American Classicist: The Life and Loves of Edith Hamilton

Edith Hamilton (1867–1963) was a renowned classicist who published her first book at sixty-two and became the twentieth century's most famous interpreter of the classical world. Her bestselling Mythology (1942) remains the standard version of ancient tales and sells tens of thousands of copies a year. Hamilton studied Latin and Greek from an early age, earned a BA and MA at Bryn Mawr College, and ran a girls prep school for twenty-six years. After retiring, she turned to writing and began a relationship with the pianist and stockbroker Doris Fielding Reid. Hamilton traveled extensively, formed friendships with Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound, and was made an honorary citizen of Athens.

Format: Hardback
Length: 528 pages
Publication date: 03 October 2023
Publisher: Princeton University Press

Edith Hamilton (1867-1963) is a remarkable woman whose bestselling book, "Mythology," has introduced millions of readers to the classical world. Despite publishing her first book at the age of sixty-two, Hamilton's fame as a twentieth-century interpreter of the classical world grew over the next three decades. Her book, "Mythology," published in 1942, remains the standard version of ancient tales and sells tens of thousands of copies annually. During the Cold War, Hamilton's influence extended to politics, as she argued that postwar America could learn from the fate of Athens after its victory in the Persian Wars.

Victoria Houseman, in "American Classicist," tells the fascinating life story of a remarkable classicist whose ideas were shaped by—and aspired to shape—her times. Hamilton studied Latin and Greek from an early age and earned a BA and MA at Bryn Mawr College. After retiring, she turned to writing and began a relationship with the pianist and stockbroker Doris Fielding Reid. The two women were partners for more than forty years and entertained journalists, diplomats, and politicians in their Washington, D.C., house. Hamilton traveled extensively around the world, formed friendships with Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound, and was made an honorary citizen of Athens.

While Hamilton believed that the ancient Greeks represented the peak of world civilization, Houseman shows that this suffragist, pacifist, and anti-imperialist was far from an apologist for Western triumphalism. "American Classicist" is an absorbing narrative of an eventful life that reveals how Hamilton's Greek and Roman worlds held up a mirror to midcentury America, even as she strived to convey a timeless beauty that continues to enthrall readers today.

Weight: 1066g
Dimension: 166 x 244 x 42 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691236186