"It's only very recently that women have succeeded in entering those professions which, as Muses, they typified for the Greeks"
About this Quote
Beard’s barb lands because it flips the classical compliment into an indictment. For centuries, Western culture held up women as “Muses” - ornamental engines of male genius, present everywhere as symbol and nowhere as author. By pointing out that women “typified” the professions only in mythic form, Beard exposes a long-running bait-and-switch: reverence as a substitute for rights, praise as a mechanism of exclusion.
The phrase “only very recently” carries the historian’s most devastating weapon: chronology. She’s not arguing that women can do the work; she’s reminding you how long they were kept from it, even while being used to decorate its origin story. In Greek tradition the Muses preside over poetry, history, music, and science - precisely the domains that later institutions (academies, universities, guilds, newspapers) fenced off as male. Beard’s line implies that the West didn’t merely overlook women; it built a cultural alibi for doing so. If women are cast as inspiration, men get to be creators without ever seeming to steal the stage.
Context sharpens the point. Writing in an era when women were clawing into universities, libraries, and professional life, Beard is tracing the lag between symbolic inclusion and material access. She’s also warning against a familiar modern trap: representation without power. Being “celebrated” in the narrative doesn’t mean you’re allowed to write it. Beard’s wit is that she makes the compliment (“muse”) sound like a velvet rope.
The phrase “only very recently” carries the historian’s most devastating weapon: chronology. She’s not arguing that women can do the work; she’s reminding you how long they were kept from it, even while being used to decorate its origin story. In Greek tradition the Muses preside over poetry, history, music, and science - precisely the domains that later institutions (academies, universities, guilds, newspapers) fenced off as male. Beard’s line implies that the West didn’t merely overlook women; it built a cultural alibi for doing so. If women are cast as inspiration, men get to be creators without ever seeming to steal the stage.
Context sharpens the point. Writing in an era when women were clawing into universities, libraries, and professional life, Beard is tracing the lag between symbolic inclusion and material access. She’s also warning against a familiar modern trap: representation without power. Being “celebrated” in the narrative doesn’t mean you’re allowed to write it. Beard’s wit is that she makes the compliment (“muse”) sound like a velvet rope.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
|---|
More Quotes by Miriam
Add to List
