Edith Hamilton (1867–1963) didn’t publish her first book until she was sixty-two. But over the next three decades, this former headmistress would become the twentieth century’s most famous interpreter of the classical world. Today, Hamilton’s Mythology (1942) remains the standard version of ancient tales and sells tens of thousands of copies a year. During the Cold War, her influence even extended to politics, as she argued that postwar America could learn from the fate of Athens after its victory in the Persian Wars. In American Classicist, Victoria Houseman 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, 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. 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.
An absorbing narrative of an eventful life, American Classicist 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.
Awards and Recognition
- A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year
"Surprisingly juicy. . . . Superb."—Mary Norris, New Yorker
"Makes for gripping reading."—Emily Wilson, The Nation
"American Classicist is marked by both abundance and restraint. . . [Houseman] gives an expansive account of Hamilton’s life and intellectual formation and shows how she sought in her work to shape public response to the traumatic political crises of the times. She also respects Hamilton’s privacy. . . . In any case, whom Hamilton loved is far less important to posterity than what she wrote."—Meghan Cox Gurdon, Wall Street Journal
"Comprehensive. . . . A long overdue life of the multifaceted, deeply learned writer and explorer of the past."—Kirkus Reviews
"Victoria Houseman unspools a life that was both remarkably long and remarkable, full stop. . . . Edith Hamilton’s contribution is undeniable, and thanks to Houseman’s biography, her importance as a classicist and woman of letters has been restored."—Amanda Kolson Hurley, American Scholar
"Houseman recounts the life of noted scholar and author Edith Hamilton, whose 1942 book, Mythology, became the gold standard for studying Greek myths. . . . An extensive, meditative look at a vital American author."—Kristine Huntley, Booklist
"Victoria Houseman excavates Hamilton's life and beliefs with meticulous and engaging care, leaving readers with as much admiration for Hamilton the woman as they have for her works, which to this day remain in print."—Air Mail
"An extensive biography of writer Edith Hamilton, whose Mythology and The Greek Way were standard texts that introduced the Classical world to generations of students. This book deeply explores many facets of Hamilton’s long life."—Charles Green, Gay & Lesbian Review
"Comprehensive and probing."—Terry Potter, Letterpress Project
"American Classicist: The Life and Loves of Edith Hamilton will certainly revive interest in [Hamilton's] remarkable personal story. . . . Houseman builds a detailed and engaging portrait of Edith’s remarkable life."—Helene P. Foley, Arion
"A monumental biography of Edith Hamilton, America’s best-known popular interpreter of ancient Greece, this volume does full justice to both her scholarly interests and political commitments."—Choice
“At long last, thanks to Victoria Houseman, we have the full, intimate life story of the brilliant mythologist Edith Hamilton, in all her glory. Vividly detailing Hamilton’s bold ambitions, remarkable achievements, personal and scholarly passions, and clear-eyed modernism, this is a compelling portrait of the beloved classicist who instilled a love for Greek myth in generations of readers.”—Adrienne Mayor, author of Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws: And Other Classical Myths, Historical Oddities, and Scientific Curiosities
“For decades, Edith Hamilton, the nearly anonymous author of Mythology and The Greek Way, was a mystery. Victoria Houseman brings to life the woman who taught generations of readers about the Greeks and Romans. She is our expert guide to an Edith Hamilton who marched with the suffragettes, visited Gertrude Stein in Paris, served as headmistress of the Bryn Mawr School, and led a life so rich that there is magic on nearly every page of this biography.”—Maria Tatar, author of The Heroine with 1001 Faces
“In this book we now have a comprehensive and sensitive biography of Edith Hamilton befitting her remarkable life and extraordinary contributions to modern thought. Victoria Houseman offers an illuminating account of the woman who introduced generations of readers to the ancient Greek and Roman worlds, and helped them connect the distant past to their modern lives. With its exhaustive research, nuanced analysis, and intricate storytelling, American Classicist is an exemplary work of intellectual history.”—Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, author of The Ideas That Made America
“Edith Hamilton introduced—and continues to introduce—many a young person to the world of ancient Greece and Rome and, in a sense, the American encounter with antiquity will always run through her. Hers is a life that deserves telling, and Victoria Houseman presents a fascinating portrait of this classicist and of how her writings were shaped by the pressing political questions of midcentury America.”—Brendan Boyle, St. John’s College
