Summary: Living in Saxony 1100 years ago, in a culture much like the Vikings we are more familiar with, Hrotsvitha probably witnessed violence against women all the time. Violence was a part of society, and she retreated to an intellectual life. But there, too she found violence against women, in the ancient Roman plays she was reading. If she couldn’t change society, at least she could change the plays! She rewrote them, altering the plots so that the women emerged victorious!<br> <br> Our guest is Mark Damen, Professor of Classics at Utah State University and translator of several of Hrotsvitha's plays.
