As we celebrate the epic adventure of Odysseus in a movie extravaganza, The Odyssey directed by Christopher Nolan, a hero’s journey that has revived interest in classical literature, we might wonder: Where is the heroine? She appears in the literature of antiquity, her exploits told, her hymns sung.

We find the devastating tale of “Demeter and Persephone” in Hesiod’s Theogony, written c. 7th century BCE, in The Homeric Hymn to Demeter. The compelling, enduring myth of “Psyche and Eros” is inscribed in the Roman novel by Apuleius, The Transformation of Lucius, 1st century CE. Well before Homer, the world’s first known author, the poet Enheduana, wrote hymns to the ancient Sumerian goddess, Inanna, c. 2300 BCE, whose myths were carved in clay cuneiform tablets dated before the epic poem of Gilgamesh in c. 1700 BCE.

Join us to explore the hidden terrain of the heroines’ journey at its most dramatic and transformative in her ancient, suppressed tales and leave with a sense of awe. We will tell powerful excerpts and provide writing prompts so that the old stories become living maps once again.

Bonus: Pertinent excerpts from The Fairy Tale Heroine: Live and Write Her Journey manuscript for historical and cultural context in a pdf file.