Calpicia's Treatment Of Classical Athenian Women

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Classical Athens and Classical Rome were two different societies that had patriarchal authority, and many sources by male authors depicted how men and women were perceived in their respective societies. From classical Athens, Lysias and Apollodorus were two important writers that recorded many legal cases for court records, but also notable cases that involved women. From Classical Rome, there were a vast majority of male writers, as it was the same for Classical Athens, such as Seneca and Macrobius. However, there was a case where the male poet, Tibullus, preserved a portion of Sulpicia’s poems in his collection of poetry, providing a female perspective in Roman society. Although Classical Greece and Rome had a patriarchal system, the degree …show more content…

Although there were many ideals for women in classical Roman society, women did not follow through completely with these ideals but still managed to achieve their respective goals. Sulpicia was an aristocratic female poet in ancient Rome whose work survived because Tibullus, another male poet in ancient Rome, quoted her works in his collection of poetry. Sulpicia’s To Messala and To Cerinthus was written in 1st century BCE consisting of letters addressed to Messala and Cerinthus, who is her uncle and her lover, respectively in that order. Sulpicia writes how she is dreading celebrating her birthday because despite that she is “now allowed to have [her] birthday in Rome” (To Cerinthus 1) with permission from Messala after complaining about “[she] would have to spend it in sorrow in the nasty country” (To Messala 1) she still has to spend it without Cerinthus. The diction that Sulpicia uses to describe her torment, such as “nasty country” and “sorrow” shows that she is not very grateful, complaining about the location of the celebration rather than being happy celebrating her birthday at …show more content…

Sulpicia also talks very openly about chasing after a man, which is considered to be a bit scandalous for a woman. Sulpicia also writes that “everybody should celebrate [her] birthday” (To Cerinthus 1). This is not a very humble statement to make. Although the patriarchy was not as strict and rigid in comparison to classical Athens, such a statement is still too bold for a Roman woman. However, Sulpicia was still a respected woman in Roman society, as evident that her poems were preserved by Tiberius. Another notable Roman woman who did not completely follow the norms expected by Roman society was Julia, the daughter of emperor Augustus. In the 1st century BC, Seneca’s On Benefits contained his perspective of the father-daughter relationship between the emperor Augustus and Julia, who he believed was “shameless beyond any taunt of shamelessness” due to the various amounts of love affairs she had admitted to having (On Benefits 1). Seneca perceives Julia poorly, implying she lacks modesty that was expected of women in Roman society, and was not

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