god of the underworld.

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    Pizan: Being gifted and intelligent she acquired a complete

    knowledge of pyromancy, the art of diving the future from fire.

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    Medea

    Medea was a devotee of the goddess Hecate, and one of the greatsorceresses of the ancient world. She was the daughter of King Aeetes ofColchis, and the granddaughter of Helios, the sun god.

    King Aeetes' most valuable possession was a golden ram's fleece. WhenJason and the crew of the Argo arrived at Colchis seeking the Golden

    Fleece, Aeetes was unwilling to relinquish it and set Jason a series ofseemingly impossible tasks as the price of obtaining it. Medea fell in lovewith Jason and agreed to use her magic to help him, in return for Jason'spromise to marry her.

    Medea bore Jason two children before Jason forsook her in order to marrythe daughter of Creon, the king of Corinth. Medea got revenge for Jason'sdesertion by killing the new bride with a poisoned robe and crown whichburned the flesh from her body; King Creon died as well when he tried toembrace his dying daughter. Medea fled Corinth in a chariot, drawn bywinged dragons, which belonged to her grandfather Helios. She took withher the bodies of her two children, whom she had murdered in order to giveJason further pain.

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    Medea Christopher Cairns

    Pizans Account

    Avoids the nasty bits

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    Ceres

    she was responsible for

    inventing both the science and the

    techniques of agriculture as well as

    all the necessary tools

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    Isis

    she showed the people many different

    things, including how to create gardens,

    grow plants and graft cuttings of one

    species onto another. She also set up a

    number of fine and decent laws

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    Arachne

    Arachne was the first person

    to create the arts of dyeing

    wool in different colours and

    of producing what we would

    call fine tapestries from

    weaving pictures on cloth tomake them look like

    paintings. There was even a

    fable about Arachne which

    tells how she was turned into

    a spider by the goddess

    Pallas whom she had daredto challenge.

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    Pamphile

    This lady was highly skilled in various

    arts and took such delight in

    experimenting and discovering new

    things that it was she who first

    invented the art of creating silk.

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    Sempronia of Rome

    Her phenomenal intelligence meant

    that there was no discipline, no

    matter how difficult it was either

    intellectually or practically, that she

    couldnt immediately pick up and

    master

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    Queen Dido

    good sense

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    Cassandra

    she was often beaten by

    her brothers and her father

    who told her she was mad

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    Xanthippe wife of

    Socrates

    The honourable lady

    Xanthippe was a very wise

    and virtuous woman who

    married the great philosopher

    Socrates the good lady

    never stopped loving him

    never stopped grieving for

    him

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    Sulpicia

    she preferred to follow her husband into penury and banishment

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    Portia Catos

    daughter

    she went over to the

    fire and swallowed some

    live coals

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    Judith

    In the city lived a noble and

    valiant lady named Judith, who

    was a young and lovely woman

    of exemplary virtue and chastity

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    Esther The wise and noble Queen Esther

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    Veturia

    pleaded with her son to cease his siege on Rome shealone was able to do what Romes most prominent citizens

    were unable to achieve.

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    Rebecca The good and honest lady Rebecca

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    Ruth

    this worthy lady was so decent

    and virtuous that a whole book of

    the Bible was written about her

    Ruth David Buckhart

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    Penelope Jacobo Bassano

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    Thisbe John Waterhouse

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    Hero & LeanderJMW Turner

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    Ghismonda - Bacchiacca

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    Afra