Boadicea is a celebrated the war-queen who led an ultimately unsuccessful rebellion against the Roman occupancy of ancient Britain in the first century AD. Our knowledge of Boadicea stems from works of Roman historians, Tacitus and Cassius Dio's. Tactius's Agricola and Annals along with Cassius Dio's Roman History are the three major works that document the violent legacy of Boadicea. The only known description of her is found in Cassius Dio's work: She was huge of frame, terrifying of aspect, and with a harsh voice. A great mass of bright red hair fell to her knees: She wore a great twisted golden necklace, and a tunic of many colors, over which was a thick mantle, fastened by a brooch. Now she grasped a spear, to strike fear into all who watched her... (Dudley and Webster, 54) Cassius' illustration of Boadicea portrays an extremely intimidating and powerful woman who could kill just as easily as any man. Indeed, Celtic women (unlike many other women at the time) were trained to fight in the same way as men were. Boadicea (known as Buddug in Welsh) was born around 30 AD in South East England. Eighteen years later in approximately 48 CE, she married Prasutagus, leader of the British Iceni tribe, located in the modern day country of Norfolk. The tribe was one of sixteen civitates or client kingdoms created by the Romans in Britain. The creation of civitates was the Roman way of governing the Celtic tribes that previously dominated Britain before Roman occupancy. Being a civitate, the Iceni tribe was given semi-independence from the Roman occupiers and Prasutagus was still permitted to rule his citizens. However, the Roman's still imposed high taxes and even slavery upon the Iceni tribe making relations wi... ... middle of paper ... ...13 January 2014. . Bennighof, Mike. Boudicca's War. November 2013. Internet. 12 January 2014. . Pettigrew, Kaitlyn. Foreign Women in Latin Literature: . Master's Thesis . London, Ontario: The University of Western Ontario , 2013. PDF. Pettinger, Tejvan. Boudica Biography. 18 May 2007. Internet. 12 January 2014. . The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Boudicca. n.d. Internet. 12 January 2014. . Thistle andf Broom. Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni. n.d. Internet. 12 January 2014. . Wikipedia. Boudica. 13 January 2014. Internet. 14 January 2014. .
The Bacchant are considered offensive to the Theban elites, due to their destruction of livestock and men. However, they also pose a threat to the structure of Theban politics. Pentheus feels threated both politically and personally due to the, “insolent hybris of the Bacchae, a huge humiliation to Greeks” (779). The humiliation is not only towards Greeks a whole, and due to Pentheus's power he is looked poorly on due to these women. The fact that women overruled men, the serving class uprooting from the served, ensues a chaos which creates a loss of faith to Pentheus's constitutents. Since political destruction is not an outcome Pentheus wants, he must supress the female rebellion. Female independence becomes dangerous and in order to lessen these anxietie...
Traditional female characteristics and female unrest are underscored in literary works of the Middle Ages. Although patriarchal views were firmly established back then, traces of female contempt for such beliefs could be found in several popular literary works. Female characters’ opposition to societal norms serves to create humor and wish- fulfillment for female and male audiences to enjoy. “Lanval” by Marie De France and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer both show subversion of patriarchal attitudes by displaying the women in the text as superior or equal to the men. However, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” also incorporates conventional societal ideas by including degradation of women and mistreatment of a wife by her husband.
A Hellenistic masterpiece, she is caught at the very moment in which she alights on the prow of a warship. Right leg outstretched, her hips bend left and her shoulders twist back to the right, creating a beautiful sense of torsion through the contrapposto technique. Her massive wings are blown back by the speed of her flight and the ship, possibly in the moment just before she furls them. Damp from the spray of the sea, her tunic is plastered tightly around her body by the driving wind, held in place with two belts, one around her waist and the other beneath her breasts. A second piece of cloth called a himation has slipped from around her waist and streams out on either side behind her, blown tightly against her thighs. Both garments exhibit virtuoso handling of the drapery—the wet folds of the fine cloth can be felt by the viewer, cool in the misty gusts, and the transitions to where her skin can be seen underneath is flawless.
Twenty years after the invasion, Britain was feeling oppressed by the Roman Empire, none more so than the Iceni tribe. Their late king, Prasutagus, had left the Icenian land to the Romans in his will, but on certain conditions. Upon his death, the Romans took over without abiding by any of these conditions, treating the land as if it was theirs by right of conquest. There was looting and tyranny, the king’s family was abused and the Romans savagely ruled over the Iceni. Another factor in aggravating the Britons was that the occupiers began to recall large loans which had been forced upon unwilling Britons. Some Britons were conscripted into the army, the Roman procurators wanted to extract as much wealth as could be had from the latest addition to the empire.
Women in Literature: Reading Through the Lens of Gender. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003. Print. The. Bailey, Carol. "
A tribe known as the Catuvellauni, based out of Hertfordshire, appears to be the most powerful state in the southeastern Britain at the time of Caesar’s conquest. This is likely because their king Cassivellaunus killed the Trinovantian king, Imanuentius, in battle. If the Trinovantes were a strong power in southeastern Britain, as described by Caesar, it would likely take an even more powerful state to defeat them in battle. Additionally, the Catuvellauni were known to be the neighbors and “traditional enemies” of the Trinovantes (Dunnett 8, The Trinovantes). Again, if the Trinovantes were almost the most powerful tribe in southeastern Britain, it is unlikely that the Catuvellauni were not the most powerful state, since they had defeated the Trinovantes in battle. Lastly, Caesar describes the Catuvellauni as his “principal opponent” (Caesar 5.20). This description is important because during Roman conquest, Rome often sought to first eliminate the most powerful tribe in a region, regardless of whether this was through brute force or di...
conceptualizations of gender in literature are situated in a culture and historical context ; the
Lefkowitz, Mary F. and Fant, Maureen. Women in Greece & Rome. Toronto/Sarasota: Samuel-Stevens. 1977. Print
Another myth that portrayed women as warriors is the tale of the Valkyries. The Valkyries are found in Norse mythology, particularly in the Eddas (epic poems). The Valkyries were warrior-maidens and servants of the god Odin. They rode through battle following g Odin’s commands, which brought victory or defeat. They also selected the warriors who were deemed worthy enough to enter Valhalla. The Valkyries may symbolize the Norsemen’s view of a perfect woman- a woman who is “brave and independent,” but also “beautiful and willing to be a servant to men” (Valkyries).
Briseis, whom Agame mnon and Achilles argue over in Book I). We saw them in their normal social roles as mothers and wives
Belisarius is known as one of the “Last of the Romans” because he perfectly embodied the best of the values of the Roman Empire (Mark 1). The general won his first laurels in 530 CE, after a great victory at Dara against the Sāsānian Empire. This battle occurred because hostilities between the empires had resurfaced in the previous competitions for control of the trade routes to Central Asia and India. The empires had lived in peace for 150 years before these trade battles resumed (Durant 108). Belisarius rose above as the hero of war, despite his defeat the following year (Barker 1). The Nika revolt broke out in Constantinople in January 532, and he successfully put it out by massacring the rioters. During this time, he married an old friend of the empress Theodora, Antonia, but shortly after, she passed away (Barker 1). Also in 532, Justinian was able to make peace with Persia by paying Khrosru Anushirvan, while Belisarius prepared to win back Africa...
Fisher, Jerilyn, and Ellen S. Silber. Women In Literature : Reading Through The Lens Of Gender..
Callaghan, Dympna. Woman and Gender in Renaissance Tragedy. Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press International, Inc., 1989
Although the highest political authority were men, women ocassionally became rulling queens and military leaders. Boudicca or Boadicea was the best known woman of this class. She is honored for leading the last major revolt against the Romans in Britain. When her husband died, she became ruler of the Iceni, a celtic tribe in southeastern
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.