A series of essays surveys the character, social position, and intellectual attainments of women across classical and Renaissance eras, from Greek poetry and Spartan and Athenian life through Roman agitation and early Christian convents to the Italian and French renaissances and salon culture. It highlights notable figures such as Sappho and Aspasia, examines learned women, literary courts, and the emergence of salons, and discusses the limitations of sources and male bias in historical records while aiming to vindicate women's intellectual influence rather than engage contemporary polemics.