Natalie Haynes

Natalie Haynes on Divine Might

This October, for a special afternoon event, we welcome back classicist Natalie Haynes, author of bookshop favourites Stone Blind and Pandora's Jar, in celebration of her latest book celebrating the women of Greek mythology, Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth.

We meet Athene, who sprang fully formed from her father's head: goddess of war and wisdom, guardian of Athens. We run with Artemis, goddess of hunting and protector of young girls (apart from those she decides she wants as a sacrifice). Here is Aphrodite, goddess of sex and desire - there is no deity more determined and able to make you miserable if you annoy her. And then there's the queen of all the Olympian gods: Hera, Zeus's long-suffering wife, whose jealousy of his dalliances with mortals, nymphs and goddesses lead her to wreak elaborate, vicious revenge on those who have wronged her.

We also meet Demeter, goddess of agriculture and mother of the kidnapped Persephone, we sing the immortal song of the Muses and we warm ourselves with Hestia, goddess of the hearth and sacrificial fire. The Furies carry flames of another kind - black fires of vengeance for those who incur their wrath.

These goddesses are as mighty, revered and destructive as their male counterparts. Isn't it time we looked beyond the columns of a ruined temple to the awesome power within?

Natalie Haynes is a writer and broadcaster. She is the author of The Amber Fury, The Children of Jocasta, A Thousand Ships, which was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2020, and Stone Blind. Her non-fiction book about women in Greek Myth, Pandora's Jar, was a bestseller in both the UK and the US. She has written and performed eight series of her BBC Radio 4 show, Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics. In 2015 she was awarded the Classical Association Prize for her work in bringing Classics to a wider audience.