Images of Women in
Ancient and Medieval
History
Is Sarah Pomeroy’s title suitable:
Goddesses, Whores, Wives and
Slaves?
Who was she? What do the
images tell you about her?
Queen Nefertiti (ruled 1341-1337
BCE) birth-death unknown
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Statue dates to c. 1360 BCE – discovered in
1913 in Egypt
Now in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, Germany
On her husband’s (Pharaoh Akhenaten) stelae:
"And the heiress, great in the palace, fair of
face, adorned with the double plumes, mistress
of happiness, endowed with favours, at hearing
whose voice the king rejoices, the chief wife of
the king, his beloved, the lady of the two lands,
Nefertiti, may she live for ever and always."
Who was she? What do the
images tell you about her?
Judith c. 610 – 650 BCE
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King Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BCE) of Babylon built a
huge empire, defeating the Egyptians and taking
Syria/Palestine in as well. This included the Jews, who
were taken as prisoners.
They also included Judith: widowed, beautiful and
descended from the “son of Israel” (Judith 8:1)
She gave herself up as a slave to Holofernes, Babylonian
general, and then got him drunk and cut off his head
and gave it to her servant (Judith 13:8-10)
Note the difference between Caravaggio’s depiction on
the left (1598) and Artemesia Gentileschi’s on the right
(1620)
Who was she? What do the
images tell you about her?
6’6”
Venus/Aphrodite/Dionaea
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Greek/Roman God of the love that leads
to marriage, to the rise of great
civilizations and to horrible wars
One of twelve Greek divinities
Gave life to Cupid and Galatea
The statue was discovered in 1820 and
was created in 2nd century BCE
The painting is Botticelli’s (1484)
Who was she? What do the
images tell you about her?
Helen of Troy
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“the face that launched a thousand ships”
Father was Zeus, mother was Leda (queen
of Spartans)
She married Menelaus but was abducted
by Paris and taken to Troy
This became the reason for the ten-year
Trojan War, the Trojan Horse, the Achilles’
heel, the stuff of legends
Who was she? What do the
images tell you about her?
Cleopatra – 69 – 30 BCE
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Born in 69 BCE as the Egyptian (Ptolemaic) Empire was
crumbling and the Roman Empire growing – became
Queen at 17 years old
Broke Egyptian law by refusing to have a male consort to
make joint decisions
Had children by Julius Caesar and Marcus Anthony
Took her own life by snakebite for immortality
Last Egyptian Pharaoh as the Roman Empire took over
Egypt with her death
The stone carving is from the temple of Hathor, and
shows Cleopatra with her son by Caesar, Caesarion
The photo still is Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra dressed as
Isis – Hollywood built on a well-established theme
Who was she? What do the
images tell you about her?
Who is he?
Mary, Mother of Jesus c. 25 BCE – 35 AD)
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Most often pictured with Jesus, she is the
“Madonna” of the “Madonna/whore”
dichotomy in literature
The painting on the left is one of many
paintings of Mary by Raphael (1505)
The painting on the right is by Lucas Van
Leyden (1522) and features Mary
Magdalene and a donor
Who was she? What do the
images tell you about her?
Salome (no birth/death, but maybe
between 5BCE – 30AD)
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This may be a bit harsh, but she is the
“Whore” of the “Madonna/Whore”
dichotomy
Sparse Biblical reference, but demanded
the head of St. John the Baptist from her
step-father, Herod
Performed the dance of the seven veils:
perverse, cunning, beautiful, seductive
Depicted as a vision of great evil
Who was she? What do the
images tell you about her?
Boadicea – c. 30 AD – 62-63 AD
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Led the Iceni Celts in Britain against the Roman
Empire in 61 AD
Born into aristocracy and wife of King
Prasutagus, who died in 61 AD
His will did not leave everything to Nero, so the
Roman soldiers came to take it by force
Boadicea raised a huge army of rebels against
the Romans, burned Colchester to the ground,
and nearly defeated the Roman army in England
She is presumed to have poisoned herself after
the Roman defeat of the Iceni in 62-63 AD
Who was she? What do the
images tell you about her?
Eleanor of Aquitaine - (1122-1204 AD)
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Married to Louis VII and Queen of France at 15 years
old, at 19 she offered thousands of servants to the
Second Crusade, as well as herself and 300 women to
“tend the wounded”
1152 marriage annulled, within the year she married
Henry of Anjou who would become Henry II of England
Stormy relationship included her rebellion against Henry
with her three sons – she was imprisoned for fifteen
years after they lost
Even after Henry died, the stormy relationships
continued, she fought against her son John and on
behalf of Richard (the lion-heart)
The portrait is by artist unknown, date unknown
The stained glass appears in Hötel de Ville, Poitiers
Who was she? What do the
images tell you about her?
Joan of Arc - 1412(?) -1431 AD
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Born in a poor region of France, selfproclaimed “shepherd girl”
Led the French in their defence of their
homeland against the British
Burned as a heretic by the English
No image existed of Joan of Arc until after
her death.
Who was she? What do the
images tell you about her?
Queen Isabella – 1451-1504 AD
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Her marriage in 1479 to Ferdinand, King of
Aragon united Spain under Castile and Aragon
rule
Acting with equal authority, they reduced the
power of the nobles
They began the Inquisition in 1480, aimed
mainly at Jews and Muslims
1492 – big year for Spain – they defeat Muslims,
expel Jews and commission Columbus
Who was she? What do the
images tell you about her?
Queen Elizabeth I – 1533-1603
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“illegitimate” Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
Portrait on left is by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (c.
1592)
Portrait on right is attributed to George Gower (c. 1588)
During her reign:
 firm establishment of the Church of England
 relative peace and prosperity
 increase in foreign trade and exploration
 flourishing literary culture
 defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588
 never married; the “virgin queen”
Conclusion
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While goddesses, whores, wives and slaves are
a part of the iconography of women in antiquity,
these images also demonstrate a different story,
one which includes warriors, queens, mothers
and saints
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Yet these images bring further questions to the
surface – the majority are created by men, even
those depicting powerful women. Piecing
together women’s history is a difficult task
because the images and written documents
(often male creations) must be deconstructed.
The trouble with this approach
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In addition to the difficulty categorizing these
women, they suggest another problem in
approach – the tokens and the trailblazers.
These women are not typical nor representative
of their times – their exceptional backgrounds or
personalities raise them up as standards that,
like Barbie, Margaret Thatcher and Serena
Williams, are virtually impossible to match.
What women’s historians try to do more, then, is
to find out about women’s lives and experiences
lived as women, rather than those of the elite,
or “manly”