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Ancient greece patriarchy
Role of Women in Ancient Greece
Women's role in ancient greek
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How are females represented in historic literature compared to males? Echo and Narcissus revolves around the story of how Echo’s life is ruined by a curse, leaving her only able to say the last word that comes out of somebody else’s mouth. Furthermore, it shows the struggle when she falls in love and how she is essentially disabled. Whereas, Persephone is about how the beautiful daughter of the Greek goddess Demeter, is manipulated and captured by Hades. Myths portray women as weak, objects of beauty that are used, and depend on men to survive in society, this could play a large effect on youth in their times of self voyage, showing them what literature says they are supposed to be, and how they are supposed to act. When at last, it is their …show more content…
They deserve independence and a structure of their own. Hades, “ the king of the underworld was determined that Persephone would be his wife, and he decided to carry her off by force”(Pilling 324). Marriage is a tradition that should be chosen by both halves of the relationship. In this tale, Persephone is forced into marriage by Hades and Zeus. The men believed they could just do/ take whatever/ whomever they please. That is why Hades first option was kidnapping; he believed she would not be able to escape. They had a sense of power that Persephone did not. Ladies need to be portrayed as beings that can protect and think for themselves, they should have control over their life and should be strong and witty enough to escape from certain dangerous situations if possible. Men should feel like they are not invincible, your actions have consequences. Failure is just as possible as success is. The power that men hold women is not fair, women should have strength/power as well, and this is something that needs to be displayed to children. That ladies can take care of themselves, and that they do not need anyone’s approval to be who they are. In the myth regarding Echo and Narcissus’s tale, Echo is blatantly rejected yet, she still seeked his approval, the approval of a man. She even goes to the extent of hiding in a cave in shame. Narcissus had died, “ and alas, poor Echo, desolate after Narcissus’s death, did not eat or sleep. As she lay forlornly in her cave, all her beauty faded…” (Osborne 7). The main character in this myth still had her life ahead of her, but after the rejection she needed someone to love her and that should not be the case. She pines after him and ultimately wastes her life. As human beings we are all completely capable of loving whomever we are. Just look past whatever minor flaw you see, and accept yourself and that is something
Gender plays a role in literature, often reflecting the culture at the time of their creation. In such cases, it is also easy to tell the expectations of men and women in society. Gender roles in the works The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh are similar to which there is an obscure line between the two genders. Although most women are presented as maternal figures in both works, they are mainly seen as tools at the disposal of men.
In the Hymn to Demeter, the rape of Persephone starts with her picking flowers and she comes across the hundred headed narcissus which "Gaia made grow as a trick for the blushing maiden" (HHDem. 8-9). This trick is set into motion by Zeus, but since Gaia plays the role of protecting the youngest generation, this is a foreshadowing that Persephone's ordeal will be for a good cause. Hades moves in to take Persephone when the grounds gapes open and she begins to cry aloud. Demeter hears her daughters screams but she is powerless against Hades, hence the separation of distance between them. The grief stricken Demeter goes through an experience which plays out the role of a symbolic death. this is because the relationship between the mother and daughter ends at a wedding.
When Odysseus arrives, she comments that she has not seen a man in over 100 years. She keeps him captive for 7 years in hopes that he will eventually marry her. She is egocentric and likes to think that letting Odysseus go was her idea. She releases him when Hermes gives her a message from Zeus. Although she is self centered with keeping Odysseus, she also promotes early advocacy for women sexual equality. It is seen unjust for a goddess to have sexual relations with a mortal man. She told Hermes, “‘Hard are you gods and envious beyond all to grudge that goddesses should mate with men and take without disguise mortals for lovers,’” (Homer
Women play an influential role in The Odyssey. Women appear throughout the story, as goddesses, wives, princesses, or servants. The nymph Calypso enslaves Odysseus for many years. Odysseus desires to reach home and his wife Penelope. It is the goddess Athena who sets the action of The Odyssey rolling; she also guides and orchestrates everything to Odysseus’ good. Women in The Odyssey are divided into two classes: seductresses and helpmeets. By doing so, Homer demonstrates that women have the power to either hinder of help men. Only one woman is able to successfully combine elements of both classes: Penelope. She serves as a role model of virtue and craftiness. All the other women are compared to and contrasted with Penelope.
Due to traditional stereotypes of women, literature around the world is heavily male-dominant, with few female characters outside of cliché tropes. Whenever a female character is introduced, however, the assumption is that she will be a strong lead that challenges the patriarchal values. The authors of The Thousand and One Nights and Medea use their female centered stories to prove their contrasting beliefs on the role of women not only in literature, but also in society. A story with a female main character can be seen as empowering, but this is not always the case, as seen when comparing and contrasting Medea and The Thousand and One Nights.
The power and influence of women is symbolized in Odysseus’ encounter with the dead in Hades. In the Underworld, Odysseus meets more women than men. He meets his mother and then a “grand array of women” (334). They all were “wives and daughters once of princes” (334). All of them are the legendary women who were the mothers of the greatest Greek lineages. This symbolizes how Greek civilization was founded by women; they were the ones who gave birth to the heroes. Similarly, The Odyssey is a story created by women. The plot revolves around the actions of women. Athena orchestrates all the events. The seductresses, such as Circe, the sirens, and Calypso, attempt to stop Odysseus from reaching home. The helpmeets, such as Nausicaa, Arete, and Athena, aid Odysseus in his homecoming. The wise and virtuous Penelope is the object of Odysseus’ quest. Unlike Helen who forsakes her husband, Penelope remains faithful. Unlike Clytemnestra who assassinates her husband, Penelope patiently waits for Odysseus. She becomes a model of female patience and of female intelligence. Her craftiness is the only one which can match up to Odysseus’. The Odyssey presents a wide array of women and demonstrates the influence that women have in the life of a
In two amazing poems, both poets make allusions to the myth of Persephone. The myth of Persephone tells of her kidnap by Hades, the God of the Underworld. She is then fated to spend one-third of the year in the underworld as Hades’ bride because she consumed pomegranate seeds. This myth appears frequently as a metaphor not only in “The Pomegranate” and “The Bistro Styx,” but in many others as well. In both poems, the myth of Persephone is used to symbolize the mother-daughter relationships.
Numerous lively heroes ventured into Persephone’s clutches with the hopes of beating death, yet she explains that despite their god-like strength they too will die. Two such heroes were Theseus and Pirithous. When Theseus and Pirithous attempted to kidnap the Queen of the Underworld she enticed them to sit in the chair of forgetfulness where their flesh fused to the cushions and refused to relinquish them (Taylor 268). Persephone appears many times to offer food, drink, or rest to weary heroes in the underworld in order to trap them there forever in the same manner that Hades tricked her (Taylor, 268). Because of Persephone and Hades’ antics many people hated them as gods, but Persephone’s cruelty serves as a reminder that while death is necessary it is not always kind. In the same manner that Persephone accepted her fate, mortals must also accept their own imminent
The society in which classical myths took place, the Greco-Roman society was a very patriarchal one. By taking a careful gander at female characters in Greco-Roman mythology one can see that the roles women played differ greatly from the roles they play today. The light that is cast upon females in classical myths shows us the views that society had about women at the time. In classical mythology women almost always play a certain type of character, that is to say the usual type of role that was always traditionally played by women in the past, the role of the domestic housewife who is in need of a man’s protection, women in myth also tended to have some unpleasant character traits such as vanity, a tendency to be deceitful, and a volatile personality. If one compares the type of roles that ladies played in the myths with the ones they play in today’s society the differences become glaringly obvious whilst the similarities seem to dwindle down. Clearly, and certainly fortunately, society’s views on women today have greatly changed.
Hades became very lonely in the underworld, and went above and kidnapped Demeter’s daughter, Persephone, for his wife. Persephone, nonetheless, was not Hades’ only significant other. Hades had a mistress called Minthe whom Persephone later transformed into a plant. Hades is also known as the god of wealth due to the precious metals mined from the earth. He has been said to possess a helmet that was given to him by the Cyclops.
In a society in which social position was vital for having a successful family, the Greek and Roman families internally struggled with one another. This constant conflict stems from the father’s desire for control and the society’s high placement of power. In the Greek myth Demeter and Persephone, Zeus’s interest for his selfish gains prompts him to “ ( give ) Persephone to the Lord of Dead to become his queen “ ( Rosenberg Demeter 96). Zeus does not ask Persephone nor Demeter, his beloved wife, presenting that he does not show any opinions on their feelings. Although Zeus in reality just wanted to have a powerful family with the addition of Hades, his love for power overrode his love for his family and created a tension between the other members and him. In another Greek myth, Jason and the Golden Fleece, shows man’s love for supremacy through ...
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.
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.
As she pulls, the work largely illustrates her single-minded focus and greed in acquiring her treasure, mirroring how Narcissus only gave attention to himself in the mirror and ignored the world around him. As the girl obsesses over the flower, the events quickly derail, as when she obtains the narcissus, Hades “sprung out of the earth… [and] claimed his due,” portraying the consequences of both Persephone’s limited view to only the flower and her avarice that led to her capture and downfall. Through emphasizing that Hades remained just in his actions and only took Persephone due to her decision, the work assigns the blame of the capture to Persephone, diverting from typical interpretations of the myth that depict Persephone as a kidnapped child who cannot prevent her situation. The poem further elaborates on this position as it laments that “she had strayed from the herd,” underscoring that Persephone’s foolishness led her to the Underworld, while her continued mistakes in eating the pomegranate seeds kept her
Her time spent with Hades proves that his oppressive nature only adds more to her powerlessness; therefore, she yearns to return to how things used to be. To satisfy both parties, Hades and Persephone, Hades agrees to a compromise set by Zeus because of the failure of crops caused by Persephone's mother’s distress. Persephone can see her mother and return to her world for two seasons, Summer and Spring, for the year, however, when the time of either Winter or Fall, Persephone must return to her captivity in the underworld. While Isabella is not given an alternative option in avoiding Heathcliff’s abuse, she begins to express her discontent with the status of the marriage. Like Persephone, initially, Isabella did not voice her qualms associated with being in a marriage with Heathcliff, however, as time went on, she gained the ability to be more rebellious.