The Missing Thread: A Women's History of the Ancient World (Unabridged)
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4.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
A dazzlingly ambitious history of the ancient world that places women at the center—from Cleopatra to Boudica, Sappho to Fulvia, and countless other artists, writers, leaders, and creators of history
Around four thousand years ago, the mysterious Minoans sculpted statues of topless women with snakes slithering on their arms. Over one thousand years later, Sappho wrote great poems of longing and desire. For classicist Daisy Dunn, these women—whether they were simply sitting at their looms at home or participating in the highest echelons of power—were up to something much more interesting than other histories would lead us to believe. Together, these women helped to make antiquity as we know it.
In this monumental work, Dunn reconceives our understanding of the ancient world by emphasizing women's roles within it. The Missing Thread never relegates women to the sidelines and is populated with well-known names such as Cleopatra and Agrippina, as well as the likes of Achaemenid consort Atossa and Olympias, a force in Macedon. Spanning three thousand years, the story moves from Minoan Crete to Mycenaean Greece, from Lesbos to Asia Minor, from the Persian Empire to the royal court of Macedonia, and concludes with Rome and its growing empire. The women of antiquity are undeniably woven throughout the fabric of history, and in The Missing Thread they finally take center stage.
* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF that includes maps, charts, and photos of artifacts from the printed book.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We all know the patriarchy was alive and well in ancient times in the Western world. So the prominent women must never have played any major roles…right? Classicist Daisy Dunn is here to correct that misconception with this fascinating chronicle. But don’t get it twisted—Dunn isn’t reimagining history here. She’s shining a light on the many women who appear in the archeological evidence but have been curiously glossed over in the history books. Women like Sophonisba, whose influence brought Numidia into the Second Punic War, and Tomyris, the Central Asian leader who resisted the invading forces of the Persian king Cyrus II. From powerful nobles to enthralling poets, Dunn explores the lives of women going as far back as the Minoans, Hittites, and even Sumerians. And Jenny Funnell’s warm narration truly draws you back through the millennia. However much you already know about antiquity—or don’t!—that knowledge isn’t complete without The Missing Thread.
