The list of tragic heroines drawn primarily from Greek and Roman mythology is long. Not only Lucretia and Andromeda, but the poetic characterizations of Ariosto and Tasso were household names as well as popular figures in learned academic circles. The image of the female heroine deserves to be considered along side her literary counterparts. Renaissance re-writings of episodes from history include translations from Greek tragedy and commentaries on mythologies as well as the novelle. Questions that might be raised are: Why were specific heroines favored or rejected? Who were the readers of these narratives and the patrons of their representation? How did the depictions of heroines differ from or imitate heroes and/or martyred saints? What purposes did these narratives serve and to whom were the texts as well as the images of female heroines directed?

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