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Heritage Floor Tags > period: Ancient Greece
Aglaonice
Flourished by 3rd century B.C., Thessaly, ancient GreeceAglaonice (Aganice) is considered the first female astronomer in ancient Greece, known for her knowledge of the moon and its cycles. Her ability to predict lunar eclipses gained her a... Read more
Agnodice
Perhaps legendary, reputedly flourished circa 300 B.C., Athens, ancient GreeceAccording to the Latin scholar Hyginus (first century A.D.), Agnodice was an Athenian virgin who disguised herself as a man to learn midwifery. Apparently very skilled, her popularity incited the... Read more
Amyte
Flourished circa A.D. 225, Tegea, ancient GreeceThe correct spelling of this name is ANYTE.
Anyte was a third-century poet from the ancient Greek city of Tegea. She is known for her epigrams (short witty... Read more
Anasandra
Flourished 3rd century B.C., Sicyon, ancient GreeceThe correct spelling of this name is ANAXANDRA. Anaxandra was a Greek painter working in the 220s B.C., the daughter and disciple of Nealkes, a painter of mythological... Read more
Antigone
Literary, known in ancient Greece, dates vary, beginning circa 1600 B.C.Antigone, a tragic character from Greek literature, was the daughter of Oedipus. She defied King Creon by burying her brother, who had been put to death for attacking the Greek... Read more
Antiope
Mythic, known in ancient Greece, beginning circa 1200 B.C.Antiope was the sister of the Amazon queen Hippolyte and the daughter of Ares, god of war. There are several versions of her story in Greek myth. In one... Read more
Aphrodite
Mythic, worshipped in ancient Greece, dates vary, beginning circa 1600 B.C.Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, the Greek equivalent of the Roman goddess Venus and also of Ishtar in Mesopotamia. Her name means "risen from the foam,"... Read more
Arachne
Mythic, worshipped in ancient Greece, dates vary, beginning circa A.D. 8Arachne, a Greek weaver who appears in Ovid's poem Metamorphoses (A.D. 8), angered Athena, the patron goddess of weaving, by bragging that her skills were greater than the deity's. When... Read more
Aretaphilia of Cyrene
Flourished circa 50 B.C., Cyrene, ancient GreeceThe correct spelling of this name is ARETAPHILA OF CYRENE. The story of the Cyrenean woman Aretaphila is told by Plutarch in his De mulierum virtutes (On the... Read more
Arete of Cyrene
Flourished circa 350 B.C., Cyrene, ancient GreeceArete, a philosopher of the fourth century B.C., was born in the Greek colony of Cyrene (in present-day Libya). Her father, Aristippus, was a follower of Socrates; her son, also... Read more
Ariadne
Mythic, worshipped in ancient Greece, exact dates uncertain, by the 6th century B.C.Ariadne was the daughter of the legendary King Minos of Crete. After helping her love Theseus defeat the Minotaur and escape the labyrinth, she was abandoned by him while asleep... Read more
Aristoclea
Flourished 6th century B.C., Delphi, ancient GreeceAristoclea (Aristocleia), a Greek priestess at Delphi, was cited by many ancient writers as a tutor of the philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras (ca. 580–ca. 500 B.C.) and a powerful influence... Read more
Arsinoe II
b. circa 316 B.C., Thrace (modern-day Greece and Bulgaria); d. 270 B.C., ancient EgyptArsinoe II was, first, queen of Thrace, then co-ruler of Egypt with her brother and husband, Ptolemy II. She and Ptolemy shared all power, appearing on coinage together and jointly... Read more
Artemis
Mythic, worshipped in ancient Greece, exact dates uncertainArtemis, daughter of Zeus and Leto and twin sister of Apollo, was the virgin goddess of the hunt, wild animals, and the wilderness. Worshipped as a fertility/childbirth goddess in some... Read more
Atalanta
Mythic, worshipped in ancient Greece, dates vary, beginning circa 1600 B.C.Atalanta was a woman from Greek mythology, suckled by a bear and raised by hunters after her father, disappointed that he did not have a son instead, left her on... Read more
Athene
Mythic, worshipped in ancient Greece, perhaps as early as 1600 B.C.Daughter of Zeus and Metis, Athene—called Athena after 500 B.C.—was the maiden goddess of wisdom, justice, and war. She was often known as Athena Parthenos ("Athena the Virgin"), hence the... Read more
Axiothea
Flourished circa 350 B.C., b. in Phlius, ancient GreeceIn The Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Diogenes Laertius (third century A.D.) lists various members of Plato's Academy, among them two women: Lastheneia of Mantinea and Axiothea of Phlius. After Plato's... Read more
Basilea
Mythical, ancient Greece, exact dates uncertainIn ancient Greek folk tradition, Basilea was the first queen of the legendary kingdom of Atlantis.... Read more
Britomartis
Mythic, worshipped by the Minoans of Crete, circa 2600–1450 B.C.Britomartis, literally "sweet virgin," was the Minoan goddess of mountains and hunting. A granddaughter of Zeus, she was pursued by the legendary King Minos and threw herself into nets to... Read more
Cassandra
Mythic, worshipped in ancient Greece, dates vary, beginning circa 1600 B.C.The ravishing Cassandra, literally "she who entangles men," was the daughter of Priam and Hecuba, king and queen of Troy. The god Apollo, enamored of her, granted her the... Read more
Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum