women

women
Almost all information about women in antiquity comes to us from male sources. Some women could read and write (see literacy), at least to the level needed for their role as guardians of the household stores (e.g. Xenophon Oeconomicus 7. 5 and 9. 10; see housework) but, although there are many references to literary works by women, very few texts survive. The ‘exceptions’ to male authorship include women poets (e.g. Sappho, Corinna, Erinna, Nossis, two women poets called Sulpicia), early philosophers (some Hellenistic pamphlets are attributed to Pythagorean women), personal letters from women, and the 5th-cent. ad travel diary of Egeria (Itinerarium Egeriae). Many attributions to women are problematic. Were women's letters written by scribes? Is a text ascribed to a woman simply in order to attack a man (e.g. Aspasia's alleged authorship of [The entire page is 1880 words long]

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