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IV. Classical Antiquity

With progress comes ambition. Men are no longer content merely acting as high-class escorts. Now, in order to both serve and impress the gods-and, one would surmise, the girls-they must found cities, capture thrones build nations. Yet behind every one of these great men, it seems, are some really annoyed women.

Dido and Aeneas: Dido, founder and queen of Carthage, falls hard for the irresistibly distant Aeneas, and hurls herself onto a pyre when she finds out that he's leaving her to found Rome (c. 1200 B.C.E.) Aeneas later marries Lavinia, the Sandra Dee of Virgil's time.

Medea and Jason: Medea loves Jason enough not only to put up with his Argonaut buddies, but also to help him score the Golden Fleece and secure the throne of Iolcus. But all that give, give, give isn't enough, apparently, to stop Jason from running around with Creusa, whom Medea knocks off with the deadly "gift" of a burning dress. (Important lesson for today's lovers: Lambskin-exciting, but unreliable.)

 
NEXT: V. The Roman Empire

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Big Bang

Geologic Ages

Near East

Classical Antiquity

Roman Empire

Middle Ages

Renaissance

The New World & Revolution

Europe

Industrial Revolution

Modern America