The Platonic and Aristotelian Views on the Role and Status of Women in Society

3397 Words7 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Differences between aristotle and plato

Introduction

Women’s rights and societal roles have varied throughout history. Yet, a common theme that is notable across many times and cultures is the notion that women are inferior to men. In ancient Greece, the opinion toward women followed this trend, and women were often overlooked in how they could contribute to society. It was rarely considered that the traits women share could be of use beyond their household duties. In this essay I will analyze the Platonic and Aristotelian views on the role and status of women. Although Plato and Aristotle had distinct beliefs on what women could contribute to the collective well being of society, they shared similar opinions about the genuine status that women had in comparison to men. The Platonic view advanced the idea that secluding women to the home was counter-productive to the community as a whole. As such, women should be afforded roles that stretched beyond the boundaries of the home for the benefit of the community. The Aristotelian view, contrastingly, believed that the natural characteristics of women, which deemed them physically and intellectually inferior to men, made the home their proper place within society. In this essay I will advance the view that through the logic constructed by both Plato and Aristotle it follows deductively that women not only have a place outside of the home but their distinctive nature can add something of value to many areas of society.

A Platonic View Toward Women: A Community of Women and Children

It is sometimes contended that Plato was a feminist, but his concern for women did not stem from an interest in women’s rights, but rather the usefulness women could contribute to the benefit of the community. Meaning, society would receive...

... middle of paper ...

...oes not follow logically that women are intellectually inferior. The nature of women that emanates from their traditional role as mothers and caregivers can in fact not only be sufficient but necessary for the optimal functioning polis. The compassion and consideration that emanates from the nature of women could be the true keystone in wholesome state, and the highest form of collective well being that Plato and Aristotle searched for.

Works Cited

Aristotle. The Politics. Trans. T.A. Sinclair. Rev. ed. Trevor J. Saunders. New York:

Penguin classics, 1957. Print.

Bloom, Allan (1968, revised 1991). The Republic of Plato. Translated, with notes and an

interpretive essay. New York: Basic Books.

Magnusson, Warren. “Ancient and Medieval Political Thought.” Political Science 300A.

University of Victoria. British Columbia, 4 Jan. 2012 – 21 Mar. 2012.

Show More
Related

  • Gender Roles in Ancient Greek Society

    1385 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender Roles in Ancient Greek Society Throughout history, the roles of women and men have always differed to some degree. In ancient Greece, the traditional roles were clear-cut and defined. Women stayed home to care for children and do housework while men left to work. This system of society was not too far off the hunter gatherer concept where women cared for the house and the men hunted.

    Read More

  • Eve Browning Cole's Women Slaves and Love of Toil

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cole's article is not to attack Aristotle on his views of where a woman should be placed within the social and political order, in accordance to the Classic Greek period. Her intrigue is within "surveying some central values of that particular social and political institution," (Sterba 79). At first she begins with Aristotle's view on gender and class in ethics. Making a definite point among the social/political class, ancient Greek women and slaves were only allowed their male citizens to think for them. Being dependent on men silences the women and slaves without a voice to speak out, for the women work while the men socialize with others, the men assume that the women do not need a voice. According to Aristotle, even a woman's virtue is to be subservient to all males. As a part of common life the woman is considered the pack horse and the mother to raise the children, for the men. With all the work that women put into their specific households, some education and training would mature from the experience. It was thought again by Aristotle within; Deliberation, Education, and Emancipation, that woman did not possess the aptitude for practical reasoning. For whomever possessed practical reasoning carried with them authority on their decisions and the action pending. From these three classic Greek examples of how women were considered mentally and treated physically, the author Cole provides a progressive outlook of how women could have gained social and political power in a society of male dominant figures.

    Read More

  • Patriarchy in India, China, Greece and Rome

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most classical society’s political and social organization revolved around the idea of patriarchy, a male dominated social system. This system exacerbated the inherit difference between men and woman and assigned gender roles based on these observations. Men were generally regarded as superior to woman therefore given greater religious and political roles as well as more legal rights. As the natural inverse, women were subordinated and seen as week; their main roles reproductive and domestic. Information about patriarchy in the classical era, though abundant, was, for the most part, written by men, therefore history does not give us an accurate depiction of women’s viewpoints. Four societies of the classical era, India, China, Greece, and Rome, adopted a patriarchal system, however, due to many factors, each developed identifiable characteristics.

    Read More

  • Important Role of Women in Homer's Odyssey

    1720 Words  | 4 Pages

    " While this view may have been extreme even for the Greeks, they were convinced of the physical and intellectual inferiority of women. Thus, they believed that it was better for all--the woman included--that a wife should stay in the home far removed from the complicated business of the "man's world."... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Classical Greece

    1443 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Classical Greece, roles played by males and females in society were well-defined as well as very distinct from each other. Expectations to uphold these societal norms were strong, as a breakdown within the system could destroy the success of the oikos (the household) and the male’s reputation—two of the most important facets of Athenian life. The key to a thriving oikos and an unblemished reputation was a good wife who would efficiently and profitably run the household. It was the male’s role, however, to ensure excellent household management by molding a young woman into a good wife. Women were expected to enter the marriage as a symbolically empty vessel; in other words, a naïve, uneducated virgin of about 15 years who could be easily shaped by a husband twice her age. Through the instruction of her husband, the empty vessel would be filled with the necessary information to become a good wife who would maintain an orderly household and her husband’s reputation, thereby fulfilling the Athenian female gender role for citizen women.

    Read More

  • Treatment Of Women In Ancient Greece Essay

    1762 Words  | 4 Pages

    When thinking of ancient Greece, images of revolutionary contrapposto sculpture, ornate lecture halls, and great philosophers in togas are sure to come to mind. As the birthplace of democracy and western philosophy, ancient Greece has had an inordinate influence on the progression of the modern world. However, the ancient Greeks’ treatment of women is seemingly at direct odds with their progressive and idealistic society.

    Read More

  • Real Strong Women: Women of Power in the Ancient Works

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    From the role of the wily seductress, to the submissive housewife, to the raging warrior, women were a focal point of Ancient Greek works. Although they are often looked over and considered, the roles they played in their culture were undeniably important. Women may have been thought to have far less worth than a man, however, their undeniable power and influence in Greek society cannot be overlooked. The substantial position they held is verified in numerous texts of the era, including the works of Homer, Virgil, and Ovid.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Christine De Pizan And Thucydides

    1819 Words  | 4 Pages

    Though some view it as something that is concrete and cannot be changed, gender is an idea of how each human perceives themselves. Gender is nothing but a concept that is very fluid and can change throughout each generation. Unfortunately, though there is potential for change, human kind has barely made the effort to do so until recent years (barely) and continues to pretend as though these views of the sexes are set in stone. There is still this idea remaining that men should be the “ideal citizen” that brings honor, and that women should be meek and seen not heard. When comparing the views of these gender roles Christine de Pizan and Thucydides (through the voice of Pericles) have differing yet similar views on what is considered to be the

    Read More

  • Differences and Similarities of The Women of Athens and Sparta

    1843 Words  | 4 Pages

    Women in the ancient world had few rights, they differed from country to country or, in the case of the women of Athens and Sparta, from city-state to the city-state. The women of the city-states of Athens and Sparta had profound differences in their roles in the political and the daily lives of their families and their cities. When it came to the difference in levels of power and the rights of women, Sparta was a leader in its time. At the same time, their rights as citizens were almost the same. While they did not take an active part in politics, they had opinions and ideas like women all over the world. Their thoughts, deeds, and opinions rarely recorded or if they were, the male historians or philosophers of the time recorded them. What were roles did the women in ancient Athens and Sparta? Were they citizens, did they have personal freedoms? On the other hand, did they in a time when the beginnings of democracy were happening were they less than a second-class citizen? The misogyny and patriarchal societies continued throughout the ancient and classical periods only beginning to change in the Hellenistic era.

    Read More

  • The Roles of Greek and Roman Women

    1663 Words  | 4 Pages

    Greek and Roman women lived in a world where strict gender roles were given; where each person was judged in terms of compliance with gender-specific standards of conduct. Generally, men were placed above women in terms of independence, control and overall freedom. Whereas men lived in the world at large, active in public life and free to come and go as they willed, women's lives were sheltered. Most women were assigned the role of a homemaker, where they were anticipated to be good wives and mothers, but not much of anything else. The roles of women are thoroughly discussed in readings such as The Aeneid, Iliad, Sappho poetry, and Semonides' essay.

    Read More

  • The role of Women in Greece

    1539 Words  | 4 Pages

    For instance, if a woman were to be the wife of a guard, then she would be expected to live at the level of that status, too. She is expected to be able to contribute to society a great deal more, rather than stay at home and take care of her children and household. Plato points out that although women are not as strong as men, they are still strong nonetheless.

    Read More

  • Role of Women in Ancient Roman Society

    1349 Words  | 3 Pages

    Introduction: The role of women in ancient Rome is not easily categorized; in some ways they were treated better than women in ancient Greece, but in other matters they were only allowed a very modest degree of rights and privileges. One thing that does seem clear is that as the city-state of Rome evolved from its early days into a more complex society, women were not always limited to secondary roles. In some areas of Roman society, women were allowed more freedoms than in many other ancient civilizations. Research: What is the difference between This paper will explore the historical research that indicates what roles women were allowed to play in Rome, including the Ellis textbook for some of the basic facts.

    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

  • Representation of Womens Roles in Society- Medea

    1102 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women’s lives are represented by the roles they either choose or have imposed on them. This is evident in the play Medea by Euripides through the characters of Medea and the nurse. During the time period which Medea is set women have very limited social power and no political power at all, although a women’s maternal and domestic power was respected in the privacy of the home, “Our lives depend on how his lordship feels”. The limited power these women were given is different to modern society yet roles are still imposed on women to conform and be a dutiful wife.

    Read More

  • Women in Ancient Greece

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    Euripides, one of Ancient Greece’s most famous playwrights, could be considered as one of the earliest supporters of women’s rights. With plays such as Alcestis and Medea, he clearly puts an emphasis on the condition of women, and even integrates them in the Chorus of the latter play, a feat that was not often done in Ancient Greece. Throughout the years, it has been argued that the two central characters in each of those plays offer conflicting representations of women in those times, and I can safely say that I agree with that argument. I will expand on my view by pointing out an important similarity between Alcestis and Medea, followed by a key difference, and will finish it off by contrasting them with the Ancient Greek depiction of an “ideal woman.”

    Read More

More about The Platonic and Aristotelian Views on the Role and Status of Women in Society

Open Document