This episode of Ancient Influencers brought to you by CLAS-B 311 Sex and Gender in the Ancient World – Because modern-day minds and media have nothing on the past.
In the first episode (spoiler!) of House of the Dragon, the soon-to-be-fridged–queen-mother warns her daughter Rhaenyra Targaryen that childbirth is a woman’s battlefield. And boy, does her horrific death prove that right. But in the 5th century BC play by the Athenian playwright and poet Euripides, the former/forever princess Medea famously declares that she would rather stand as a soldier in battle three times, than face labor and childbirth once. Given that ancient maternal health was so bad that mortality rates in childbirth approached 25%, Medea’s sentiment is understandable. Of course, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 810 women died *every day* in 2017 from preventable causes related to #pregnancy and childbirth. That’s 295,000 lives lost in a year, for anyone who’s counting. #Progress?
Want to know more? Enroll in CLAS-B 311 (26763) for Fall 2024 and Learn What You Love.
- 2nd 5 week session (9/30/2024–11/1/2024)
- 5 week, 1 credit “appetizer” class
- offered online asynchronous
- Dr. Elizabeth Thill
Fun Facts:
- no pre-requisites
- can be combined with other 1 credit “appetizer” classes
- 1 credit
