Famous Women

By: Giovanni Boccaccio, Virginia Brown (Editor)

Paperback | 30 April 2003 | Edition Number 1

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After the composition of the Decameron, and under the influence of Petrarch's humanism, Giovanni Boccaccio(1313-1375) devoted the last decades of his life to compiling encyclopedic works in Latin. Among them is Famous Women, the first collection of biographies in Western literature devoted exclusively to women.

The 106 women whose life stories make up this volume range from the exemplary to the notorious, from historical and mythological figures to Renaissance contemporaries. In the hands of a master storyteller, these brief biographies afford a fascinating glimpse of a moment in history when medieval attitudes toward women were beginning to give way to more modern views of their potential.

Famous Women, which Boccaccio continued to revise and expand until the end of his life, became one of the most popular works in the last age of the manuscript book, and had a signal influence on many literary works, including Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Castiglione's Courtier. This edition presents the first English translation based on the autograph manuscript of the Latin.

Industry Reviews

In a pungent new translation by Virginia Brown, [Boccaccio's] famous women hold up very well indeed...The success of Famous Women suggests that [Renaissance] ladies read their Boccaccio as we are invited to read him: with forbearance for his foibles and delight in the tales he tells with such gusto and skill. -- Ingrid D. Rowland * New York Times Book Review *
For good or evil, as wife, mother, or whore, these women have the splendor of clarity; their individual destinies are sharply defined. -- Tim Parks * New York Review of Books *
Whatever his intentions--and it may be that feminism was a long-term outgrowth of the humanism that he pioneered--Boccaccio launched a lasting genre that urged women, as well as men, to reach for glory, and gave them examples to live by. -- David Quint * The New Republic *

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Introduction	p. xi
Dedication	p. 1
Preface	p. 4
Eve, Our First Mother	p. 7
Semiramis, Queen of the Assyrians	p. 8
Opis, Wife of Saturn	p. 12
Juno, Goddess of Kingdoms	p. 13
Ceres, Goddess of the Harvest and Queen of Sicily	p. 14
Minerva	p. 17
Venus, Queen of Cyprus	p. 19
Isis, Queen and Goddess of Egypt	p. 21
Europa, Queen of Crete	p. 23
Libya, Queen of Libya	p. 24
Marpesia and Lampedo, Queens of the Amazons	p. 25
Thisbe, a Babylonian Maiden	p. 27
Hypermnestra, Queen of the Argives and Priestess of Juno	p. 30
Niobe, Queen of Thebes	p. 33
Hypsipyle, Queen of Lemnos	p. 35
Medea, Queen of Colchis	p. 37
Arachne of Colophon	p. 39
Orithya and Antiope, Queens of the Amazons	p. 41
Erythraea or Herophile, a Sibyl	p. 42
Medusa, Daughter of Phorcus	p. 43
Iole, Daughter of the King of the Aetolians	p. 45
Deianira, Wife of Hercules	p. 48
Jocasta, Queen of Thebes	p. 49
Almathea or Deiphebe, a Sibyl	p. 50
Nicostrata or Carmenta, Daughter of King Ionius	p. 52
Pocris, Wife of Cephalus	p. 56
Argia, Wife of Polynices and Daughter of King Adrastus	p. 57
Manto, Daughter of Tiresias	p. 60
The Wives of the Minyans	p. 61
Penthesilea, Queen of the Amazons	p. 64
Polyxena, Daughter of King Priam	p. 65
Hecuba, Queen of the Trojans	p. 66
Cassandra, Daughter of King Priam of Troy	p. 67
Clytemnestra, Queen of Mycenae	p. 68
Helen, Wife of King Menelaus	p. 70
Circe, Daughter of the Sun	p. 74
Camilla, Queen of the Volscians	p. 76
Penelope, Wife of Ulysses	p. 78
Lavinia, Queen of Laurentum	p. 81
Dido or Elissa, Queen of Carthage	p. 82
Nicaula, Queen of Ethiopia	p. 90
Pamphile, Daughter of Platea	p. 91
Rhea Ilia, a Vestal Virgin	p. 92
Gaia Cyrilla, Wife of King Tarquinius Priscus	p. 94
Sappho, Girl of Lesbos and Poetess	p. 95
Lucretia, Wife of Collatinus	p. 96
Tamyris, Queen of Scythia	p. 98
Leaena, a Prostitute	p. 100
Athaliah, Queen of Jerusalem	p. 102
Cloelia, a Roman Maiden	p. 106
Hippo, a Greek Woman	p. 108
Megullia Dotata	p. 109
Veturia, a Roman Matron	p. 110
Tamaris, Daughter of Micon	p. 114
Artemisia, Queen of Caria	p. 115
Virginia, Virgin and Daughter of Virginius	p. 120
Irene, Daughter of Cratinus	p. 123
Leontium	p. 124
Olympias, Queen of Macedonia	p. 125
Claudia, a Vestal Virgin	p. 127
Virginia, Wife of Lucius Volumnius	p. 129
Flora the Prostitute, Goddess of Flowers and Wife of Zephyrus	p. 131
A Young Roman Woman	p. 133
Marcia, Daughter of Varro	p. 135
Sulpicia, Wife of Fulvius Flaccus	p. 137
Harmonia, Daughter of Gelon of Sicily	p. 139
Busa of Canosa di Puglia	p. 140
Sophonisba, Queen of Numidia	p. 143
Theoxena, Daughter of Prince Herodicus	p. 146
Berenice, Queen of Cappadocia	p. 149
The Wife of Orgiago the Galatian	p. 151
Tertia Aemilia, Wife of the Elder Africanus	p. 153
Dripetrua, Queen of Laodicea	p. 155
Sempronia, Daughter of Gracchus	p. 156
Claudia Quinta, a Roman Woman	p. 157
Hypsicratea, Queen of Pontus	p. 159
Sempronia, a Roman Woman	p. 162
The Wives of the Cimbrians	p. 165
Julia, Daughter of the Dictator Julius Caesar	p. 167
Portia, Daughter of Cato Uticensis	p. 168
Curia, Wife of Quintus Lucretius	p. 170
Hortensia, Daughter of Quintus Hortensius	p. 171
Sulpicia, Wife of Truscellio	p. 172
Cornificia, a Poetess	p. 174
Mariamme, Queen of Judaea	p. 175
Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt	p. 178
Antonia, Daughter of Antony	p. 184
Agrippina, Wife of Germanicus	p. 185
Paulina, a Roman Woman	p. 187
Agrippina, Mother of the Emperor Nero	p. 189
Epicharis, a Freedwoman	p. 194
Pompeia Paulina, Wife of Seneca	p. 196
Sabina Poppaea, Wife of Nero	p. 198
Triaria, Wife of Lucius Vitellius	p. 201
Proba, Wife of Adelphus	p. 202
Faustina Augusta	p. 205
Symiamira, Woman of Emesa	p. 207
Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra	p. 210
Joan, an Englishwoman and Pope	p. 215
Irene, Empress of Constantinople	p. 217
Gualdrada, a Florentine Maiden	p. 219
Constance, Empress of Rome and Queen of Sicily	p. 221
Camiola, a Sienese Widow	p. 223
Joanna, Queen of Jerusalem and Sicily	p. 230
Conclusion	p. 232
Note on the Text	p. 235
Notes	p. 237
Bibliography	p. 257
Index	p. 263
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Famous Women

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