Edith Hamilton

Edith Hamilton was born in Dresden, Germany, as one of four sisters. Her father was a scholar who raised Hamilton on the Classics, teaching her both Latin and Greek starting at age seven. Hamilton graduated from Bryn Mawr College and briefly studied in Germany, but then returned to America to take over as head of the Bryn Mawr girls’ school. Hamilton was long considered the “greatest woman Classicist,” but she did not publish a book until she was 62. Her first works, The Greek Way and The Roman Way, both drew comparisons and contrasts between Classical life and modern times, though Hamilton is best known for Mythology. In 1957 Hamilton was made an honorary citizen of Athens, which she considered the proudest moment of her life. She died at age 95.