Did Ancients Care When Their Children Died?: Article Analysis

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The Ancient world is a complex one where social and cultural customs can seem otherworldly. Historians have argued on the emotional responses of ancient peoples to child rearing and loss. Mark Golden argues in his article, “Did The Ancients Care When Their Children Died?”, that there is little evidence supporting that Romans and other ancient parents failed to care for their children or to mourn their loss. A child’s death is used as an example of tragedy throughout ancient texts such as those written by Herodotus and Thucydides. Parents took great measure to insure their children’s survival. This is seen in the use of amulets, dog dung, skin and teeth of wolves and many others to ward off diseases and other misfortunes. In his article Golden references Lawrence Stone’s argument that “affection and love were not to be expected in pre-industrial populations because high mortality made emotional commitment, especially to children, too dangerous for individuals and …show more content…

His first example is Xenocleia’s death for the grief of her eight-year-old son. Others have argued, like E. P. Thompson, that children are a necessity to mutual survival and that the more parents needed their children the more they mourn their loss. Golden has a problem with this theory. He doesn’t believe it to be that simple, referencing M. I. Finley’s, “Any Greek or Roman who reached the age of marriage could look forward to burying one or more children, often very small ones…in a world where such early deaths and burials were routine…intensity and duration of emotional responses were unlike modern times.” Children are seen to make little impact on society and therefore are rarely observed. In fact some are even buried within cities or even houses, therefore parents are not as devastated by their deaths. This is another problem for

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