Beyond the Walls of Troy: Unlocking the Stories of the Trojan War’s Women

What if the real drama of the Trojan War was happening inside its walls and not outside on its battlefield?

Star of the BBC Radio 4 series 'Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics', Natalie Haynes brings her unique combination of ancient history and stand-up comedy to the University of Melbourne in 2019.

Having studied Classics at Cambridge, Natalie Haynes spent 12 years as a stand-up comedian, before returning to her first love with her book, The Ancient Guide to Modern Life. To coincide with her latest novel, A Thousand Ships (published in May 2019), she will take audiences on a tour around the Trojan War – the greatest conflict in ancient literature, perhaps in literature full-stop.

From the causes of the war (divine displeasure) to its complex aftermath, this talk encompasses some of the greatest poetry ever written: The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Oresteia, The Trojan Womenand many more. The stories of the women whose lives the war affected have been largely untold, from the Amazon warrior, Penthesilea, to the priestess who saw the whole thing coming, Cassandra. For so long, invisible walls have kept women on the margins of stories to which they were actually integral. In this lecture, continuing a project she began with her novel The Children of Jocasta (2017), Natalie Haynes takes the women out of the shadows and puts them back where they belong: in the middle of the story.

This lecture is part of the 2019 SHAPS 'Walls' Public Lecture Series.

Presenter

Natalie Haynes

Natalie Haynes is a classicist, comedian, writer and broadcaster. Her BBC Radio 4 show, 'Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics', is about to record its fifth series.