Women, Hellenism, and Classical Education in Nineteenth-Century Britain

Greene, Bethany D.

Women, Hellenism, and Classical Education in Nineteenth-Century Britain

Authors

Greene, Bethany D.

Abstract

Hellenism, most commonly defined as a love for ancient Greece, revealed itself in various aspects of Victorian culture. While the importance of Hellenism to Victorians is well documented, little research has considered the distinctive ways in which women encountered and responded to Hellenism. Infatuation with ancient Greece, brought on by a series of archaeological discoveries, led to an increase in interest and travel to the area. I argue that classical archaeology and anthropology provided opportunities for women to engage in Hellenism and Hellenic studies despite their lack of classical language education. The travelogues of Catherine Janeway and Emily Pfeiffer's travel to Greece in the 1880s and 1890s reveal their connections to classical archaeology and anthropology while Jane Ellen Harrison, Eugenie Sellers Strong, and Lucy M.J. Garnett employed the study of ancient Greek material culture and anthropology as ways to make significant contributions to the field of Hellenic studies.