Idyll 15 Analysis

309 Words1 Page

Gorgo and Praxinoa in Theocritus’ Idyll 15 Theocritus, unlike many others, wrote his Idyll 15 from the perspective of women, by describing a dialogue between two dynamic female characters in the city of Alexandria. Gorgo and Praxinoa are shown to be outspoken, independent, and intelligent, suggesting that women in Alexandria had more liberties than previous and other areas of the Greek world. Theocritus employed a dialogic style, which gave the female characters their own voice; in doing so, he was better able to represent their perspectives and personalities, creating rounded characters. Gorgo and Praxinoa make their opinions known; for instance, the women complain often of their husbands’ foolishness (Theocritus, Idyll 15, 8, 15, 17). They

Show More
Related

  • The Role of Women in Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    The role of women in Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days is outstandingly subordinate. There are a number of times in Hesiod's text that despises women, being mortal, immortal, or flesh-eating monsters. The overall impression of women from Theogony and Works and Days, leads one to believe that Hesiod is a misogynist.

    Read More

  • Goddesses, Whores, Wives, And Slaves: Women In Classical Antiquity

    1877 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Important Role of Women in Homer's Odyssey

    1720 Words  | 4 Pages

    Yet, despite the fact that no two women in this epic are alike, each—through her vices or virtues—helps to delineate the role of the ideal woman. Below, we will show the importance of Circe, Calypso, Nausicaa, Clytaemestra, and Penelope in terms of the movement of the narrative and in defining social roles for the Ancient Greeks. Before we delve into the traits of individual characters, it is important to understand certain assumptions about women that prevailed in the Homeric Age. By modern standards, the Ancient Greeks would be considered a rabidly misogynistic culture. Indeed, the notoriously sour Boetian playwright Hesiod-- who wrote about fifty years before Homer-- proclaimed "Zeus who thunders on high made women to be evil to mortal men, with a nature to do evil (Theogony 600).

    Read More

  • The Nature of Women Portrayed by Circe and Calypso in The Odyssey

    660 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Homer's composition, The Odyssey, the roles women play are very significant. The best examples of the true nature of women occur when Odysseus encounters Circe and Calypso. These two characters illustrate the thoughts and feelings of how women how a woman feels and how they think. As the quote states, Circe and Calypso illustrate how women really can be crafty, intelligent, sneaky, disloyal, and cruel. In contrast to battles with men, Cyclops, or animals, sexual battles with women are sometimes much more difficult to win.

    Read More

  • Medea and Lysistrata

    536 Words  | 2 Pages

    Medea and Lysistrata are two Greek literatures that depict the power which women are driven to achieve in an aim to defy gender inequality. In The Medea, Medea is battling against her husband Jason whom she hates. On the other hand, in Aristophanes' Lysistrata, the protagonist Lysistrata plotted to convince and organize the female gender to protest against the stubbornness of men. In terms of defining the purpose of these two literatures, it is apparent that Euripedes and Aristophanes created characters that demonstrate resistance against the domination of men in the society.

    Read More

  • Women And The Role Of Women In Classical Mythology

    1197 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...herself as a man and has misogynistic tendencies. Fortunately, the role of women in society today has changed very much from the roles that they played in classical mythology. Women are now seen as being able to play any role they desire, whether it is the role of a housewife or the role of a workingwoman with a successful career. It is no surprise that achieving the roles that women play today took such a long time when for so long even in mythology women’s roles in society were constantly pushed in the direction of domestics and when for so long women were portrayed as less then pleasant creatures. The fact that these sorts of roles were pushed on women in the Greco-Roman society was proof enough that it was a patriarchal society. It is astoundingly wonderful that the roles that women play in modern society have evolved so much since the times of classical myths.

    Read More

  • The role of Women in Greece

    1539 Words  | 4 Pages

    As a result, these characters have significant religious meanings and serve as a form of inspiration to other women. This would mainly apply to those women who were in attendance. This would include women of all classes that simply wanted to watch a play. Their limitations amongst society can also be noticed by the amount of education that they are entitled to. Plato’s Republic mentions how the role of women is determined by the status of their spouse.

    Read More

  • The Feminist Play Lysistrata

    1886 Words  | 4 Pages

    The rebellion narrated by Aristophanes is divided in two parts: the old women who take control of the Acropolis, where the treasures of the city were kept and the young wives, who start a sex-strike. But everything has been thought and planned by Lysistrata. She is a young woman, but not a wife. So, she is not part of the group of women she’s leading. She describes herself as intelligent and well educated. The other women instead follow the typical gender stereotype: Lysistrata is ‘annoyed about women’, they care about wine and sex. They don’t accept Lysistrata plan easily and straightaway, but they do so to have their men back (D’Ubaldi). And here we have the reasons of why the women

    Read More

  • womenant Portrayal of Women in Sophocles' Antigone

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although ancient Greece was a male-dominate society, Sophocles' work Antigone, portrays women as being strong and capable of making wise decisions. In this famous tragedy, Sophocles uses the characters Ismene and Antigone to show the different characteristics and roles that woman are typical of interpreting. Traditionally women are characterized as weak and subordinate and Ismene is portrayed in this way. Through the character of Antigone, women finally get to present realistic viewpoints about their character.

    Read More

  • The Role of Women in Greek Mythology

    429 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Role of Women in Oedipus Rex

    2000 Words  | 4 Pages

    For centuries women have fought to obtain basic civil rights and today, they are still fighting to obtain equal rights. From the right to vote to their right to birth control, women have always been trying to assert their own independence in order to expand their freedom. While much progress has been made, there is still room for improvement. However, the evolution of women’s rights and the role of women is mirrored in literature and can be used to illustrate the progression throughout history. Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex is no different. Through the character Jocasta, Sophocles creates a counterpart to Oedipus and uses her to reveal the oppression of women by contrasting her and Oedipus’ relationships and reactions to the prophecy. Throughout the play Oedipus Rex, Sophocles illustrates Jocasta’s vulnerability and supportive nature in order to women as fragile, doting, and obedient wives and mothers to facilitate the necessity of self-assertion.

    Read More

  • Essay on Satire in Lysistrata

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    Aristophanes stereotypes women as bickering, self-centered, unintelligent people in the beginning.  They are sex driven and selfish.  Lysistrata is upset that the women are late for the very important meeting "Here I've called a meeting to discuss a very important matter, and they're all still fast asleep" (180).  Calonice sums up what women are thought to do all day, and also what they represent to their households; "The women!  What could they ever do that was any use?  Sitting at home putting flowers in their hair, putting on cosmetics and saffron gowns and Cimberian see-through shifts, with slippers on our feet?" (181).  It is in fact these very frivolous ideas that are used to bring peace to the two cities.  Throughout the play Aristophanes begins to knock down ...

    Read More

  • An Analysis in Feminism in the Play 'Lysistrata'

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    Aristophane’s Lysistrata is a flawed classic filled with the power struggle between man vs. woman. It is entirely focused and written from the male perspective, in which male-privilege dominated and disregarded the women’s outlook entirely. This “classic” is full of misogynistic perspectives, and should be disregarded as a great piece in Athenian literature.

    Read More

  • Lysistrata Analysis

    1291 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Power and Women in Lysistrata: Character Analysis of Lysistrata." Article Myriad. Web. 25 Mar. 2011. .

    Read More

  • Treatment of Women in Ancient Literature

    2408 Words  | 5 Pages

    Women were often subjects of intense focus in ancient literary works. In Sarah Pomeroy’s introduction of her text Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves, she writes, “Women pervade nearly every genre of classical literature, yet often the bias of the author distorts the information” (x). It is evident in literature that the social roles of women were more restricted than the roles of men. And since the majority of early literature was written by men, misogyny tends to taint much of it. The female characters are usually given negative traits of deception, temptation, selfishness, and seduction. Women were controlled, contained, and exploited. In early literature, women are seen as objects of possession, forces deadly to men, cunning, passive, shameful, and often less honorable than men. Literature reflects the societal beliefs and attitudes of an era and the consistency of these beliefs and attitudes toward women and the roles women play has endured through the centuries in literature. Women begin at a disadvantage according to these societal definitions. In a world run by competing men, women were viewed as property—prizes of contests, booty of battle and the more power men had over these possessions the more prestigious the man. When reading ancient literature one finds that women are often not only prizes, but they were responsible for luring or seducing men into damnation by using their feminine traits.

    Read More

More about Idyll 15 Analysis

Open Document