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The Women of Greece: A Transition from Ancient Power to Classical Subservience
For the most part, women in today's society hold a position equal to that of a man;
however, this has not always been the case. Women?s conquest for political and social
freedom is a battle that has gone on for centuries. Perhaps the breaking point in women?s
liberation was the Women's Movement of the 1900's, which encouraged women all over
America to join in the fight for their right to vote. Because of this struggle for equality,
women are now able to vote, receive a standard of fairness in the workplace, hold
political positions, and play professional sports, as well as a wide array of other privileges
enjoyed by men. Unfortunately, these civil rights have not been made available to
women worldwide. In some cultures, especially those of the Middle East, women have
gained little if any rights at all since the societies of the past. In Greece, an almost
opposite effect can be seen in its history in which women in their country went from
being recognized as equals and above, to becoming a much weaker sex. This odd
transition of status of Greek women is evident through the art, mythology, and philosophy
of a much older Greece. Thus dominant role of women portrayed in Ancient Greek
mythology and artwork is in direct contrast to the more subservient role of women during
the classical era in Greece.
Ancient Greece, otherwise known as the Archaic period (650-450 B.C.), was a
time of great development for Greece. The first major developments in Greece were
cities or towns and their surrounding villages called city-states(Greece 366). Much
rivalry consisted between city-state residents which resulted in a great deal of patriotism
for one?s city-state. Some of the best known city-states are Athens and Sparta (Greece
366).
During this time of growth, numerous tyrants came into control of the city-states.
These tyrants caused the people to become bitterly rebellious, which later ended in revolt
and the birth of the first known democratic government (Greece 372).
City-states were once again threatened by takeover in the 500?s B.C., when
Persian kings tried to overrun the city-states; however, the city-states revolted against the
Persian kings. These uprisings did nothing more ...
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...n of the Classical period, which is illustrated throughout the artwork. Amazon
women (refer to Plate 5), who were depicted as being able to fight with men, were greatly
symbolic of women?s power in ancient Greece. In a painting from the House of
Dioscurides (see Plate 12), Perseus slays the dragon to free Andromeda, which reveals the
woman?s dependency on a man. When comparing artwork of the Classical and Archaic
period, one can see the transition that these Grecian women went through.
The struggle that some women have had to face for common rights that are
enjoyed by women today is incredible. Many owe thanks, to those that have fought for
civil rights so that equality can be enjoyed by everyone. Unfortunately, there are still
many countries who suffer from a lack of true freedom. The transition that Greece went
through in their attitude towards women is much different than any other cultures, in
which women usually gain rights and respect not lose them. The woman portrayed in
Archaic art, mythology and philosophy is one of power and grace, while the woman portrayed in Classical art, law and philosophy is one of subservience and weakness.
The thought of freedom seldom enters the mind of an American woman today. Currently women can vote, hold office, ascertain any profession (if she so desires), and even run for the presidency! Women have far outstepped the boundaries of obedient housewife, they have discarded the restraints of domestic duties and strived for a greater goal, a common objective - to be equal to, or greater than, their virile counterpart. In a world where the gender role is becoming increasingly less defined, where men become “mannies” or assume the position of “househusband,” it is easy to overlook the past. One simply forgets the plights of her ancestors, when embracing the copious liberties available to the modern woman.
This paper will discuss the well published work of, Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken, 1975. Print. Sarah B. Pomerory uses this book to educate others about the role women have played throughout ancient history. Pomerory uses a timeline to go through each role, starting with mythological women, who were called Goddesses. She then talks about some common roles, the whores, wives, and slaves during this time. Pomerory enlightens the audience on the topic of women, who were seen as nothing at the time. Men were seen as the only crucial part in history; however, Pomerory’s focus on women portrays the era in a new light.
Most classical society’s political and social organization revolved around the idea of patriarchy, a male dominated social system. This system exacerbated the inherit difference between men and woman and assigned gender roles based on these observations. Men were generally regarded as superior to woman therefore given greater religious and political roles as well as more legal rights. As the natural inverse, women were subordinated and seen as week; their main roles reproductive and domestic. Information about patriarchy in the classical era, though abundant, was, for the most part, written by men, therefore history does not give us an accurate depiction of women’s viewpoints. Four societies of the classical era, India, China, Greece, and Rome, adopted a patriarchal system, however, due to many factors, each developed identifiable characteristics.
...1997), or creatures that are “...Forever fitful and forever changing” (Darmrosch and Pike, 2009). Women are not without strength, as Virgil demonstrates in the Aeneid, as they are rulers of cities and goddesses, as well as objects of passion and the subject of war, in Helen's case. We can learn much about the nature of the balance and tensions between ancient peoples from their literature, and see how they have been characterized in the past, and how we can evaluate these characterizations from the perspective of a society that is progressively evolving in our definintions of gender and how we approach the stereotypes and idealizations of gender.
When thinking of ancient Greece, images of revolutionary contrapposto sculpture, ornate lecture halls, and great philosophers in togas are sure to come to mind. As the birthplace of democracy and western philosophy, ancient Greece has had an inordinate influence on the progression of the modern world. However, the ancient Greeks’ treatment of women is seemingly at direct odds with their progressive and idealistic society.
... and outlawed sexual harassment in the workplace.” These among many other laws put into place have dramatically pushed women towards in equal place among men.
In today’s times, women are more equal to men than they ever have been, even though differences like the wage gap exist. However, the rights of women have come a long way since even as little as a hundred years ago. How is this possible? Women have fought – and won – against the inequalities that they have faced. Powerful women like Carrie Chapman Catt, Ida Wells-Barnett, and Jane Addams who fought diligently during the Progressive Era in order to close the vast gap between men and women. It is because of these women, and so many others, that so many reforms came about since the Progressive Era.
Women, in the past decades, have undergone a revolution. They have earned the right to vote and the right to be a man’s equal under the law. They have confronted the obsolete values of male superiority. They have even manage to destabilize the firm belief that only men could be in power. Despite these accomplishments, women have also made a point that we are not equal, simply, men aren’t superior to any women.
Just as this genre exemplifies the masculine ideal, it also promotes the feminine ideal, largely by casting female characters who do not meet this ideal in an antagonistic light, and thus maintains the male-dominant system of the societies which produced these works. This paper therefore argues that female characters in epic poetry, namely The Epic of Gilgamesh, Homer’s Odyssey, and Vergil’s Aeneid, play the role of an antagonistic “Other” group by employing their agency to act beyond the established gender roles of their societies, thereby disrupting the social order and creating obstacles for the male protagonists.
In learning about the feminist movement, we studied the three articles and discussed and reviewed the different authors perspectives on the topic and learned how important the role of woman in Greek Mythology. In presenting the feminist theory to the class we analyzed the three articles, Women in Ancient Greece; Women in Antiquity: New Assessments; and Women in Greek Myth, and discussed how although the three articles provided different views on Feminism in mythology, they all essentially are aiming to teach the same basic concept.
The society in which classical myths took place, the Greco-Roman society was a very patriarchal one. By taking a careful gander at female characters in Greco-Roman mythology one can see that the roles women played differ greatly from the roles they play today. The light that is cast upon females in classical myths shows us the views that society had about women at the time. In classical mythology women almost always play a certain type of character, that is to say the usual type of role that was always traditionally played by women in the past, the role of the domestic housewife who is in need of a man’s protection, women in myth also tended to have some unpleasant character traits such as vanity, a tendency to be deceitful, and a volatile personality. If one compares the type of roles that ladies played in the myths with the ones they play in today’s society the differences become glaringly obvious whilst the similarities seem to dwindle down. Clearly, and certainly fortunately, society’s views on women today have greatly changed.
For hundreds of years women have been fighting for equality and the same rights as
The position of women in Classical Athens has often been described as subordinate in comparison to men. Women were categorized in very particular ways: Athenian women were wives, while those who migrated to Athens from other city-states were slaves or prostitutes. Countless literature, from tragedy to comedy and political texts, reinforces the notion that citizen women were meant to serve their husbands within the confines of the oikos and produce legitimate sons in order to further the glory of men while non-Athenian women served their purpose towards men through sexual pleasure. While there may be partial truth to these views, Athenian women played a crucial role in the religious sphere. Religion was directly linked to civic identity and was a fundamental and sacred element of not only a city-state, but to Greece as a whole during the Classical period. Surviving documentation has demonstrated that Athenian women played a vital part to specific religious traditions, such as the participation in the festivals of Thesmophoria and Adonia. Furthermore, there exists evidence that proves women could also acquire the position of priestess for particular cults, a position that increased their reputation and status in a culture that considered them inferior. These marginalized women used religion as a way to carve out a sacred and protect space for themselves, using it to create a sense of freedom in their lives and to bridge the gap in equality between them and the dominant men.
From the beginning of time, females have played a powerful role in the shaping of this world. They have stood by idly and watched as this country moved on without them, and yet they have demanded equal rights as the nation rolls along. Through the years the common belief has been that women could not perform as well as men in anything, but over the years that belief has been proven wrong time and time again. So as time marches on, women have clawed and fought their way up the ladder to gain much needed equal respect from the opposite sex. However, after many years of pain and suffering, the battle for equal rights has not yet been won. Since women have fought for a long time and proven their importance in society, they deserve the same rights as men.
Women have fought through torture, blood, sweat, and tears to help women stand strong in our