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The Missing Thread: A Women's History of the Ancient World
Spanning 3,000 years, from the birth of Minoan Crete to the death of the Julio-Claudian dynasty in Rome, a magisterial new history of the ancient world told, for the very first time, through women.
For centuries, men have been writing histories of antiquity filled with warlords, emperors and kings. But when it comes to incorporating women aside from Cleopatra and Boudica, writers have been more comfortable describing mythical heroines than real ones.
While Penelope and Helen of Troy live on in the imagination, their real-life counterparts have been relegated to the margins. In The Missing Thread, Daisy Dunn inverts this tradition and puts the women of history at the centre of the narrative.
These pages present Enheduanna, the earliest named author, the poet Sappho and Telesilla, who defended her city from attack. Here is Artemisia, sole female commander in the Graeco-Persian Wars, and Cynisca, the first female victor at the Olympic Games. Cleopatra may be the more famous, but Fulvia, Mark Antony's wife, fought a war on his behalf. Many other women remain nameless but integral.
Through new examination of the sources combined with vivid storytelling Daisy Dunn shows us the ancient world through fresh eyes, and introduces us to an incredible cast of ancient women, weavers of an entire world.
For centuries, men have been writing histories of antiquity filled with warlords, emperors and kings. But when it comes to incorporating women aside from Cleopatra and Boudica, writers have been more comfortable describing mythical heroines than real ones.
While Penelope and Helen of Troy live on in the imagination, their real-life counterparts have been relegated to the margins. In The Missing Thread, Daisy Dunn inverts this tradition and puts the women of history at the centre of the narrative.
These pages present Enheduanna, the earliest named author, the poet Sappho and Telesilla, who defended her city from attack. Here is Artemisia, sole female commander in the Graeco-Persian Wars, and Cynisca, the first female victor at the Olympic Games. Cleopatra may be the more famous, but Fulvia, Mark Antony's wife, fought a war on his behalf. Many other women remain nameless but integral.
Through new examination of the sources combined with vivid storytelling Daisy Dunn shows us the ancient world through fresh eyes, and introduces us to an incredible cast of ancient women, weavers of an entire world.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2024
361 people are currently reading
8567 people want to read
About the author
Daisy Dunn
8 books115 followersDaisy Dunn is an author, classicist, and cultural critic. Her first two books, Catullus’ Bedspread: The Life of Rome’s Most Erotic Poet, and The Poems of Catullus: A New Translation, were published by HarperCollins on both sides of the Atlantic in 2016. The same year, Daisy was named in the Guardian as one of the leading female historians. Daisy has three books due out in 2019, the first of which, In The Shadow of Vesuvius: A Life of Pliny, was published by HarperCollins on 30 May (it will be released by Norton in the US in December). She is represented for books and media by Georgina Capel at Georgina Capel Associates Ltd.
Daisy contributes features, reviews, and comment articles to the Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard, History Today, Literary Review, The London Magazine, New Statesman, Newsweek, The Oldie, The Times, Sunday Times, Spectator, Standpoint, TLS, Apollo Magazine, Catholic Herald, and in the US she contributes to The LA Review of Books, New Criterion, and Lit Hub. Representing her former Oxford college St Hilda’s, Daisy played 3 matches of the 2016 University Challenge Christmas Special on BBC 2. Her team, captained by crime writer Val McDermid, won the series. Daisy has contributed to the BBC World Service, recorded two short films for BBC Ideas, and in 2015 her essay ‘An Unlikely Friendship: Oscar Wilde and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’ was longlisted for the international £20,000 Notting Hill Editions Essay Prize.
Daisy is particularly interested in the ancient world and its afterlife from the Renaissance forwards. Her doctorate, which she was awarded at UCL in 2013, spanned eighth-century BC Greece to sixteenth-century Italy. Her expertise lies in the history of the late Roman Republic and early Empire, literature of Greece and Rome, and art of Renaissance Italy.
Daisy read Classics at the University of Oxford, before completing a Master’s in the History of Art at the Courtauld in London, where she was awarded a scholarship for her work on Titian, Venice and Renaissance Europe. In the course of completing her doctorate, Daisy was recipient of the AHRC doctoral award, the Gay Clifford Award for Outstanding Women Scholars, and an Italian Cultural Society scholarship. She has taught Latin at UCL and continues to give talks and lectures in museums, galleries, and at festivals. She was formerly trustee and Executive Officer of the Joint Association of Classical Teachers. She is now Editor of ARGO http://www.hellenicsociety.org.uk/pub..., a journal published through the Hellenic Society, founded in 1879.
Daisy contributes features, reviews, and comment articles to the Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard, History Today, Literary Review, The London Magazine, New Statesman, Newsweek, The Oldie, The Times, Sunday Times, Spectator, Standpoint, TLS, Apollo Magazine, Catholic Herald, and in the US she contributes to The LA Review of Books, New Criterion, and Lit Hub. Representing her former Oxford college St Hilda’s, Daisy played 3 matches of the 2016 University Challenge Christmas Special on BBC 2. Her team, captained by crime writer Val McDermid, won the series. Daisy has contributed to the BBC World Service, recorded two short films for BBC Ideas, and in 2015 her essay ‘An Unlikely Friendship: Oscar Wilde and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’ was longlisted for the international £20,000 Notting Hill Editions Essay Prize.
Daisy is particularly interested in the ancient world and its afterlife from the Renaissance forwards. Her doctorate, which she was awarded at UCL in 2013, spanned eighth-century BC Greece to sixteenth-century Italy. Her expertise lies in the history of the late Roman Republic and early Empire, literature of Greece and Rome, and art of Renaissance Italy.
Daisy read Classics at the University of Oxford, before completing a Master’s in the History of Art at the Courtauld in London, where she was awarded a scholarship for her work on Titian, Venice and Renaissance Europe. In the course of completing her doctorate, Daisy was recipient of the AHRC doctoral award, the Gay Clifford Award for Outstanding Women Scholars, and an Italian Cultural Society scholarship. She has taught Latin at UCL and continues to give talks and lectures in museums, galleries, and at festivals. She was formerly trustee and Executive Officer of the Joint Association of Classical Teachers. She is now Editor of ARGO http://www.hellenicsociety.org.uk/pub..., a journal published through the Hellenic Society, founded in 1879.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
September 24, 2024
As anyone who knows me will tell you, women in antiquity and feminist historiography are my passion. Unfortunately, "The Missing Thread" by Daisy Dunn does not contribute much to the historiography of women in antiquity.
I want to note something off the bat: this is NOT a "women's history of the ancient world." This is a women's history of the Greco-Roman world. Other ancient cultures independent of Greece or Rome receive no genuine attention here, unless those women happened to come into contact with Greece or Rome (like Atossa), so if you are looking for a comprehensive women's history that addresses intersecting ancient cultures, even "just" Mediterranean ones, then this book will be a disappointment.
In the introduction, Dunn refers to the Biblical Eve as "Pandora's Christian counterpart" on page 2. Eve is a JEWISH figure. Sure, the Tanakh was later appropriated (and twisted, in often antisemitic ways) by Christians into the so-called "Old Testament," but Eve is a Jewish construction, not a Christian one, although the Christians interpret her quite different from Jews.
Dunn's chapter on Minoan Crete being a sort of proto-feminist society was also jarring, most of all because using wall art to construct a social or cultural history is impossible. As she mentioned, their script -- Linear A -- has yet to be cracked. Yet, you get the impression that Dunn is arguing Minoan Crete was a borderline matriarchy and the Mycenaeans' ruined women's rights to some extent. Dunn cites Mycenaean tablets that demonstrate women were excluded from power, but, as I mentioned, we do not know what the Minoans have written and where their women fit in the power structure. One can easily deduce Mycenaean Greece was a borderline matriarchy, too, if you ignored the documentary evidence and focused only on the art historical evidence.
Already by the Archaic Greece chapter, I felt the book had not done a great job of looking at women who aren't of the upper-class. Penelope is spoken of as almost a proto-feminist hero, but it is not mentioned by Dunn that Penelope rather viciously abused the enslaved women in her household. It would have made an interesting discussion not only of the intersection of gender and class but also race, since, as Dunn very briefly mentioned, enslaved women in Mycenaean society at the time Penelope would have lived were mainly taken from Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey). Yes, much of our evidence of women's lives in Greece comes from upper-class society, but it is far from true we have no evidence of women from the "lower orders," or that there is not enough to discuss them, as I just illustrated with enslaved women on Mycenaean Ithaka.
I did like how Dunn drew occasional parallels to women (as well as female deities) outside of the Greek world - including China, Egypt, and Mesopotamia - albeit mainly women from the upper-classes in those ancient societies as well.
Despite a decent writing style and some interesting tidbits, this is obviously a popular "history." Dunn repeats the unsubstantiated claim Sappho was married to a man (nary a citation, but it comes from 1) misogynistic male Greek comedic writers like Menander - who lived centuries after Sappho - and the extremely unreliable work "Suda" that was written almost 2,000 years after Archaic Sappho lived). Dunn cites the mention of a possible daughter in Sappho's poems to reinforce this heteronormativity constructed by extremely misogynistic Greek men who lived centuries after Sappho wrote. Dunn does not mention Sappho's poems where the poet decries the horrors of losing one's "virginity" (to men) - with obvious connotations of rape. After all, how consensual was a woman's (or girl's) marriage in antiquity? Women/girls of the upper-class especially married young. Dunn seems uninterested in exploring this very serious issue in the context of Sappho. Like earlier male classicists, Dunn obscures the fact all of Sappho's surviving erotic poetry concerns women, instead insisting on its "ambiguity." Furthermore, Sappho's life is spoken of in certain terms. The fact of the matter is any "biographical" details on Sappho come from her poetry.
The rest of the book is similarly hit/miss, and fairly general in its scope. The section on Cleopatra VII is just a rehash of some ideas other scholars have discussed in the last several decades, although it doesn't feel like a well-rounded discussion of the famous Ptolemaic Egyptian queen. Dunn characterizes the poor treatment Cleopatra received in the Roman literary record as connected simply to misogyny and her status as a foreign queen. But if Dunn read Cleopatra on a deeper level, she could have discussed how the intersection of Cleopatra's race (Egyptian, Greek), gender (woman), and status as a ruler in a Roman-dominated world affected her reception by Romans, which would have made for a meaningful and fresh discussion. Frankly, as it would for all of the other women discussed in this book, like Aspasia (Racially Greek but an immigrant, a woman), Atossa (Racially Persian, woman, and queen) and Fulvia (Racially Roman and a woman).
I just want to warn people unfamiliar with the topics of women in antiquity there is much speculation here without Dunn telling you so, speaking authoritatively on contention topics as if they are actually established facts - with poor use of citations (such as the whole Sappho issue).
There was nothing new in this book for me. My work concerns classical antiquity so that is understandable. But I did find it jarring when Dunn states: "The ability to understand women and view them in the round remained underdeveloped in even the most celebrated classical and contemporary historians. I hope to have gone some way towards bringing them to life."
Why I find this jarring is because it feels like Dunn is somewhat discounting the work of the incredible abundance of feminist historiography - did she not consult these numerous works? Reading through the bibliography, it is rather light on this score, especially on a book of this size and scope. Dunn owes much to many women classicists and historians before her, and "The Missing Thread" is not a unique work, no matter what the book's blurbs and even Dunn herself seems to suggest. Why isn't Amy Richlin's formative Arguments with Silence: Writing the History of Roman Women used by Dunn? Why did Dunn not round out her work with thought and theory, like the essays in Feminist Theory and the Classics, edited by Richlin and Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz? Sarah Pomeroy inaugurated the study of women in classical antiquity as a serious topic of scholarship with Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity, but Pomeroy hardly gets the credit she deserves here.
I also believe scholarship on the intersection of gender, identity, and race would have greatly benefited this book. Consulting the work of Shelley P. Haley, a Black feminist classics scholar, would have been highly beneficial for Dunn to understand how the intersection of womanhood and race affected an individual woman's status (like the enslaved Anatolian women in Mycenae). Immigrant Women in Athens: Gender, Ethnicity, and Citizenship in the Classical City by Rebbecca F. Kennedy; Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt: A Sourcebook by Jane Rowlandson; Women Like This: New Perspectives on Jewish Women in the Greco-Roman World edited by Amy-Jill Levine; Race: Antiquity and Its Legacy by Denise Eileen McCoskey; Identities, Ethnicities and Gender in Antiquity edited by Jacqueline Fabre-Serris, Alison Keith and Florence Klein; Race and Ethnicity in the Classical World: An Anthology of Primary Sources in Translation edited by Rebecca F. Kennedy, C. Sydnor Roy, and Max L. Goldman; and Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity by Sarah Debrew would have all been a huge boon to the book's bibliography.
The wonderful Cleopatra's Daughter: From Roman Prisoner to African Queen (2023) by historian Jane Draycott is a work of popular history that shows us how much can be gained from considering the intersection of gender, race, and identity in constructing histories of ancient women.
"The Missing Thread" may help fill the need for popular works on classical antiquity, but it is hardly a subversive or game-changing work.
I want to note something off the bat: this is NOT a "women's history of the ancient world." This is a women's history of the Greco-Roman world. Other ancient cultures independent of Greece or Rome receive no genuine attention here, unless those women happened to come into contact with Greece or Rome (like Atossa), so if you are looking for a comprehensive women's history that addresses intersecting ancient cultures, even "just" Mediterranean ones, then this book will be a disappointment.
In the introduction, Dunn refers to the Biblical Eve as "Pandora's Christian counterpart" on page 2. Eve is a JEWISH figure. Sure, the Tanakh was later appropriated (and twisted, in often antisemitic ways) by Christians into the so-called "Old Testament," but Eve is a Jewish construction, not a Christian one, although the Christians interpret her quite different from Jews.
Dunn's chapter on Minoan Crete being a sort of proto-feminist society was also jarring, most of all because using wall art to construct a social or cultural history is impossible. As she mentioned, their script -- Linear A -- has yet to be cracked. Yet, you get the impression that Dunn is arguing Minoan Crete was a borderline matriarchy and the Mycenaeans' ruined women's rights to some extent. Dunn cites Mycenaean tablets that demonstrate women were excluded from power, but, as I mentioned, we do not know what the Minoans have written and where their women fit in the power structure. One can easily deduce Mycenaean Greece was a borderline matriarchy, too, if you ignored the documentary evidence and focused only on the art historical evidence.
Already by the Archaic Greece chapter, I felt the book had not done a great job of looking at women who aren't of the upper-class. Penelope is spoken of as almost a proto-feminist hero, but it is not mentioned by Dunn that Penelope rather viciously abused the enslaved women in her household. It would have made an interesting discussion not only of the intersection of gender and class but also race, since, as Dunn very briefly mentioned, enslaved women in Mycenaean society at the time Penelope would have lived were mainly taken from Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey). Yes, much of our evidence of women's lives in Greece comes from upper-class society, but it is far from true we have no evidence of women from the "lower orders," or that there is not enough to discuss them, as I just illustrated with enslaved women on Mycenaean Ithaka.
I did like how Dunn drew occasional parallels to women (as well as female deities) outside of the Greek world - including China, Egypt, and Mesopotamia - albeit mainly women from the upper-classes in those ancient societies as well.
Despite a decent writing style and some interesting tidbits, this is obviously a popular "history." Dunn repeats the unsubstantiated claim Sappho was married to a man (nary a citation, but it comes from 1) misogynistic male Greek comedic writers like Menander - who lived centuries after Sappho - and the extremely unreliable work "Suda" that was written almost 2,000 years after Archaic Sappho lived). Dunn cites the mention of a possible daughter in Sappho's poems to reinforce this heteronormativity constructed by extremely misogynistic Greek men who lived centuries after Sappho wrote. Dunn does not mention Sappho's poems where the poet decries the horrors of losing one's "virginity" (to men) - with obvious connotations of rape. After all, how consensual was a woman's (or girl's) marriage in antiquity? Women/girls of the upper-class especially married young. Dunn seems uninterested in exploring this very serious issue in the context of Sappho. Like earlier male classicists, Dunn obscures the fact all of Sappho's surviving erotic poetry concerns women, instead insisting on its "ambiguity." Furthermore, Sappho's life is spoken of in certain terms. The fact of the matter is any "biographical" details on Sappho come from her poetry.
The rest of the book is similarly hit/miss, and fairly general in its scope. The section on Cleopatra VII is just a rehash of some ideas other scholars have discussed in the last several decades, although it doesn't feel like a well-rounded discussion of the famous Ptolemaic Egyptian queen. Dunn characterizes the poor treatment Cleopatra received in the Roman literary record as connected simply to misogyny and her status as a foreign queen. But if Dunn read Cleopatra on a deeper level, she could have discussed how the intersection of Cleopatra's race (Egyptian, Greek), gender (woman), and status as a ruler in a Roman-dominated world affected her reception by Romans, which would have made for a meaningful and fresh discussion. Frankly, as it would for all of the other women discussed in this book, like Aspasia (Racially Greek but an immigrant, a woman), Atossa (Racially Persian, woman, and queen) and Fulvia (Racially Roman and a woman).
I just want to warn people unfamiliar with the topics of women in antiquity there is much speculation here without Dunn telling you so, speaking authoritatively on contention topics as if they are actually established facts - with poor use of citations (such as the whole Sappho issue).
There was nothing new in this book for me. My work concerns classical antiquity so that is understandable. But I did find it jarring when Dunn states: "The ability to understand women and view them in the round remained underdeveloped in even the most celebrated classical and contemporary historians. I hope to have gone some way towards bringing them to life."
Why I find this jarring is because it feels like Dunn is somewhat discounting the work of the incredible abundance of feminist historiography - did she not consult these numerous works? Reading through the bibliography, it is rather light on this score, especially on a book of this size and scope. Dunn owes much to many women classicists and historians before her, and "The Missing Thread" is not a unique work, no matter what the book's blurbs and even Dunn herself seems to suggest. Why isn't Amy Richlin's formative Arguments with Silence: Writing the History of Roman Women used by Dunn? Why did Dunn not round out her work with thought and theory, like the essays in Feminist Theory and the Classics, edited by Richlin and Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz? Sarah Pomeroy inaugurated the study of women in classical antiquity as a serious topic of scholarship with Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity, but Pomeroy hardly gets the credit she deserves here.
I also believe scholarship on the intersection of gender, identity, and race would have greatly benefited this book. Consulting the work of Shelley P. Haley, a Black feminist classics scholar, would have been highly beneficial for Dunn to understand how the intersection of womanhood and race affected an individual woman's status (like the enslaved Anatolian women in Mycenae). Immigrant Women in Athens: Gender, Ethnicity, and Citizenship in the Classical City by Rebbecca F. Kennedy; Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt: A Sourcebook by Jane Rowlandson; Women Like This: New Perspectives on Jewish Women in the Greco-Roman World edited by Amy-Jill Levine; Race: Antiquity and Its Legacy by Denise Eileen McCoskey; Identities, Ethnicities and Gender in Antiquity edited by Jacqueline Fabre-Serris, Alison Keith and Florence Klein; Race and Ethnicity in the Classical World: An Anthology of Primary Sources in Translation edited by Rebecca F. Kennedy, C. Sydnor Roy, and Max L. Goldman; and Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity by Sarah Debrew would have all been a huge boon to the book's bibliography.
The wonderful Cleopatra's Daughter: From Roman Prisoner to African Queen (2023) by historian Jane Draycott is a work of popular history that shows us how much can be gained from considering the intersection of gender, race, and identity in constructing histories of ancient women.
"The Missing Thread" may help fill the need for popular works on classical antiquity, but it is hardly a subversive or game-changing work.
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February 3, 20254.5💫
January 19, 2025
“Puede que sea cierto que detrás de todo gran hombre hay una gran mujer, pero a menudo también es verdad que delante de toda gran mujer hay un hombre que se cree grande.”
Este ensayo nos habla de parte de la historia de Grecia y Roma pero hablando de las mujeres que influyeron en el rumbo de los acontecimientos.
Tal y como el libro está planteado se hace un poco pesado en la primera parte. Al haber poca información sobre las mujeres el texto sigue siendo en su gran mayoría sobre hombres, batallas y tal… las mujeres poco aportan aunque se intenta enfatizar y al querer meter muchos años de historia se condensa la información y se hace bastante aburrida.
La segunda parte sobre Roma, concretamente la de la familia de Octavio, ya se hace más entretenida. Es un culebrón lleno de casamientos estratégicos, divorcios, adulterios, asesinatos, exilios, etc. Un poco lío de nombres pero es que qué vidas más rebuscadas. Aquí sí toman verdadera importancia las mujeres, aunque las fuentes que nos han llegado son principalmente de hombres que en su época eran muy misóginos.
Los capítulos son muy largos y van ordenados por cronología. Vista la información que hay y lo pesado que se hace a veces sería mejor opción dividir los capítulos por mujeres concretas y sus vidas… menos lioso y seguramente más claro, sobre todo omitiendo partes de la historia que podemos encontrar en otros libros más extensos y mejor explicados.
Por el título del libro yo creo que los lectores nos acercamos esperando otra cosa.
(3/5) ⭐️⭐️⭐️ interesante pero me parece que no está bien organizada y seleccionada la información teniendo en cuenta las expectativas creadas
Este ensayo nos habla de parte de la historia de Grecia y Roma pero hablando de las mujeres que influyeron en el rumbo de los acontecimientos.
Tal y como el libro está planteado se hace un poco pesado en la primera parte. Al haber poca información sobre las mujeres el texto sigue siendo en su gran mayoría sobre hombres, batallas y tal… las mujeres poco aportan aunque se intenta enfatizar y al querer meter muchos años de historia se condensa la información y se hace bastante aburrida.
La segunda parte sobre Roma, concretamente la de la familia de Octavio, ya se hace más entretenida. Es un culebrón lleno de casamientos estratégicos, divorcios, adulterios, asesinatos, exilios, etc. Un poco lío de nombres pero es que qué vidas más rebuscadas. Aquí sí toman verdadera importancia las mujeres, aunque las fuentes que nos han llegado son principalmente de hombres que en su época eran muy misóginos.
Los capítulos son muy largos y van ordenados por cronología. Vista la información que hay y lo pesado que se hace a veces sería mejor opción dividir los capítulos por mujeres concretas y sus vidas… menos lioso y seguramente más claro, sobre todo omitiendo partes de la historia que podemos encontrar en otros libros más extensos y mejor explicados.
Por el título del libro yo creo que los lectores nos acercamos esperando otra cosa.
(3/5) ⭐️⭐️⭐️ interesante pero me parece que no está bien organizada y seleccionada la información teniendo en cuenta las expectativas creadas
September 3, 2024
I was greatly disappointed by the lack of information about women in general. I feel like the author spent a great deal of time discussing the great men of Greece and Rome, sprinkling in the women they were associated with instead of focusing on solely those women. The book claims to show the ancient world through the lives of women, but leaves out much of the ancient world…and the women. I wish I had known that this would essentially be just another Roman history book before I paid for it.
July 21, 2024
I loved this book !! The idea of bringing to life the stories of historical women so often overlooked by their contemporary (male) historians is something so special to me. Historical non-fiction books sometimes run the risk of becoming an uninspiring list of events, however in 'The Missing Thread' the writing was so fluid and engaging to read and I enjoyed every page.
This book spans 3000 years, multiple states and civilisations, but also a range of social classes. It was intriguing to discover a wider perspective of well-known historical women, but also refreshing to learn the stories of more mundane, "everyday" people who still had an impact on the world around them and left traces for us to still remember them today.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in ancient history, whether you have any prior knowledge or not.
This book spans 3000 years, multiple states and civilisations, but also a range of social classes. It was intriguing to discover a wider perspective of well-known historical women, but also refreshing to learn the stories of more mundane, "everyday" people who still had an impact on the world around them and left traces for us to still remember them today.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in ancient history, whether you have any prior knowledge or not.
June 23, 2024
I was gifted a personalised copy of The Missing Thread by the lovely folks over at W&N (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) after they saw my positive reviews of The Earth Transformed by Peter Frankopan. Whilst I've adored many books set in the Ancient Roman time period (The Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence were a staple of my childhood) and learnt a lot about the time period in school, Ancient Greece is much more of a mystery to me. Along with the mystery of any prominent women from both Ancient Worlds.
This isn't some bra-burning feminist book (although I personally enjoy those too!). Dunn isn't here trying to claim that these Ancient women were actually in charge of everything and we've got it all wrong. Instead, using and re-interpreting (often from a women's perspective for the first time) the archaeological evidence we already have, the importance of women comes to light.
The women are 99.9% rich, titled, and connected women. Those women living within the Roman Empire who weren't rich, or citizens, or connected to the right people, had almost no way to make an impact. But for those few women who were in these positions? The mothers and wives, and sometimes daughters, to powerful men? Well, some of these women took full advantage of that and altered the course of history many times over.
If you're not familiar with this time period in history already, don't be concerned. Dunn doesn't only focus on the women, they are interwoven into the events as they would have been in real life. We see the women as they impact these men's trajectories and, when possible, we learn what happened to them later in life. Through this book I learnt so much more about the men of these Ancient Worlds, as well as the women by their sides.
This book isn't intended to re-write history. Instead, it merely adds in what was previously missing. The contributions from the other half of the population who, however restricted they may have been, were still an integral part of these societies and cultures. This is a fantastic book to read both as additional learning but also if you're coming to Ancient Greece and Rome for the first time. I can't recommend it enough!
This isn't some bra-burning feminist book (although I personally enjoy those too!). Dunn isn't here trying to claim that these Ancient women were actually in charge of everything and we've got it all wrong. Instead, using and re-interpreting (often from a women's perspective for the first time) the archaeological evidence we already have, the importance of women comes to light.
The women are 99.9% rich, titled, and connected women. Those women living within the Roman Empire who weren't rich, or citizens, or connected to the right people, had almost no way to make an impact. But for those few women who were in these positions? The mothers and wives, and sometimes daughters, to powerful men? Well, some of these women took full advantage of that and altered the course of history many times over.
If you're not familiar with this time period in history already, don't be concerned. Dunn doesn't only focus on the women, they are interwoven into the events as they would have been in real life. We see the women as they impact these men's trajectories and, when possible, we learn what happened to them later in life. Through this book I learnt so much more about the men of these Ancient Worlds, as well as the women by their sides.
This book isn't intended to re-write history. Instead, it merely adds in what was previously missing. The contributions from the other half of the population who, however restricted they may have been, were still an integral part of these societies and cultures. This is a fantastic book to read both as additional learning but also if you're coming to Ancient Greece and Rome for the first time. I can't recommend it enough!
December 29, 2024
I read this for a book group and was disappointed in it. While the title says it's a "Women's History of the Ancient World," I often felt we were getting a lot of the men's history, with women thrown in here and there. I did learn some interesting snippets about some women, but a lot of the stories were things I had already encountered. Perhaps I've read too much already about women in the ancient world?
I had a lot of trouble in the earlier parts of the book, when it felt as if the author jumped around from ancient Greece to Mesopotamia to Persia to Etruria to Egypt to Cyprus and more. I couldn't figure out what the progression was supposed to be at all times. It wasn't purely chronological. I liked the latter part of the book better when the author settled on ancient Rome, as it was for the most part a chronological progression (again, with a few jumps in time and location).
Perhaps if you know very little about women in the ancient world, this would work better. I should caution, however, that it is about elite women, and is not about the lives of ordinary women in the ancient world.
I had a lot of trouble in the earlier parts of the book, when it felt as if the author jumped around from ancient Greece to Mesopotamia to Persia to Etruria to Egypt to Cyprus and more. I couldn't figure out what the progression was supposed to be at all times. It wasn't purely chronological. I liked the latter part of the book better when the author settled on ancient Rome, as it was for the most part a chronological progression (again, with a few jumps in time and location).
Perhaps if you know very little about women in the ancient world, this would work better. I should caution, however, that it is about elite women, and is not about the lives of ordinary women in the ancient world.
physical_to-read_stack
July 15, 2024I received my copy free through Goodreads Giveaways.
August 29, 2024
I found myself feeling as the book went along, that the full story was too tightly woven for things that happened so long ago and endnotes so seemingly sparse, relatively speaking. I wondered, admittedly cynically by the end, if there were ambitions for a miniseries in the book’s crafting, or the like.
Phrasing something like “if she was holding a sword at all, she would have held it…” and “if only she had stayed…” and “it must not have escaped her notice…” suggested to me that we had again and again moved from the historical record to Ms. Dunn’s speculation or imagination.
Nonetheless, my library has it catalogued as history rather than historical fiction. It reads like a soap opera or drama regardless.
But I became bored during “I, Claudius” on PBS, too. I suspect the problem is mine more than the book’s.
Phrasing something like “if she was holding a sword at all, she would have held it…” and “if only she had stayed…” and “it must not have escaped her notice…” suggested to me that we had again and again moved from the historical record to Ms. Dunn’s speculation or imagination.
Nonetheless, my library has it catalogued as history rather than historical fiction. It reads like a soap opera or drama regardless.
But I became bored during “I, Claudius” on PBS, too. I suspect the problem is mine more than the book’s.
February 12, 2025
I was really enjoying this book but at some point I started to feel that the author somehow missed the mark. I wanted to read about women written out of Ancient History but instead I found myself reading about a bunch of men and women as satellites of their lives and accomplishments. It was a “behind every great man there is a great woman” kind of story and that’s not what I was looking for in this particular book. Also it felt too scholarly which is not a bad thing per se but in this case I think that the level of detail was just too much.
November 30, 2024
Found title misleading. While the book does trace a missing thread it is hidden behind battles and assassinations by men for men. There is no tracing of women beyond rich women connected to powerful men.
May 28, 2025
This was such a cool book. I’m not going to lie, I have read a lot about ancient history so this was an incredible read for me. But there were absolutely times where I got lost with all the names and relationships happening. Like full paragraphs where I was like which f-ing Agrippina is this?? So it was a little hard but that is to be expected.
Overall the impact of this book came after hearing story after story of women who contributed to history alongside men like Alexander, Caesar, etc. and realizing that I was never taught about them. The inconsistency of how women have been treated throughout history is not surprising but sad. There were a few moments in this book where governing men made statements about women that echo some alarming sentiments that we hear today in our political environment. It is both alarming and in a weird way comforting knowing that the dynamics of power have been playing out since ancient times and we aren’t experiencing anything new.
Overall, the author is right. Women have often times been the unrecognized authors of history.
Overall the impact of this book came after hearing story after story of women who contributed to history alongside men like Alexander, Caesar, etc. and realizing that I was never taught about them. The inconsistency of how women have been treated throughout history is not surprising but sad. There were a few moments in this book where governing men made statements about women that echo some alarming sentiments that we hear today in our political environment. It is both alarming and in a weird way comforting knowing that the dynamics of power have been playing out since ancient times and we aren’t experiencing anything new.
Overall, the author is right. Women have often times been the unrecognized authors of history.
Read
March 27, 2025The Missing Thread promises a woman centered retelling of 3,000 years, from the birth of Minoan Crete to the death of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. I understand the lack of historical sources about women in this time might be a challenge, but the book is mainly about major male historical figures and the women are kind of just thrown in there. It is definitely not a story told “through women”. An interesting and sad common thread through the 3,000 years of history Dunn covers is in times of uncertainty women are often subjected to stripping of rights and freedoms. This book was ok, I respect Dunn for trying but it felt lacking.
February 22, 2025
The book is quite dense at times but also seems to assume a level of prior knowledge of some of the figures and history, which is not necessarily a critique but more of a comment on who the target audience seems to be. Regardless, the book does an excellent job of highlighting the roles of women throughout various ancient groups. Many of the stories were really quite interesting, although a bit dense with details. I think the end quote summed the book up nicely: “to be a woman was, as ever before, to be a thread in a tapestry of unknowable, impossible extent.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2025
The book is a good history of Greece and Rome, with some women thrown in. It is NOT a history of the ancient world, and certainly not a women's history. She clearly just wanted to write a book about a time earlier than her first two books but couldn't think of a clever way to market it so just used women.
August 20, 2024
A good history where women are added back into the story you already think you know. SHould be required reading in colleges!
January 25, 2025
A great view of the (mostly) forgotten women behind the celebrated men of history.
August 20, 2024
Very dense.
June 28, 2024
The book contains a wealth of information and is no doubt well researched and thought-out. However, for me it wasn't engrossing, as many of the non-fiction books I've read recently were. Do not let this deter you, though! This is just my personal preference.
I do believe I have found an error which missed detection. Salome is Herod's sister and described as such several times in a couple of paragraphs. Later it is implied that she is his wife when discussing how much of their respective inheritances was left to Romans.
Borrowed from the library.
I do believe I have found an error which missed detection. Salome is Herod's sister and described as such several times in a couple of paragraphs. Later it is implied that she is his wife when discussing how much of their respective inheritances was left to Romans.
Borrowed from the library.
April 11, 2025
I will expand this review later, but I wish Daisy Dunn had spent more time actually talking about women and their contributions, instead of focusing so much on criticizing the prejudices or mistakes of -some- men. For example, she takes a lot of time to complain about Evans' work, but mentions Harriet Ann Boyd Hawes (or other women) only briefly.
There are many moments where there are no sources or references that could have helped to enrich the legacy of the feminine in Ancient Greece and Rome.
For instance, when discussing Mycenae, Dunn states that the Gate of the Lions has been misnamed for years, since the animals there are not male lions, but lionesses. This is a very specific and meaningful detail, potentially valuable as archaeological and iconographic evidence supporting the importance of the feminine. And yet, Dunn skips over it without any further commentary, and quickly moves on to another subject.
The entire book follows this same dynamic: it avoids dwelling on genuinely important topics or statements that could have contributed to reshaping the way we understand the history of women in Ancient Greece and Rome.
TW RAPE. Clarification: This review is not intended to dismiss the importance of acknowledging sexual violence against women in history, but to question the over-reliance on trauma narratives when portraying complex historical women. .
There are also many problematic analyses, especially regarding Homer and ancient Greek mytholgy and ancient religion. At one point, Dunn refers to the ancient Greek pantheon as a 'dysfunctional family': a description that feels reductive and simplistic, given that all ancient religions include elements of power struggles, divine conflict, and cosmic chaos. Historians shouldn't misrepresent and distort the theology of an ancient civilization in this way.
Also, in more than one paragraph, the book villainizes King Agamemnon, while portraying Priam as a “wise king” because... he doesn’t blame Helen for the war. But Dunn seems to forget that Helen herself, Agamemnon’s sister-in-law, spoke of him as a great king. And, ironically, the “wise Priam” also admired Agamemnon —despite being his enemy in war. And funnily enough, Dunn forgets that this same “wise Priam” tells his sons he wishes they had died instead of Hector. But apparently, he’s a “positive male figure” just because he didn’t blame Helen (a woman).
So, unfortunately this book doesn't deliver what it promises. Still, in the first 3 chapters there were some things that were interesting for further personal research, like "The Gate of the Lionesses".
There are many moments where there are no sources or references that could have helped to enrich the legacy of the feminine in Ancient Greece and Rome.
For instance, when discussing Mycenae, Dunn states that the Gate of the Lions has been misnamed for years, since the animals there are not male lions, but lionesses. This is a very specific and meaningful detail, potentially valuable as archaeological and iconographic evidence supporting the importance of the feminine. And yet, Dunn skips over it without any further commentary, and quickly moves on to another subject.
The entire book follows this same dynamic: it avoids dwelling on genuinely important topics or statements that could have contributed to reshaping the way we understand the history of women in Ancient Greece and Rome.
TW RAPE. Clarification: This review is not intended to dismiss the importance of acknowledging sexual violence against women in history, but to question the over-reliance on trauma narratives when portraying complex historical women. .
There are also many problematic analyses, especially regarding Homer and ancient Greek mytholgy and ancient religion. At one point, Dunn refers to the ancient Greek pantheon as a 'dysfunctional family': a description that feels reductive and simplistic, given that all ancient religions include elements of power struggles, divine conflict, and cosmic chaos. Historians shouldn't misrepresent and distort the theology of an ancient civilization in this way.
Also, in more than one paragraph, the book villainizes King Agamemnon, while portraying Priam as a “wise king” because... he doesn’t blame Helen for the war. But Dunn seems to forget that Helen herself, Agamemnon’s sister-in-law, spoke of him as a great king. And, ironically, the “wise Priam” also admired Agamemnon —despite being his enemy in war. And funnily enough, Dunn forgets that this same “wise Priam” tells his sons he wishes they had died instead of Hector. But apparently, he’s a “positive male figure” just because he didn’t blame Helen (a woman).
So, unfortunately this book doesn't deliver what it promises. Still, in the first 3 chapters there were some things that were interesting for further personal research, like "The Gate of the Lionesses".
March 6, 2025
Starting in Minoan civilisation, and concluding at the 'High Empire' of Rome, Daisy Dunn's introduction to ancient history ought to sit comfortably among its peers.
Dunn sets out with a revivalist intention. This is importantly a very different word than 'revisionist'. The mission is simple, go back to the sources through which we understand ancient civilisations, and this time, pay attention to the women. Such an exercise requires reading the ripples beneath the surface of sources, rather than taking each piece at face value. A great example is Dunn's use of the Persepolis Fortification Tablets to extract just as much information about Atossa and Amestris, as their famous husbands and fathers. Another is her reading and interpretation of Herodotus, to revive our understanding of Tomyris, queen of the Massagetae, Gorgo, queen of Sparta, and impressively Telesilla of Argos, who Herodotus never mentions by name. These kinds of readings make history more engaging. They make it a living thing to tackle, with modern sensitivities being used as a sword to interrogate the old familiar sources.
The book is told with a few limiting perspectives, none of which do it a disservice. Dunn sets out to retell ancient civilisations. She covers Minoan, Mycenaean, Greek, Persian, Macedonian, Egyptian and Roman history. She dabbles in some Chinese and Brittonic points but generally, this is a book focusing on the familiar favourites. This is a good idea, but such a wide spread really does pack a heavy punch for any reader. Still, this is clearly a book designed to assist eager undergraduates just as much as it is set to appeal to poolside readers. In this, Dunn succeeds.
Another limit is that Dunn's work is at its best when she focuses on the heroic female characters, rather than the cultural or societal interpretation of gender roles. Indeed, arguably the weakest part of the book is that Dunn takes sex and gender as generally interchangeable terms. However, these choices are understandable and at significant points Dunn goes to great lengths to remedy these weaker points. Her exploration of women's role in Rome during the Punic Wars is staggeringly good. Her breakdown of Roman love poetry, alongside archeological and historical interrogation is similar to other celebrated classicists and it is an approach I find really effective. She builds an argument out of myriad sources in order to lead the reader along to the idea that without women's sacrifices, the Punic Wars were all but doomed to fail. I do wish she had gone into a deeper interrogation of sex and gender roles, but her primary mission is to revive women's roles in ancient history and she does this marvellously.
In the absence of hard and fast rules by which to read across the source work of ancient history, Dunn uses the crevices to build a fantastic piece of history. She revives the women too often forgotten in the shadow of classical heroes. Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great; Cynics, the Spartan princess who was the first female victor of the Olympic Games; Aspasia, wife of Pericles and Lysicles; and Cornelia, general of the Second Punch War. All of these women have texture and empathy poured into them by Dunn, in a way which does not replace the male actors, but complements the history to make it deeper and more nuanced. This is to say nothing of the inclusion and promotion of the few names people do know, such as Cleopatra, Sappho, Boudicca and Fulvia. Women in roles of power is still a novelty for the ancient world, but it is a novelty not without precedence. However it is certainly one without the Victorian embarrassment that still too often muddies our contemporary sensibilities.
Dunn's work here is astonishing. Her acknowledgements are sweet and the entire work really does feel like a passion project from start to finish. Interestingly she tips her hat to the recent revival in fiction around classical stories, and this book would certainly make for complementary reading. The prose is fairly clipped, and can become slightly too embellished for my own taste, but it is certainly a strong entry point for those interested in ancient civilisation. I suppose that's a fantastic point to finish with; this is a superb book on ancient history first and foremost, it just so happens to be one of the only ones making a conscious effort to include the whole population.
Overall, it is well worth setting some time aside to sink into if you are interested in the classical world. Those unmoved by this period will not find themselves reinvigorated by the piece, but it certainly has a lot to offer for anyone looking for a fresh approach to dusty times.
Dunn sets out with a revivalist intention. This is importantly a very different word than 'revisionist'. The mission is simple, go back to the sources through which we understand ancient civilisations, and this time, pay attention to the women. Such an exercise requires reading the ripples beneath the surface of sources, rather than taking each piece at face value. A great example is Dunn's use of the Persepolis Fortification Tablets to extract just as much information about Atossa and Amestris, as their famous husbands and fathers. Another is her reading and interpretation of Herodotus, to revive our understanding of Tomyris, queen of the Massagetae, Gorgo, queen of Sparta, and impressively Telesilla of Argos, who Herodotus never mentions by name. These kinds of readings make history more engaging. They make it a living thing to tackle, with modern sensitivities being used as a sword to interrogate the old familiar sources.
The book is told with a few limiting perspectives, none of which do it a disservice. Dunn sets out to retell ancient civilisations. She covers Minoan, Mycenaean, Greek, Persian, Macedonian, Egyptian and Roman history. She dabbles in some Chinese and Brittonic points but generally, this is a book focusing on the familiar favourites. This is a good idea, but such a wide spread really does pack a heavy punch for any reader. Still, this is clearly a book designed to assist eager undergraduates just as much as it is set to appeal to poolside readers. In this, Dunn succeeds.
Another limit is that Dunn's work is at its best when she focuses on the heroic female characters, rather than the cultural or societal interpretation of gender roles. Indeed, arguably the weakest part of the book is that Dunn takes sex and gender as generally interchangeable terms. However, these choices are understandable and at significant points Dunn goes to great lengths to remedy these weaker points. Her exploration of women's role in Rome during the Punic Wars is staggeringly good. Her breakdown of Roman love poetry, alongside archeological and historical interrogation is similar to other celebrated classicists and it is an approach I find really effective. She builds an argument out of myriad sources in order to lead the reader along to the idea that without women's sacrifices, the Punic Wars were all but doomed to fail. I do wish she had gone into a deeper interrogation of sex and gender roles, but her primary mission is to revive women's roles in ancient history and she does this marvellously.
In the absence of hard and fast rules by which to read across the source work of ancient history, Dunn uses the crevices to build a fantastic piece of history. She revives the women too often forgotten in the shadow of classical heroes. Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great; Cynics, the Spartan princess who was the first female victor of the Olympic Games; Aspasia, wife of Pericles and Lysicles; and Cornelia, general of the Second Punch War. All of these women have texture and empathy poured into them by Dunn, in a way which does not replace the male actors, but complements the history to make it deeper and more nuanced. This is to say nothing of the inclusion and promotion of the few names people do know, such as Cleopatra, Sappho, Boudicca and Fulvia. Women in roles of power is still a novelty for the ancient world, but it is a novelty not without precedence. However it is certainly one without the Victorian embarrassment that still too often muddies our contemporary sensibilities.
Dunn's work here is astonishing. Her acknowledgements are sweet and the entire work really does feel like a passion project from start to finish. Interestingly she tips her hat to the recent revival in fiction around classical stories, and this book would certainly make for complementary reading. The prose is fairly clipped, and can become slightly too embellished for my own taste, but it is certainly a strong entry point for those interested in ancient civilisation. I suppose that's a fantastic point to finish with; this is a superb book on ancient history first and foremost, it just so happens to be one of the only ones making a conscious effort to include the whole population.
Overall, it is well worth setting some time aside to sink into if you are interested in the classical world. Those unmoved by this period will not find themselves reinvigorated by the piece, but it certainly has a lot to offer for anyone looking for a fresh approach to dusty times.
October 6, 2024
This is a fine book that is deceptively engaging and hard to put down.
It is tempting to associate this book with the question of how to get people to read more of the “classics” and more about the history of the classical world. Given how few people are studying Latin and Greek these days, the motivating question is more one of how to get people to read anything of the classics or classical history. This material does show up in movies to varying degrees. I was surprised to learn that the female admiral in the sequel to 300 (Artemesia)-although her characterization in the Zack Snyder movie was a bit sharper than in the historical record.
This new book by Daisy Dunn offers “A Women’s History of the Ancient World”. That strikes me as inaccurate or at least a bit distorted. Ms. Dunn has written a history of the ancient world - or a good part of it up until the end of the first set of Julian emperors of Rome. This history is different in that the role of women in this political and military is presented as fully as possible with a focus on the myriad ways in which the importance of women in prior history has been ignored, distorted, or just erroneously portrayed, consistent with the gendered norms that have domiinated prior work on the classical world. History in this tradition has been about men, told by men, and when women are mentioned about the traditional and less important roles ascribed to them. For those who are able to look carefully, there has been a continuing contribution by women to classical history from the start.
What does this mean for the reader? It is first of all a history of the classical world. The Trojan War, for example, is central to the story, even granting the disputes among historians and archaeologists about what happened. Ms. Dunn does distinguish between the Illiad and the Aeneid. Alexander the Great also is there. The founding of Rome is also part of the story just as in the traditional accounts. Yes, reading the first books of Livy will be useful. … and so on through the history of Rome. It is the same history, with the difference being that the important roles of women along the way, both in myth and historical accounts, are highlighted and not downplayed as had been more the case in prior accounts. There is lots of history, but with richer punchlines and fewer stereotypes.
It is hard to pick out particular examples since there is so much going on. This is a long and detailed book that shows considerable continuity. In fact, it is only part of a broader history, since it stops shortly after the death of Nero. I hope Ms. Dunn or some of her colleagues continue this further.
To provide an enriched history of the ancient world that better focuses on women does not turn this into a more positive account. Military and political life was hard all around and affected men and women and children. It is not surprising that Dunn concludes with the Roman Civil War and the first Julian emperors. The story of these first emperors is consistent with that in Robert Grave’s Claudius novels. It is a dark time for everyone. …but the stories of the women involved are more fully told.
There have been other attempts to tell these accounts from a woman’s perspective. Margaret Atwood’s Penelopiad and Madeline Miller’s book on Circe are recent examples. Daisy Dunn’s book is a valuable addition to this line of writing and research. I hope there is more to come.
I highly recommend the book.
It is tempting to associate this book with the question of how to get people to read more of the “classics” and more about the history of the classical world. Given how few people are studying Latin and Greek these days, the motivating question is more one of how to get people to read anything of the classics or classical history. This material does show up in movies to varying degrees. I was surprised to learn that the female admiral in the sequel to 300 (Artemesia)-although her characterization in the Zack Snyder movie was a bit sharper than in the historical record.
This new book by Daisy Dunn offers “A Women’s History of the Ancient World”. That strikes me as inaccurate or at least a bit distorted. Ms. Dunn has written a history of the ancient world - or a good part of it up until the end of the first set of Julian emperors of Rome. This history is different in that the role of women in this political and military is presented as fully as possible with a focus on the myriad ways in which the importance of women in prior history has been ignored, distorted, or just erroneously portrayed, consistent with the gendered norms that have domiinated prior work on the classical world. History in this tradition has been about men, told by men, and when women are mentioned about the traditional and less important roles ascribed to them. For those who are able to look carefully, there has been a continuing contribution by women to classical history from the start.
What does this mean for the reader? It is first of all a history of the classical world. The Trojan War, for example, is central to the story, even granting the disputes among historians and archaeologists about what happened. Ms. Dunn does distinguish between the Illiad and the Aeneid. Alexander the Great also is there. The founding of Rome is also part of the story just as in the traditional accounts. Yes, reading the first books of Livy will be useful. … and so on through the history of Rome. It is the same history, with the difference being that the important roles of women along the way, both in myth and historical accounts, are highlighted and not downplayed as had been more the case in prior accounts. There is lots of history, but with richer punchlines and fewer stereotypes.
It is hard to pick out particular examples since there is so much going on. This is a long and detailed book that shows considerable continuity. In fact, it is only part of a broader history, since it stops shortly after the death of Nero. I hope Ms. Dunn or some of her colleagues continue this further.
To provide an enriched history of the ancient world that better focuses on women does not turn this into a more positive account. Military and political life was hard all around and affected men and women and children. It is not surprising that Dunn concludes with the Roman Civil War and the first Julian emperors. The story of these first emperors is consistent with that in Robert Grave’s Claudius novels. It is a dark time for everyone. …but the stories of the women involved are more fully told.
There have been other attempts to tell these accounts from a woman’s perspective. Margaret Atwood’s Penelopiad and Madeline Miller’s book on Circe are recent examples. Daisy Dunn’s book is a valuable addition to this line of writing and research. I hope there is more to come.
I highly recommend the book.
September 19, 2024
Daisy Dunn's "The Missing Thread: A Women's History of the Ancient World" offers a fresh perspective on classical history, illuminating the often-overlooked stories of women in antiquity. According to Dunn her challenge was "to write a book that holds its own as a new history of the classical world while emphasising women's roles within it." Her aim was "to bring women to the fore without distorting the reality of events by pretending that men were not usually in charge." And that is precisely what Dunn has done.
Dunn revisits classical texts and archeological sites, uncovering hidden female voices and challenging long-standing narratives. Her analysis spans well-known figures like Cleopatra and Sappho to lesser-known women such as Atossa and Fulvia, revealing their significant yet frequently underappreciated roles in shaping ancient civilizations.
Dunn skillfully balances scholarly rigor with an engaging narrative, making the book accessible to academics and general readers. Dunn's balanced perspective allows readers to reconsider women's place in history and how we understand classical history itself.
The book's exploration of women's lives in a male-dominated world resonates powerfully with contemporary issues. It underscores the long-standing nature of the struggle for women's rights, and I couldn't help but draw parallels between ancient and modern women's experiences of inequality and resilience.
In "The Missing Thread," Daisy Dunn makes complex historical topics approachable without sacrificing depth. Her elegant prose and insightful analysis bring ancient voices to life, making them not only accessible but also relevant to modern readers.
Dunn's work offers a compelling reexamination of the ancient world through a feminine lens for those interested in classical history, women's studies, or simply seeking a thought-provoking read. It challenges readers to reconsider the central role of women in shaping our historical narrative.
If you're interested in classical history, women's studies, or simply looking for a well-researched, thought-provoking read, "The Missing Thread" is a book that shouldn't be missed.
Dunn revisits classical texts and archeological sites, uncovering hidden female voices and challenging long-standing narratives. Her analysis spans well-known figures like Cleopatra and Sappho to lesser-known women such as Atossa and Fulvia, revealing their significant yet frequently underappreciated roles in shaping ancient civilizations.
Dunn skillfully balances scholarly rigor with an engaging narrative, making the book accessible to academics and general readers. Dunn's balanced perspective allows readers to reconsider women's place in history and how we understand classical history itself.
The book's exploration of women's lives in a male-dominated world resonates powerfully with contemporary issues. It underscores the long-standing nature of the struggle for women's rights, and I couldn't help but draw parallels between ancient and modern women's experiences of inequality and resilience.
In "The Missing Thread," Daisy Dunn makes complex historical topics approachable without sacrificing depth. Her elegant prose and insightful analysis bring ancient voices to life, making them not only accessible but also relevant to modern readers.
Dunn's work offers a compelling reexamination of the ancient world through a feminine lens for those interested in classical history, women's studies, or simply seeking a thought-provoking read. It challenges readers to reconsider the central role of women in shaping our historical narrative.
If you're interested in classical history, women's studies, or simply looking for a well-researched, thought-provoking read, "The Missing Thread" is a book that shouldn't be missed.
December 18, 2024
Classical history scholar Daisy Dunn's labor of love in this volume is to peel back ancient myths, accounts as much mythical as historical, and stories of documented real persons to uncover and flesh out both how women lived in the ancient world as well as how many notable women contributed to the "making" of history.
She was spurred to do so both because of the sad fact that history and all written records from the ancient world were overwhelmingly written BY men ABOUT men, meaning that not only do most women "disappear" from the historical record but, when they do appear, the written memories of them are often negatively slanted.
In studying preserved ancient sources, however, Dr. Dunn has teased out some remarkably interesting details about women who otherwise are usually not only absent from the "center stage" as it were, but can easily fade into the background even when they are present. There were several women of whom I had never heard of before, including a woman intriguingly called "Phantasia" who was widely rumored to have been the true author of the Iliad and the Odyssey! Although her existence cannot even be proven, the fact that so many for so long thought that she might have been the author suggests the presence of many other highly literate and gifted women whose names have long been forgotten or ignored.
While, in truth, some of her writing is a little "dense" -- the legends and myths of the pre historical age are extremely involved and, candidly, a tad tedious (to my taste, at least) -- each chapter is relatively brief (10-20 pages) and, thus, can be parceled out in one's reading over a number of evenings.
This is not a book just for "feminists," by the way, for all of us who recognize how it is impossible to ignore the contributions of women -- in, oh, so very many ways -- in our own time know that women of equal impressiveness and accomplishments have existed ALWAYS in history and can be grateful that persons such as Dr. Dunn have added to our knowledge and appreciation of at least some of them.
She was spurred to do so both because of the sad fact that history and all written records from the ancient world were overwhelmingly written BY men ABOUT men, meaning that not only do most women "disappear" from the historical record but, when they do appear, the written memories of them are often negatively slanted.
In studying preserved ancient sources, however, Dr. Dunn has teased out some remarkably interesting details about women who otherwise are usually not only absent from the "center stage" as it were, but can easily fade into the background even when they are present. There were several women of whom I had never heard of before, including a woman intriguingly called "Phantasia" who was widely rumored to have been the true author of the Iliad and the Odyssey! Although her existence cannot even be proven, the fact that so many for so long thought that she might have been the author suggests the presence of many other highly literate and gifted women whose names have long been forgotten or ignored.
While, in truth, some of her writing is a little "dense" -- the legends and myths of the pre historical age are extremely involved and, candidly, a tad tedious (to my taste, at least) -- each chapter is relatively brief (10-20 pages) and, thus, can be parceled out in one's reading over a number of evenings.
This is not a book just for "feminists," by the way, for all of us who recognize how it is impossible to ignore the contributions of women -- in, oh, so very many ways -- in our own time know that women of equal impressiveness and accomplishments have existed ALWAYS in history and can be grateful that persons such as Dr. Dunn have added to our knowledge and appreciation of at least some of them.
February 17, 2025
This book jumps right into the history of the island of Cyprus, when woman were in positions of influence and leadership. Then it shows how a male archeologist’s perception in the early 1900s altered the narrative rather than seeking to present true history.
This is a must-read book for anyone planning a trip to the Mediterranean: Rome and Athens, plus the islands of Cyprus and Rhodes. It also makes me want to read Greek and Roman mythology, which I have never had any interest in before, especially the Iliad and the Odyssey.
At different times and in different kingdoms, women held a high status in their communities due to their creativity as artisans, weavers of cloth, and as bakers of bread and pastries. Older teenage girls of Sparta were taught to race, wrestle, hurl javelins, and ride horses before their marriage. The idea was to transform the girls into strong future mothers of even stronger sons. Scythian women were highly experienced horse riders and were like the mythical Amazons, Scythian women were commonly buried with spears and skeletal remains showed injuries typically sustained in battle. They were many queens among them due to their aggressive nature in tactical warfare. Homer had presented Amazons (a nation of all-female warriors) as ‘equal to man’ made them the perfect foe for male heroes to engage in close contests in literature and art (Amazonomachies). Etruscan women fascinated Greek men because they seemed so otherworldly – so sexual and brazen.
Around AD 50, a turning point occurred in imperial Rome. ‘From that moment, the city changed, and everything bowed to a woman.’ Where Agrippina’s influence and reputation were entirely her own.
This is a must-read book for anyone planning a trip to the Mediterranean: Rome and Athens, plus the islands of Cyprus and Rhodes. It also makes me want to read Greek and Roman mythology, which I have never had any interest in before, especially the Iliad and the Odyssey.
At different times and in different kingdoms, women held a high status in their communities due to their creativity as artisans, weavers of cloth, and as bakers of bread and pastries. Older teenage girls of Sparta were taught to race, wrestle, hurl javelins, and ride horses before their marriage. The idea was to transform the girls into strong future mothers of even stronger sons. Scythian women were highly experienced horse riders and were like the mythical Amazons, Scythian women were commonly buried with spears and skeletal remains showed injuries typically sustained in battle. They were many queens among them due to their aggressive nature in tactical warfare. Homer had presented Amazons (a nation of all-female warriors) as ‘equal to man’ made them the perfect foe for male heroes to engage in close contests in literature and art (Amazonomachies). Etruscan women fascinated Greek men because they seemed so otherworldly – so sexual and brazen.
Around AD 50, a turning point occurred in imperial Rome. ‘From that moment, the city changed, and everything bowed to a woman.’ Where Agrippina’s influence and reputation were entirely her own.
September 1, 2025
"The Missing Thread: A Women's History of the Ancient World" by Daisy Dunn, a classicist, uses feminism as a tool to tell more about antiquity than the average person knows. Women found a role despite many obstacles. History refers to them as "weavers", for example, without acknowledging those who set up businesses with savvy and foresight, even when the law referred to them as "less-than."
Dunn tells the stories through Rome, Greece, and Persia, and will challenge your prior knowledge. When the three empires intertwine, you really learn new things. I should have known, but mostly male doctors using feminine as an excuse to request more sex from barely post-pubescent girls shocked me. Having a cooped wife at your every whim seemed convenient.
As a Latin teacher, I wanted to use this in class. Still, the graphic information about self-pleasure objects, forced abstinence, rampant rape, and self-serving recommendations for feminine health make for very adult content. It's a shame, because the information about the political maneuvers behind the scenes in a time of limited power inspired me to have ambition.
Without giving away the "ending", I will say that we travel from about 400 B.C. to the time of Caesar and Cleopatra, the latter demonstrating the way to wield influence. This allure extends to Livia and Octavia and shows how history books focus too much on the battlefields and not enough on the minds that affect change and political power.
If you love history, you need to read this book because there are facts that may have eluded you. Dunn has put her education to use and spews deep knowledge. Even if ancient history is not your thing, you will leave with an appreciation for those who study it for a living and always manage to find new, relevant facts.
Dunn tells the stories through Rome, Greece, and Persia, and will challenge your prior knowledge. When the three empires intertwine, you really learn new things. I should have known, but mostly male doctors using feminine as an excuse to request more sex from barely post-pubescent girls shocked me. Having a cooped wife at your every whim seemed convenient.
As a Latin teacher, I wanted to use this in class. Still, the graphic information about self-pleasure objects, forced abstinence, rampant rape, and self-serving recommendations for feminine health make for very adult content. It's a shame, because the information about the political maneuvers behind the scenes in a time of limited power inspired me to have ambition.
Without giving away the "ending", I will say that we travel from about 400 B.C. to the time of Caesar and Cleopatra, the latter demonstrating the way to wield influence. This allure extends to Livia and Octavia and shows how history books focus too much on the battlefields and not enough on the minds that affect change and political power.
If you love history, you need to read this book because there are facts that may have eluded you. Dunn has put her education to use and spews deep knowledge. Even if ancient history is not your thing, you will leave with an appreciation for those who study it for a living and always manage to find new, relevant facts.
November 19, 2024
Dr. Dunn is clearly a very knowledgeable classist, but I feel like this book was poorly marketed--particularly the subtitle. If I had read the book without having seen that title, I would have assumed it was simply "A Greco-Roman History". Women are included, but mostly in relation to various Great Men, from a highly curated list (notable ancient women from Mesopotamia, China, and non-Roman Egypt are barely given a cursory glance), and only from the upper classes. More than anything, I was disappointed by the lack of analysis. Many claims about women from male writers (with an axe to grind) were presented uncritically, and larger themes were left unexplored. There is an expanse of fertile ground relating to intersections of gender, race, and class (even species) with all of these well-trodden tales. For example, the 'story' of Cleopatra and Marc Antony is well known, so why rehash it yet again instead of (to use a thread-based word) tying it to larger issues of sex, gender, race, etc?
What, exactly, is the "missing thread" in the title? That women were important too? This isn't news to me--or probably anyone who is picking up a book on women's history. Women's experience in ancient history was--as now--less a 'thread' than a knot, which can be productive and interesting to unpick. I was hoping for a more nuanced examination that I could really sink my teeth into. Luckily there have been several 'popular' history books that have scratched that itch for me lately, but this one was not one of them. That being said, it serves as an entertaining Greco-Roman history for those unfamiliar with the topic.
What, exactly, is the "missing thread" in the title? That women were important too? This isn't news to me--or probably anyone who is picking up a book on women's history. Women's experience in ancient history was--as now--less a 'thread' than a knot, which can be productive and interesting to unpick. I was hoping for a more nuanced examination that I could really sink my teeth into. Luckily there have been several 'popular' history books that have scratched that itch for me lately, but this one was not one of them. That being said, it serves as an entertaining Greco-Roman history for those unfamiliar with the topic.
October 6, 2024
3.5 stars. I'm really not sure if I should kick it up a half-star or down a half-star, so when it doubt give it the extra half-star.
Maybe it's me. Maybe I just misread the title. I thought it was going to be a history of women in the ancient world. No, not really. It's a history of the ancient world, with special care made sure to note the role that women played in it. Usually, this means we get talk of women in elite families who get involved - actively or unavoidably - when the men in their lives get involved in political activities. Some are very much active players in their own right, such as Cleopatra most obviously, but plenty of others. Many just feel like they're trying to negotiate the best situation for themselves while playing secondary roles in someone else's game. There is virtually nothing about commoners here. Then again, we don't really know much about male commoners, either. (That said, people have taken some steps to learn about them over the years, and that can include the everyday lives of commoner women -- but that stuff is never here).
The book begins with Minoan culture on Crete, and ends with the death of Emperor Nero (one year after Rome conquered Crete). Why end with Nero's death? I'm not really sure - it feels rather arbitraty to me. Sure you get the rise of a more militarized leadership class, but her conclusion notes how women are everywhere in ancient history - so they should still be part of the story here. The ending feels rather arbitray and hurts the overall point of the book.
Maybe it's me. Maybe I just misread the title. I thought it was going to be a history of women in the ancient world. No, not really. It's a history of the ancient world, with special care made sure to note the role that women played in it. Usually, this means we get talk of women in elite families who get involved - actively or unavoidably - when the men in their lives get involved in political activities. Some are very much active players in their own right, such as Cleopatra most obviously, but plenty of others. Many just feel like they're trying to negotiate the best situation for themselves while playing secondary roles in someone else's game. There is virtually nothing about commoners here. Then again, we don't really know much about male commoners, either. (That said, people have taken some steps to learn about them over the years, and that can include the everyday lives of commoner women -- but that stuff is never here).
The book begins with Minoan culture on Crete, and ends with the death of Emperor Nero (one year after Rome conquered Crete). Why end with Nero's death? I'm not really sure - it feels rather arbitraty to me. Sure you get the rise of a more militarized leadership class, but her conclusion notes how women are everywhere in ancient history - so they should still be part of the story here. The ending feels rather arbitray and hurts the overall point of the book.
November 18, 2024
i won a free copy of the missing thread in a goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review
dunn does a phenomenal job of telling the story of the women she focuses on. when the action hits and things are going one after another, it's hard to put the book down. many of the women that are featured in the novel are often known through their male relatives, and i found the approach of sidelining men a fun inversion of the norm (though the men could not always be fully sidelined)
this is certainly more of a history of the greco-roman ancient world, defining the "ancient world" by western terms. there is a great deal of early time given to mesopotamia and egypt, but once things get going in greece, that's just about where the focus stays. however, i think that also asks for a re-reckoning of the idea of "ancient world" as a whole, but what do i know.
overall, i found this a really fascinating read. it may not provide much new information for people who are experts are in the field, but for those like myself who wish to know more about women in history, i thought that it fulfilled its job.
dunn does a phenomenal job of telling the story of the women she focuses on. when the action hits and things are going one after another, it's hard to put the book down. many of the women that are featured in the novel are often known through their male relatives, and i found the approach of sidelining men a fun inversion of the norm (though the men could not always be fully sidelined)
this is certainly more of a history of the greco-roman ancient world, defining the "ancient world" by western terms. there is a great deal of early time given to mesopotamia and egypt, but once things get going in greece, that's just about where the focus stays. however, i think that also asks for a re-reckoning of the idea of "ancient world" as a whole, but what do i know.
overall, i found this a really fascinating read. it may not provide much new information for people who are experts are in the field, but for those like myself who wish to know more about women in history, i thought that it fulfilled its job.
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February 7, 2025I got as far as Chapter 6 before I gave up. I studied Classical History back as an undergrad so a lot of this was familiar territory to me. However, I gave up this book when I felt like the premise that drew me in - threading in women's stories from these ancient times - wasn't delivered. The text I read derived almost entirely from a handful of sources very familiar to people who like to immerse themselves in this historical time period. However, this book kept going on too much credulity for my liking. The "death" of Artemisia, the famous queen and naval commander, killing herself by chucking herself off a rock after blinding the man she had a crush on, is traced to Photios I of Constantinople, who was writing in the later 800s A.D. - maybe we shouldn't trust the dude who got his sources from Lord knows where. And solely relying on Herodotus, who depicts the Persian invaders and their Queens as these insanely violent freaks who love chopping each other to bits. There was one horrific passage where a group of refugee Greek women are said to have been gang-raped to death by the invaders and that was the point I gave this book up.
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