The Main Duties And Responsibilities Of An Athenian Wife Athenian wife's were expected to be disciplined and efficient in there work and responsibilities. They had very hard lives and were demanded by their husbands to stay indoors, except when going out to do chores, e.g. collecting water. Many of their jobs included knitting, weaving, bearing children, cooking, cleaning and etc. The women had many jobs as they were nearly always inside the house, sometimes some women were so hidden within their houses that they were not known to exist. Spinning was one of the wife's main duties as all the cloth in the ancient world was hand-made, therefore making it expensive. If a local man went down to the market to buy a toga or some sort of cloth, it would be very expensive. For that reason, it was much more economical to make your own. We can be sure that women did this kind of job as we have evidence, these being vases. On these vases were paintings of women with their knee guards and wool. Although these paintings were rather worn out, we could just make out that they were spinning. The women spun with a distaff and spindle; again this was seen on the vases. As well as making the cloth, the women sometimes dyed the cloth if it was necessary; this was done by dyes made from lichen, onions, berries, leaves and etc. Women also washed the family's clothes; this depended on the size of the house. If the house was big and consisted of many slaves, then the slaves would do the clothes laundry. However if the house was small with not so many slaves, then the women would do this. They did this by beating the dirt out of the cloth with wooden sticks and water. Other works were such as looking after the children, cleaning the house, and teaching daughters respectable skills, (such as cleaning and spinning). Looking after the children would be vital; the women would need to raise their children in a way so that they were suitable heirs for
Greek and Roman women lived in a world where strict gender roles were given; where each person was judged in terms of compliance with gender-specific standards of conduct. Generally, men were placed above women in terms of independence, control and overall freedom. Whereas men lived in the world at large, active in public life and free to come and go as they willed, women's lives were sheltered. Most women were assigned the role of a homemaker, where they were anticipated to be good wives and mothers, but not much of anything else. The roles of women are thoroughly discussed in readings such as The Aeneid, Iliad, Sappho poetry, and Semonides' essay.
It is ridiculous to assume that the Athenian women of Ancient Greece were respected and revered by men. These women were not held in high regard. Men controlled all aspects of their lives, beginning with their fathers and continuing with their husbands once they married. Most girls were married in their very early teens to men that were usually much older (Xenophon’s Oeconomicus), sometimes as much as twice the age of their wives. The age difference was considered a moot point since women at that time often did not survive the rigors of repeated childbirth and died young. It was also generally believed that marrying a very young girl enabled the husbands to train her and mold her into a proper Athenian wife.
Throughout history, most societies held women in an inferior status compared to that of men. This was often justified as being the natural result of biological differences between the sexes. In many societies, for example, people believed women to be more emotional and less decisive than men. Women were also viewed to be less intelligent and less creative by nature. However, research shows that women and men have the same range of emotional, intellectual, and creative characteristics. Many sociologists and anthropologists maintain that various cultures taught girls to behave according to negative stereotypes (images) of femininity, thus keeping alive the idea that women are naturally inferior.
In “Stereotype and Reversal in Euripides’ Medea,” Shirley A. Barlow asserts that Medea is a foreign woman who does not want to accept to adapt to the labels that are placed on women of Greek society, unless it allows her to gain favor for her to accomplish her revenge on those who have ruined her life.
There were various significant roles bestowed upon women that contributed to the abundance that was the ancient Roman society. Women in ancient Rome were principally viewed in the same way the way the males in their lives portrayed themselves publicly, and were valued through their roles as daughters, wives, and then mothers. Based on the husband fathers amount of power and money, their women were allowed more freedom. A farmers wife or daughter would not have been able to have many rights, but a caesar’s wife or daughter would have a little more freedom. Ancient Roman law and ideals were based around “a male authority.” Although these sources given indicate that women and their roles in Ancient Rome were subordinated to their over privileged,
Throughout history, men have traditionally been perceived as superior and prevailing over women. Although women have held many different roles in society, women had always been considered inferior both physically and intellectually. Pericles, a general of Athens, gives his opinion of women’s role in society in his famous funeral speech. He first shows that he views women to be the weaker sex by stating, “…to those of you who will now be in widowhood, it will be all comprised in this brief exhortation. Great will be your glory in not falling short of your natural character”. He believes that naturally women are weak and vulnerable and that they must never be nothing more than that. He continues to give his opinion on women by lastly saying “…greatest will be hers who is least talked of among the men, whether for good or for bad.” He clearly lets us know that women are not to be seen, heard or talked about no matter what they have done or who they are. Pericles tries to make us understand that a woman that is nonexistent is the one who deserves the most glory. Pericles’ ideal of Athenian womanhood brings us to understand that in his opinion women were weak, nonexistent and vulnerable people in a society greatly guided by men’s wisdom. Even though many women did act just as Pericles described them to be, others refused to let men oppress or control them. Hera, Jocasta and Antigone are perfect examples of women that contradicted Pericles’ ideals of Athenian womanhood.
The Daily Life of Ancient Greeks Life in Greece in ancient times will remind you of your own life in many ways. There were school, family, athletic competitions, and social gatherings. Knowing that participants in their sporting events competed nude or that you rarely knew your husband/wife until the wedding day does however, make you grateful for the society that you live in today. Babies Life for the Greeks in Athens began in their home. Babies were delivered by the women of the family, and only in cases of serious complications was a mid-wife called.
We can find a great culture and history about the Ancient Greece referring to their culture, roots, beliefs, their worships and Goddess. I can say I like their history it is very interesting but one of the things that I don’t agree is that it is not fair to see that women had no good choices in the Ancient Greece. Referring to the question I have this opinion because women don’t deserve to be treated like as a simple object, with no freedom, no educations, and no rights. We can found a very strict culture were men in the old Classical Athens they control all the civilians ownership of private property, and freedom, referring to the Greek women’s they had a very limited life by not having that many options. We can find the only options that
It is known that women cannot do all the jobs done by men, jobs like a construction worker or a pilot and men can't stay home and babysit children because of their physical and psychological differences. Men and Women have proved that they can complete the same tasks and take on the same responsibilities.
Men throughout history had a tendency to treat women as if they were property or beings less than those of the same economic or social class. Thus, most women were not allowed any role in society other than the position of a helpful wife and caring mother. China, India, and Mediterranean societies approach to women was to treat them as animals, selling them to their husbands to continue the family bloodline. With the exception of places such as Sparta and Persia, crosswise the globe females were nothing more than tools for reproduction and were treated with little respect.
A woman’s quality of life in ancient times was not very appealing in any era, especially when compared to some of modern day societies. The lack of freedom and equality for women is apparent in all of the ancient civilizations. Women in Ancient Greece had the least amount of freedoms between Egypt and the Roman Empire. Roman women held a higher status amongst the men than that of the Greek women. Egyptian women had the most freedom and equality of the ancient world. If I were a woman and could choose my origin, I would have to choose Ancient Egypt as the place and time period of my existence.
Today there are many equal rights between men and women. Women now have the right to vote, the right to work in law, and the right to participate in many other things. Now imagine a place where women could not leave the house without permission from their husbands, women could not enjoy dinner parties with their husband’s guests, and if their husband decided to leave them, take their children, and go, all they could do was accept it. This was the life of almost every single woman in ancient Greece. Men had the power, and the rule, while the women had to respectfully obey everything men demanded.
Women in Ancient Greece were unable to vote, own land, and where not allowed in certain parts of the house that they lived in. A woman's place was in the home, but not cooking or cleaning because that was the job of the slaves that the Greeks owned, the only purpose of women in Greece was to bear the children. Women who were “owned” by a wealthier man did not have to work, but women of a poorer class often worked in markets, or shops with her husband or father.
According to the research conducted by Brajdić, Birkelund, & Štulhofer (2007), in Croatia there exists very significant differences in gender roles and expectations for both men and women based on the Catholic Church. These significant differences in gender roles and expectations have been developed as well as based on the fundamental values of the church as stated, “religious beliefs remain an important predictor of traditionalism. Religion plays a significant role in Croatian society… “in the context of gender and sexuality” (Brajdić et al., 2007, p. 49). Furthermore, the church played an active role in “…in the social change and ensuing war” (Kunovich & Deitelbaum, 2004, p 1092). More specifically, the role of being a mother for children
Marriage rights are always something that I have found very interesting, as most culture differ extremely from what we seen in our modern Western culture. As in todays world women who live in a Westernized society have the same rights in their marriage as their husbands do, especially when it comes to things such as divorce, custody, and the ownership of property. This is completely different to what a marriage looked like in Ancient Greece. One thing that’s especially interesting to me are what rights a woman has in her marriage (what rights she had in terms of property, right to try and get a divorce, right she had when it came to her children, etc.). It is evident that the main purpose when it came to a woman in her marriage in ancient