Sappho: The Role Of Women In Ancient Greek Culture

Women of Ancient Greece Women in ancient Greece were unable to vote, own land, and where not allowed in certain parts of their home. A woman's place was in the home, the main purpose of women in Greece was to bear the children, that would grow up to be great men of Greece. Women who were “owned” by a wealthier man did not have to work, but women of a poorer class often worked in markets, or shops with her husband or father. Even though women were not well educated or treated equally, some women stepped outside of the box to show men that women could be equally smart, and worthy of being a citizen. With as much information that we have on ancient Greek culture, you would think that we would know as much about women of Greece as we do

Most likely you haven’t because it is not very well know. One of the most famous female writers of ancient Greece was Sappho, “she spent most of her adult life in the city of Mytilene on Lesbos where she ran an academy for unmarried young women. Sappho’s school devoted itself to the cult of Aphrodite and Eros, and Sappho gained great prominence as a dedicated teacher and poet.” (Sappho). Joshua J. Mark also explains why Sappho was such an important woman at her time, “ [she] was exiled twice to Sicily because of her political views, and was famous enough to have statues raised in her honor and, later, coins minted with her name and image on them,” (Mark, Joshua). Though there was not many famous female writers recorded in ancient Greece, the few that have been unveiled, have made a lasting impact on

Women who practiced medicine at this time were most likely sentenced to death, but Agnodice changed the law after she “cut her hair and disguised herself as a man in order to study medicine and even traveled to Egypt, where women were held in higher regard and could be doctors, in order to learn her craft. Still in her guise as a man, she returned to Athens and began to treat people. She became so popular among female patients (who knew she was a woman),” she was later put on trial and confessed she was a woman which let to men deciding she should get hung but, “she was saved by her female patients who shamed the court into acquitting her. It seems as though they pointed out how Agnodice had been successfully practicing medicine for some time now and that the male doctors were simply jealous. After her trial, the laws were changed so that women could practice medicine equally with men.” (Mark, Ten Noble and Notorious). This is yet another example of how secluded women were supposed to be in ancient