Tuesday, April 3, 2012

On BBC 2


Don't miss...


The films will transmit April 11, 18 and 25 on BBC 2 at 9pm. The series tells the story of the relationship between women and religion from 9000 BC onwards. The female of the species has always formed 50% of the population but has never occupied 50% of human history. Yet the connection between women and the divine has been so strong in all societies that when we follow the stories of 'divine women' we uncover new evidence for the character of humanity and a fuller, truer history of the world. 

April 11 -When God Was A Girl - Programme One looks at the evolution of the goddess in Turkey, Greece, Rome and India 

April 18 - The Handmaids of God - Programme Two investigates the story of the priestess; from the poet Sappho on the island of Lesbos to Vestal Virgins in Rome and the elevated role of women in the early Christian church
April 25 - The War of the Word - Programme Three explores a missed 'golden age' for women, when historical characters such as the Empress Theodora in Byzantium, Wu Zetien in China (the Empress who called herself Emperor), the early women of Islam and Anglo-Saxon Hilda of Whitby, used the power of ancient traditions and new ideas about religion and philosophy to wield influence in a man's world - notably through the power of reform, education and the word. We look at evidence through the Byzantine Empire, early Islam, in China, Northumbria and Oxford.