Letter of Othea to Hector

Library of Medieval Women

by Christine de Pizan, Jane Chance Nitzsche (Translator)

Christine de Pizan (1364-?1430) was the first French woman poet to make her living by the pen, and the first female interpreter of classical myths; she held enormous power in the French court and influenced late medieval culture in France and in England in a number of ways. The Letter of Othea to Hector , her most popular work, is a series of a hundred verse texts about a mythological figure or moment, with prose moral glosses explaining how to readthe myth in order to improve human character. It is translated here with introduction, notes, and interpretative essay.

Genres: Medieval, Literature, France

Paperback

First published December 31, 1970

About the author

Christine de Pizan (also seen as de Pisan) (1363–c.1434) was a writer and analyst of the medieval era who strongly challenged misogyny and stereotypes that were prevalent in the male-dominated realm of the arts. De Pizan completed forty-one pieces during her thirty-year career (1399–1429). She earned her accolade as Europe’s first professional woman writer (Redfern 74). Her success stems from a wide range of innovative writing and rhetorical techniques that critically challenged renowned male writers such as Jean de Meun who, to Pizan’s dismay, incorporated misogynist beliefs within their literary works.

In recent decades, de Pizan's work has been returned to prominence by the efforts of scholars such as Charity Cannon Willard and Earl Jeffrey Richards. Certain scholars have argued that she should be seen as an early feminist who efficiently used language to convey that women could play an important role within society, although this characterisation has been challenged by other critics who claim either that it is an anachronistic use of the word, or that her beliefs were not progressive enough to merit such a designation

Reviews

[Mary Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unfortunately there is no modern English translation of this book, which is a shame because it's pretty spectacular if you can slog through some middle English. In this book the fictional goddess Othea recounts tales from the classical past to the prince of Troy, Hector, in order to instruct him how to be a better man, knight, and prince. So if you want to read about how Medieval people thought about classical gods and goddesses, or about the Trojan war, this is a fascinating text. I don't know if I would recommend it to a general reader, but for someone with specific interest in medieval history I think it's worth a read.