Living Goddesses Presents A Medieval Medea in Good Company

The Living Goddesses Series is a Space for Women to Gather in Community. Recordings will be offered at a later time for all to access the lecture portion of the presentation.

A Medieval Medea in Good Company

In 1405, the French author Christine de Pizan circulates a work in prose titled, La Cité des dames (The Book of the City of Ladies.) The Cité she creates is an allegorical fortress for women in response to the pervasive misogyny of her day. Christine populates her edifice with meritorious women from history, literature, the Catholic saints, and Greco-Roman mythology, including Medea. How can a woman write at this time? How does she write about women? How does she shape mythological figures to serve her purpose? We'll explore these questions and how manuscript illuminations throw light on the text.

BIO: Barbara K. Altmann holds her doctorate from the University of Toronto in late-medieval…