Female Advisors Between East and West
abstract
This article discusses the role of female advisors in Mesopotamian and Greek texts. Case studies are devoted to the advisors of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, and the female advisors in Herodotus, namely the daughters of Polycrates and Periander and Gorgo. While female advisors played an important role in Greece and Mesopotamia, the comparison revealed that, while in Mesopotamian texts the female advisors are mainly mother figures – whether human or divine –, daughters play an important role in Herodotus.
Keywords: Polycrates • Gorgo • Ashurbanipal • Herodotus • Periander • Female advisors