The Philosopher, the Dog and the Wedding

An unexpected FEAST. I really, REALLY loved this one.

This is a historical fiction graphic novel about Hipparchia, a rare FEMALE Ancient Greek philosopher. This shows her daily life in ye olde Athens (circa 400BCE?). She is a dorky bookworm who likes to ponder the big questions - why is there anything, etc - and who constantly gets shut down by the well-meaning, but very basic, men in her life. Oh, also there are a lot of lecherous idiotic men, because the Patriarchy be patriarching super hard in this time and place.

This book really tickled me pink. I 100% related to Hipparchia - I was that nerdy bookworm back in my teen years. I also enjoy, still now, re-imagining my daily life in the garb of 19th century Victorian England, or 14th century Renaissance Florence, or whatever. I love to look at the people passing me on the street and imagine us all in some historical point in time: what would map onto what? Instead of worrying about ChatGPT, would we be worrying about those damn Guelphs and Ghibellines? I love it.

Oh yeah. I also realized this book is basically Disney's Beauty and the Beast, only much much purer and better. (And I like Beauty and the Beast, don't get me wrong.)

Hmm, given how much I loved this and how much I loved Kaoru Mori's A Bride's Story, I think I'm just 100% desperate for historical fiction, slice of life comix featuring relatable women and tons of anthropological detail.