Brought to you by Penguin.
Award-winning classicist and historian Emily Hauser takes readers on an epic journey to uncover the astonishing true story of the real women behind ancient Greece’s greatest legends, and the real heroes of those ancient epics, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey . . .
Contrary to perceptions built up over three millennia, ancient history is not all about men – and it's not only men's stories that deserve to be told.
In Mythica Emily Hauser tells, for the first time, the extraordinary stories of the real women behind some of the western world’s greatest legends. Following in their footsteps, digging into the history behind Homer’s epic poems, piecing together evidence from the original texts, recent astonishing archaeological finds and the latest DNA studies, she reveals who these women – queens, mothers, warriors, slaves – were, how they lived, and how history has (or has not – until now) remembered them.
A riveting new history of the Bronze Age Aegean and a journey through Homer’s epics charted entirely by women – from Helen of Troy, Briseis, Cassandra and Aphrodite to Circe, Athena, Hera, Calypso and Penelope – Mythica is a ground-breaking reassessment of the reality behind the often-mythologized women of Greece’s greatest epics, and of the ancient world itself as we learn ever more about it.
'Bold and intellectually thrilling . . . blending history and science, rigorous scholarship and dazzling feats of imagination.' TOM HOLLAND, historian and co-host of 'The Rest is History' podcast
'Absolutely blew me away . . . rich, evocative and original work . . . this book is quite wonderful.' ELODIE HARPER, author of The Wolf Den
'Offers a dazzling new way of thinking about the ancient world . . . a wonderful, beautifully written and important book.' DAN JONES, author of Henry V
'A book the world has been waiting for . . . I loved it.' BETTANY HUGHES, author of The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
© Emily Hauser 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
About the Author :
Dr Emily Hauser is an award-winning classicist and historian and the author of an acclaimed trilogy of novels retelling the stories of women of Greek myth, For the Most Beautiful, For the Winner and For the Immortal. She read Classics at Cambridge, where she received a double first with distinction and won the Chancellor's Medal for Classical Proficiency. She has a PhD in Classics from Yale, and was a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. She is now a Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter, and teaches and researches on women's writing, ancient and modern. Her recent publications include How Women Became Poets: A Gender History of Greek Literature and a book for younger readers - Ancient Love Stories, illustrated by Sander Berg.
Emily Hauser lives in Exeter.
Review :
A bold and intellectually-thrilling book, blending history and science, rigorous scholarship and dazzling feats of imagination.
This book is one of the most thought provoking I have read in a very long time . . . it absolutely blew me away. It is such a rich, evocative and original work . . . it's just breathtaking . . . If you are interested in the ancient world I truly cannot recommend Mythica highly enough. I would go so far as to say you HAVE to read it - this book is quite wonderful.
Scholarly and witty, curious and lyrical - in Mythica, Emily Hauser offers a dazzling new way of thinking about the ancient world. Blending archaeology, literary criticism and historical detective work, Hauser shows us how to read against the grain of Homer’s epic poems to uncover the female experience of life in the Bronze Age. Mythica is a wonderful, beautifully written and important book.
From the shadowy recesses of myth and epic poetry, step forth a host of women who once lived: mothers, daughters, wives, weavers, witches, slaves, queens and warriors. These women surface in Homer's stories, but Dr Hauser puts flesh on their bones, finding a window to the past that allows us to imagine the true depth and breadth of their experiences . . . a stirring, enlightening and fascinating exploration.
A book the world has been waiting for. Reveals the brilliant foundation for the reality of the myths that make all of us . . . I loved it.
Vividly brings the women of the Bronze Age to life, with a winning combination of sparkling, energetic writing and meticulous research into the archaeology of the time.
A fascinating and empowering exploration of women in mythology. Hauser guides us on an epic journey through the Homeric world, drawing on her expert knowledge to challenge the male-dominated voices of the past and reclaim women’s rightful place in history.
Emily Hauser spotlights the fundamental contradiction in ancient epic: the stories rely on female protagonists but rarely put them centre stage to tell their stories in their own words. This book offers a brilliant riposte to that millennia-old dilemma . . . their stories are fascinating, enthralling and insightful – and help to recolour the world of epic for us for good!
Fascinating.
A masterpiece. Emily Hauser . . . awakens in us a sense of wonder as these mythologized women come to life in stories that are woven into the fabric of Homeric poetry . . . shows us Homer in a new light: in a world inhabited by women uneclipsed by men.
