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What was the role of women in the ancient world? With Jamie O’Connor

We all know of Julius Ceasar and Socrates, but who are the female figures in ancient history?

There is distinct lack of prominent female figures in ancient history... why is this?

Within history books, the majority of people mentioned are men. So where, or rather, who are the women? The question is whether they were left out because the historians were men or were they just not worth mentioning.

In Ancient Greek society, the only women who were really mentioned are the goddesses. But these Goddesses were powerful and compelling in their own right. Circe, for example, was a sorcerous and goddess who was exiled to her own island and bewitched Odysseus.

Two people at wedding

In Athens, women had to have their hair covered, and most men would not allow their wives to leave the house. Their role was a domestic one, restricted to wife and mother. On the other hand, in Sparta, women were meant to be athletically equal to the men. They would compete in the olympics with the men.

In this episode, Jamie O’Connor and I explore ancient history as we attempt to find important female figures. Join us in this fascinating and captivating episode.

"when we think of all those ancient history, all that ancient history, we think of people like Socrates and Aristotle and there's all these men. You never hear about the women"

man at weding

About Today’s Guest: Guest name

Political and historical analyst

Mad keen ancient historian and political analyst

Being a very private person, and one of that rare breed of people under the age of 30 who doesn’t have a social media account of any kind, Jamie didn’t want to put too much detail in here.

His love of ancient history and politics started at age 10. He won Dux for Ancient History in Year 12 and went on to achieve a triple major at Sydney Uni in Ancient History, French and Politics. After he graduated, he continued his studies at ANU in Canberra completing a Masters in International Relations.

Groom & parents at a wedding

Jamie’s passionate about bringing the lessons of ancient history into the present and is in the process of writing a play about the Peloponnesian war and a book about the comparisons between events in those times and what’s happening in the world today.

He famously scored 101% in one of his exams during his time at Sydney when he corrected the examiner. There were several Alexanders and the question referred to the wrong one (Jamie is going to be sooo embarrassed that Mum put this in here and he’ll probably ask me to delete it. So, if you’re reading this, you’re on of the lucky few! But, you know, what the hell? #proudmum)

Season 09
Season 09
What was the role of women in the ancient world? With Jamie O'Connor
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