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Dancing, sport, singing and poetry: all part of the education of Spartan women. By the standards of the ancient world, they had it good. With Professor Edith Hall.

Uniquely in the ancient world, women from Sparta had extraordinary rights and freedom. Relatively speaking. They were educated: they learnt to dance, sing, recite poetry and to keep fit, in a regime where physical beauty and feminine strength were prized. They were not expected to marry until they reached maturity, which meant fewer of them died in childbirth. Their gods were female and so was the company they kept, since boys were separated from their families at age seven, and raised to be soldiers in this highly militarised society.

β€˜Rock star mythologist’ and reformed stand-up Natalie Haynes is obsessed with the ancient world. She explores key stories from ancient Rome and Greece that still have resonance today. They might be biographical, topographical, mythological or epic, but they are always hilarious, magical and tragic, mystifying and revelatory. And they tell us more about ourselves now than seems possible of stories from a couple of thousand years ago.

With guests Professors Edith Hall and Paul Cartledge
Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Sat 27 Aug 2022 23:30

Broadcasts

  • Sun 21 Aug 2022 16:30
  • Sat 27 Aug 2022 23:30

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