“In some cases mythology, fame or privilege have been confused with achievement”

In 1979 Germaine Greer, one of our great contemporary original minds, castigated “(male) classic references” to women’s artistic work for suggesting that “any work by a woman, however trifling, is as astonishing as the pearl in the head of the toad”. She added that by their not seeing women’s achievements as part of the natural order they had no need to relate them to it. Her comments cut to the heart of this poll where, in some cases, mythologised reputations, fame or privilege seem to have been confused with achievement. Where is Harriet Beecher Stowe for instance?

At what point do historians stop being amazed at a woman’s achievements because of her sex? When do we start celebrating her achievements simply for what those achievements were and their contribution to the canon of all human – male and female – accomplishments that have transformed the way we live? Guy de la Bédoyère is the author of Domina: The Women Who Made Imperial Rome, published by Yale this month