Debra Hamel's Blog

I have a new book(let) out! Killing Eratosthenes tells the true story of a murder trial that took place in ancient Athens. Euphiletus, the defendant, freely admitted to killing Eratosthenes, whom he'd found in bed with his wife. But he argued that his execution of the young man was legally justified. Killing Eratosthenes talks readers through Euphiletus' version of events—from the early days of his marriage to the night he killed his wife's lover—providing relevant background along the way. The book is intended for a general audience. No prior knowledge of the period is required.

I'm running an Amazon Giveaway for a chance to win one of three copies of Killing Eratosthenes (Kindle Edition). Here's the link: https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/51a39f4....

If you do get a chance to read Killing Eratosthenes, please consider taking the time to review it on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Thank you!

The headline says it all. My e-article "Ancient Greeks in Drag" is free today. Find it at an Amazon near you!

Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

I'm celebrating the release of my article Ancient Greeks in Drag by making The Mutilation of the Herms FREE on Kindle today and tomorrow. It should appear listed as free on all the Amazons (e.g., here's the link for Amazon.co.uk). Please take a look.

I'm happy to report that my article Ancient Greeks in Drag: The Liberation of Thebes and Other Acts of Heroic Transvestism is now available for the Kindle.


Here's the book description from Amazon:

The subject of Greek warfare conjures up a certain image. One thinks of armor-clad titans stabbing one another through the neck, javelins glancing off their breastplates, shield crashing against shield. But war in ancient Greece had more than one face: sometimes Greek warriors wore dresses.

In 379 B.C., a band of exiles snuck into Thebes in central Greece and assassinated a number of the Theban oligarchs who had colluded in Sparta’s suppression of the city. Their coup resulted in the liberation of Thebes from Spartan control. The exiles’ plan was a daring one, not least because some of the conspirators disguised themselves as women in order to get within sword range of their targets. “Ancient Greeks in Drag” tells the story of the exiles’ liberation of their city and discusses several other ancient accounts in which beardless Greek males reportedly dispatched their enemies while masquerading as women. 

(ARTICLE: 5000 words. “Ancient Greeks in Drag” is a revised version of an article originally published in MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History.)