Natalie Haynes:
Divine Might

The star of the BBC Radio 4 series Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics returns to Melrose to examine the role of the goddesses in the world of Greek myth. In Divine Might, 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. Here is Aphrodite, goddess of sex and desire. And then, the queen of all the Olympian gods: Hera, Zeus’s long-suffering wife, whose jealousy of his dalliances lead her to wreak elaborate, vicious revenge on those who have wronged her. These goddesses, along with others, 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?