Women Who Went Before
Rebekah Haigh & Emily Chesley
Women Who Went Before is on a gynocentric quest into the ancient world. Join hosts Rebekah Haigh and Emily Chesley as they interview the world’s top scholars and unearth the lives of women from the past. It’s a history podcast and detective journey in one, sifting through texts and tropes to find the women who lived beneath. | Season 2 episodes every other Thursday!
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Top 10 Women Who Went Before Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Women Who Went Before episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Women Who Went Before for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Women Who Went Before episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Veiled But Not Hidden in Ancient Greece
Women Who Went Before
11/14/24 • 58 min
Dr. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones tells us about the veil in ancient Greek culture. Many women in the distant past (as today) wore veils during their life. Veiling meant many things to many people. It could be a means of patriarchal control, a sensual turn on, or a practical choice in a hot climate.
From weddings to acts of piety and expressions of grief, veils "spoke." When she chose to reveal or not hide her hair, a Greek woman expressed something to the world.
Access transcript and episode show notes: https://www.womenwhowentbefore.com/episodes/veiled-but-not-hidden
Women Who Went Before is written, produced, and edited by Emily Chesley and Rebekah Haigh.
Podcast theme music is composed and produced by Moses Sun.
This podcast is sponsored by the Center for Culture, Society, and Religion, the Program in Judaic Studies, the Stanley J. Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies, and the Committtee for the Study of Late Antiquity at Princeton University.
Views expressed on the podcast are solely those of the individuals, and do not represent Princeton University.
Bodily Matters: The Lifecycle of an Ancient Woman
Women Who Went Before
10/03/24 • 16 min
In a time when society is thinking passionately about bodily rights and who gets to make decisions about women’s bodies, Season 2 turns to history. Women in the ancient world mattered, and so did their bodies—maybe learning about them can give us new questions as we face our own world.
In our season intro episode, meet an ancient high-priestess of Ur and the first known author in human history: Enheduanna. Climb Mount Sinai with the Christian pilgrim Egeria. These two women and the records they left behind offer a personal glimpse into embodied moments of religious experience. And they help us set the stage for the season ahead.
Episode show notes: https://www.womenwhowentbefore.com/episodes/bodily-matters
Women Who Went Before is written, produced, and edited by Emily Chesley and Rebekah Haigh.
The podcast theme music is composed and produced by Moses Sun.
Season 1 Episode 0 intro music is licensed from Krux Music Publishing Limited.
This podcast is sponsored by the Center for Culture, Society, and Religion, the Program in Judaic Studies, the Stanley J. Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies, and the Committtee for the Study of Late Antiquity at Princeton University.
Views expressed on the podcast are solely those of the individuals, and do not represent Princeton University.
Missing, Presumed…Absent? Where Were All the Ancient Women?
Women Who Went Before
08/16/22 • 20 min
In our season intro we ask: Why aren't women in our ancient history textbooks? What is antiquity? How were women imagined in ancient Mediterranean societies? And why does women's history matter?
Meet the North African woman Perpetua, whose prison diary from Carthage is one of the few surviving literary texts written by an ancient woman. And meet your podcast hosts, Rebekah Haigh and Emily Chesley.
Women Who Went Before is written, produced, and edited by Rebekah Haigh and Emily Chesley. The music is composed and produced by Moses Sun.
Episode show notes: https://womenwhowentbefore.com/missing-presumed-absent/
Sponsored by the Center for Culture, Society, and Religion, the Program in Judaic Studies, and the Stanley J. Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University
Views expressed on the podcast are solely those of the individuals, and do not represent Princeton University.
“The Two Breasts of the Father”: Does Your God Look Like You?
Women Who Went Before
10/11/22 • 49 min
We talk to Dr. Susan Ashbrook Harvey about how gender shaped ancient thinking about God, women's church choirs, and the complex web of metaphors for the divine within Syriac Christianity.
Women Who Went Before is written, produced, and edited by Rebekah Haigh and Emily Chesley.
The music is composed and produced by Moses Sun. This episode was fact-checked by Jillian Marcantonio and George Kiraz.
Show notes: womenwhowentbefore.com/two-breasts-of-the-father/
Sponsored by the Center for Culture, Society, and Religion, the Program in Judaic Studies, and the Stanley J. Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University
Views expressed on the podcast are solely those of the individuals, and do not represent Princeton University.
Virginity and the Hype About Hymens
Women Who Went Before
10/31/24 • 59 min
Dr. Julia Kelto Lillis asks, "To whom does a woman’s virginity belong?" Join her and your hosts as we dive into the world of early Christian purity culture, what wine has to do with the V-Card, and why the gods like to make babies with virgins.
Like today, the concept of virginity was culturally significant in the ancient world. But unlike today, virginity as an act of devotion to God could propel a woman to the top of the social ladder. This episode we explore shifting ideas about what makes someone a virgin and the importance of virginity to the early Christian movement.
Access transcript and episode show notes: https://www.womenwhowentbefore.com/episodes/virginity-and-the-hype-about-hymens
Women Who Went Before is written, produced, and edited by Emily Chesley and Rebekah Haigh.
Podcast theme music is composed and produced by Moses Sun.
This podcast is sponsored by the Center for Culture, Society, and Religion, the Program in Judaic Studies, the Stanley J. Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies, and the Committtee for the Study of Late Antiquity at Princeton University.
Views expressed on the podcast are solely those of the individuals, and do not represent Princeton University.
Out of Pandora’s Box, Recovering Hope
Women Who Went Before
01/24/23 • 58 min
On the Season 1 finale we talk with Dr. Deborah Lyons about ancient Greek myths, breaking cultural boxes, and why we should all strive to be killjoys.
Pandora's box, Penelope's gifts, Helen's beauty in Sappho's poetry, and more. Why does it matter that Pandora didn't actually have a box in the earliest versions of the myth? How were objects and the practice of gift-giving gendered in Classical Greece? What rituals did ancient Greek women participate in, and what did they produce? As we study ancient women, what strategies can we turn to for unearthing hope?
Shownotes: https://www.womenwhowentbefore.com/out-of-pandoras-box-recovering-hope/
Women Who Went Before is written, produced, and edited by Emily Chesley and Rebekah Haigh.
The music is composed and produced by Moses Sun.
Sponsored by the Center for Culture, Society, and Religion, the Program in Judaic Studies, and the Stanley J. Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University
Views expressed on the podcast are solely those of the individuals, and do not represent Princeton University.
In Her Own Words: Ancient Women Authors
Women Who Went Before
01/11/23 • 59 min
In the penultimate episode of season 1, “In Her Own Words: Ancient Women Authors,” we talk with historian and classicist Dr. Kate Cooper about gatekeeping, the privilege of individualism, and those rare surviving moments when women wrote for themselves.
The famous Greek poet Sappho, who wrote of love and loss.
Faltonia Betitia Proba, the elite Roman woman who adapted Virgil to tell Christian history.
The pilgrim Egeria who described her tour of the Holy Lands to her circle of female friends back home.
And of course we revisit Perpetua, the martyr from Carthage we first met in Episode 0.
Shownotes: https://womenwhowentbefore.com/in-her-own-words/
Women Who Went Before is written, produced, and edited by Emily Chesley and Rebekah Haigh.
The music is composed and produced by Moses Sun.
Sponsored by the Center for Culture, Society, and Religion, the Program in Judaic Studies, and the Stanley J. Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University
Views expressed on the podcast are solely those of the individuals, and do not represent Princeton University.
Suffering Witches to Live: Jewish Women and the Legacies of Religious Law
Women Who Went Before
12/06/22 • 59 min
In Episode 8 our hosts talk with Dr. Elizabeth Shanks Alexander about whether women can keep track of their own periods, religious law as a boys’ club, and why ancient rabbis cared about witchery.
Episode show notes: https://womenwhowentbefore.com/suffering-witches-to-live.
Women Who Went Before is written, produced, and edited by Emily Chesley and Rebekah Haigh.
The music is composed and produced by Moses Sun.
Sponsored by the Center for Culture, Society, and Religion, the Program in Judaic Studies, and the Stanley J. Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University
Views expressed on the podcast are solely those of the individuals, and do not represent Princeton University.
Women Get a Head: Gender and Other Weapons
Women Who Went Before
11/22/22 • 47 min
Dr. Caryn Tamber-Rosenau explains how two lethal women perform gender in the Hebrew Bible. Judith and Jael were talented Jewish heroines who skillfully played their hands (and bodies) to save their people from invading armies.
How might the stories about Clytemnestra and the Ugaritic goddess Anat have shaped these biblical narratives? How does the book of Judith intersect with Judas Maccabee and the Maccabean Revolt? How is virginity a sexual orientation?
Gender performance, queer theory, and femmes fatales join with Agatha Christie's murder mysteries and the Renaissance painter Artemisia Gentileschi to understand how gender is play acted and subverted in ancient texts.
CW: This episode also discusses themes of sexual assault.
Women Who Went Before is written, produced, and edited by Emily Chesley and Rebekah Haigh. The music is composed and produced by Moses Sun.
Episode show notes: https://womenwhowentbefore.com/women-get-a-head/
Sponsored by the Center for Culture, Society, and Religion, the Program in Judaic Studies, and the Stanley J. Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University
Views expressed on the podcast are solely those of the individuals, and do not represent Princeton University.
Scepter and Sword: African Warrior Queens
Women Who Went Before
11/08/22 • 56 min
Dr. Solange Ashby teaches us about Nubian warrior queens, Hollywood stereotypes about Egyptian women, and why you shouldn’t trust Wikipedia.
Meet the powerful, voluptuous queens of Meroe—Amanirenas, Amanitore, Amanishakheto. While Roman noblewomen were supposed to stay hidden at home, these queens were ruling and leading their troops into battle.
Hear how Nubian families tracked filiation through their mothers. Learn about color consciousness in the biblical story of Moses' Kushite wife. And along the way, discover what Cleopatra and Wonder Woman have in common.
Show notes and sources: womenwhowentbefore.com/african-warrior-queens
Women Who Went Before is written, produced, and edited by Rebekah Haigh and Emily Chesley.
The theme music was composed and produced by Moses Sun.
The podcast is sponsored by the Center for Culture, Society, and Religion, the Program in Judaic Studies, and the Stanley J. Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University.
Views expressed on the podcast are solely those of the individuals, and do not represent Princeton University.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Women Who Went Before have?
Women Who Went Before currently has 15 episodes available.
What topics does Women Who Went Before cover?
The podcast is about History, Women, Religion & Spirituality, Podcasts, Gender and Religion.
What is the most popular episode on Women Who Went Before?
The episode title 'Out of Pandora’s Box, Recovering Hope' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Women Who Went Before?
The average episode length on Women Who Went Before is 50 minutes.
How often are episodes of Women Who Went Before released?
Episodes of Women Who Went Before are typically released every 14 days.
When was the first episode of Women Who Went Before?
The first episode of Women Who Went Before was released on Aug 16, 2022.
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