The first historical heroic epic authored by a woman, "Scanderbeide" recounts the exploits of fifteenth-century Albanian warrior-prince George Scanderbeg and his war of resistance against the Ottoman sultanate. Filled with scenes of intense and suspenseful battles contrasted with romantic episodes, "Scanderbeide" combines the action and fantasy characteristic of the genre with analysis of its characters motivations. In selecting a military campaign as her material and epic poetry as her medium, Margherita Sarrocchi (1560? 1617) not only engages in the masculine subjects of political conflict...