Domina Tempora

Symposium, a philosophical work by Plato written between 385 and 370 BC, is about a friendly competition between speeches given by famous men at a banquet. During the talk, Socrates says that a priestess from Mantinea named Diotima taught him "the philosophy of love" when he was young. Socrates also says that Diotima slowed down the spread of the Plague of Athens, which destroyed the ancient Greek city-state of Athens in the second year of the Peloponnesian War (430 BC). Aside from these few details, we don't know much about Diotima as a person, until now.  

You can also read about Diotima in the History made Beautiful blog.

As Plutarch was writing about the Athenian statesman Pericles, he was amazed by "the great art or power this woman had, which she used to please the leading men of the state." This unusual woman is Aspasia.

You can also read about Aspasia in History made Beautiful blog.

After Thespis became the first known actor in the world, the words "actor" and "thespian" were only used to describe men for hundreds of years. Women in the theatre have always been more of an exception than the rule. But you know us... we like to break silly rules.

Read more of this topic on History made Beautiful blog

The church tried to ‘release these unhappy slaves of a cruel voluptuousness’. By the time of Valentinian I, who reigned from 364 to 375 AD, the church had gained considerable grounds in ‘rehabilitating’ performers and introducing them into respectable society. An actress who, on her death bed, asked for and received the last sacraments, had to promise to never return to her ‘hateful’ theatrical life in case she recovered. This was just one episode of of the many adventures of actors and actresses in ancient Rome.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2022/11/08/blame-it-on-the-theater-the-joys-of-being-actors-and-actresses-in-ancient-rome/

Those who are familiar with the Chinese word wuxiá (“martial heroes”) may associate the word with memories of  martial arts films and television programs that portray a fanciful depiction of Chinese martial arts to audiences around the world. However, there is more to wuxia than meets the eye. Wuxia is in fact an entire literary genre that depicts the exploits of ancient Chinese martial artists. It has proven to be popular enough to be used in a number of modern cultural media, including Chinese opera, films, television series and video games.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2022/11/01/wuxia-and-the-history-of-kung-fu-movies-legendary-tales-of-chivalrous-martial-heroes-of-ancient-china/

Euripides was not only critical towards religions and ancient legends, he was also considered to be the biggest social critic of all the ancient Greek tragedians. He introduced strong female characters and intelligent slaves, as well as satirizing many of the heroes of Greek mythology

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2022/10/25/writing-about-the-tragic-comedy-of-ancient-greek-women/

The Cinderella story is a tale of serendipity and love – both of which are universal themes. These themes are perhaps the reason why the story seems to transcend time itself and became one of the world’s go-to princess tales, recognized all over the world albeit under different names. While there are many variants of the story, they commonly feature a young woman in unjust and oppressive circumstances whose fortune are remarkably and unexpectedly changed with the assistance of divine elements such as magical animals and fairy godmothers (or godfathers).

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2022/10/18/the-strange-and-beautiful-stories-of-cinderella-from-asia/

The history of romance novels and erotica is vast and fascinating! But what do we actually know about the genre? Where did it come from? How has it changed over the years? And why has it continued to be popular for centuries, even though in some cultures, erotica is still hidden?

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2022/10/11/from-erotica-to-historical-fiction-ancient-history-of-romance-novels/

The first illustrations of people with a modern comic book style were found in the early 1900s BCE. Carvings from this time period show that Egyptians played with creating comics, but they weren’t able to create them in the same way we do today.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2022/10/04/the-history-of-comic-books-from-the-ancient-world-to-today/

Star-crossed lovers, fathers killing sons and a warrior bride shackling her newlywed husband to the bed, all play a role in the legendary folklore of Persia’s most famous fabled family; that of Rostam and his ancestors and descendants.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2022/09/27/star-crossed-lovers-murderers-and-vicious-brides-literary-history-of-the-famous-family-of-persian-heroes/