okay, really avoiding those epigrams

But here's this remarkable timeline! Which shows the importance of every major empire in world history: importance by width, duration by length.  Click on  "Wait but why" for the full-size version, with legible text:

Morituri, etc.

From time to time I feel we should all be reminded of the immortal wisdom of Matt Groening.

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English: Marble bust of Nossis (Greek poetess, 3.rd century B.C.) Italiano: Nosside di Locri (poetessa greca), III secolo aC. Busto di Francesco Jerace (1854-1936) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In brief, the Dollhouse/Sophocles idea has not really panned out, though I think I have (after prolonged fiddling with other alternatives) finally found a way in, using Nick Lowe's book on The Classical Plot and the Invention of Western Narrative.  But I have set that aside for the moment to look at female-authored epigrams in the ancient world.  I wrote on Nossis, one such author, several years ago, and am now taking a look at the entire corpus (there are only about 40, some dubious).  Anyte is the other major author; there are a couple by Moero of Byzantium, a couple said to be by Erinna, and 3 attributed to Sappho.  The Hellenistic period allowed women both to be poets and to be known as poets in ways that were not permitted in eras in which all poetry was publicly performed by the author.  This week I have put together a collection of all the source material.