The Pillar and the Maiden: Newnham 1906–1907

Together with Gilbert Murray and Francis Cornford, Harrison dreamed of a new way forward in the study of religion, exploring the relationship of religion to philosophy, ethnology, and literature. Her idiosyncratic approach to teaching is described, with her relationship with students and her love of languages. A pillar shrine at Chartres demonstrated for her the continuity with the pillar worship in Minoan art and led her to conclude that the earliest forms of religion had no god — ideas that were published in an article entitled ‘The Pillar and the Maiden’. Meanwhile, without the sane counsel of her ‘pillar’ Murray, who was lecturing in America, the ‘maiden’ Harrison became embroiled in an academic row with Lewis Farnell.