First, in Eratosthenes, men were supposed to have the authority to control women, but Euphiletus let
First, in Eratosthenes, men were supposed to have the authority to control women, but Euphiletus let
to men, men were allowed to do whatever they wanted to their wives. In …
In many accounts that we have read women have used their power to goad their husbands, sons or lover, and none of them ended well, indicating women’s being individualist and are determined to gain what they want regardless of how the outcome can be. Moreover, Tacitusis’ text about “woman is the ruling sex” correlates Odin’s advice warning men about women’s manipulative and ruling…
In Document 10 it says “Whoever commits adultery will be executed, whether or not they have previous convictions.” There were harsh executions towards adultery. Men were praised and had more authority than the women; they had more power in almost anything. A saying in Document 10 about drinking also supports this argument. According to this document, “If then there is no means to prevent drunkenness, a man may become drunk thrice a month; if he oversteps this limit he makes himself guilty of a punishable offense. If…
* Female by nature, not by law…are supposed to be obedient…ruled by men…there’s something unnatural about what Antigone is doing….…
In most Greek mythology there is a general hostility towards the female sex, which relays that most poets and writers themselves were sexist. Throughout Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days, women are portrayed in a very subservient manner, placing them far below men and are almost despised. However, in more than one instance, manipulation, women’s true power, is shown. They are constantly described as beautiful temptresses, which could be thought of as the weakness of many men. When Theogony and Works and Days are looked at as a whole it is obvious that Hesiod’s opinion of women, most likely shared by the Greeks themselves, is that they are inferior and subordinate to men.…
“Women equals slaves and concubines,” was the mentality of patriarchal societies long ago. In today’s society men and women are viewed as equals; no sex is subordinate of the other, but during the early complex societies, there was an obvious split in which gender was more superior. Back then, authoritative figures/gods said that men were more important than women. The superiority of man over woman is constantly revealed in many of the historical documents. For example, man could ‘own’ plenty of women whilst a woman could not own a man; this speaks of an unfair preponderance that men had over women. However heartless men may seem to sound at this point, they actually did try to show some effort in addressing the needs of women. Men tried to…
power and were mostly treated as slaves.Due to clash of genders horrible acts as matricide and…
During Greek Rule hundreds of years ago women were put to a standard and expected to maintain it through everything that they do. When any woman did anything out of the norm then they were most likely ridiculed for what they had done. In his play, Oresteia, Aeschylus highlights the implications of gender roles in Greek society with the foiling of Clytemnestra by Electra to illustrate the Greek ideals and views of woman in contrast to their men, the juxtaposition of Orestes and Clytemnestra as equal in their crime yet differing in justification and reaction by the chorus, and significance of male progression in justice as carried out through the victory of Apollo over the Euminides despite justice being carried out by a female goddess, Athena.…
One single body of thought has influenced post-classical society’s view of gender roles. This body of thought perceived the idea of patriarchy as a given, established millennia ago, undeniable, unquestionable, and lastly, necessary. Consequently, the laws that followed this faulty perception led to the subordination of women throughout the whole of the post-classical era. However, it would be inaccurate to categorize either gender as monolithic when talking about civilizations that spanned thousands of miles over the course of a millennium. This is remedied by the little change each civilization expressed toward women. Religion established many laws restricting women and setting the political abilities of men high. Men of societies in China, India, and Africa were seen as the capable figure more and more while women were thought of as inferior to men; this, however, still allowed heavy disagreement about whether or not women could own property their a husband’s death, or in the event of divorce and outside the walls of marriage.…
Men have clear dominance over the lives of women throughout The Odyssey and make choices for them in instances even when they are completely capable. This is evident even with mother-son relationships. Telemachus commands Penelope, his own mother to “go back to [her] quarters. Tend to [her] own tasks, the distaff and the loom, and keep the women working hard as well. As for giving orders, men will see to that, but I most of all: I hold the reins of power in this house” (Odyssey 89). This is such a normal thing, for men to control…
In Greek society women had little control over their lives. A husband wanted to be able to control his wife so she would run his household as he saw fit, so she did not damage his reputation, and so he knew the paternity of his children. A husband wanted the girl to be closely controlled by her father before she married for the same reasons. Aristophanes’ comedies and Xenophon’s Oeconomicus contain very different depictions of a Greek citizen woman’s life before she is married and during the time shortly after she is married. Both the comedies and Oeconomicus examine how girls were educated, how closely guarded they were in their father’s household, and their willingness to deceive their husbands. In Oeconomicus, Xenophon wrote about the ideal girl, but she was exaggerated in the direction of perfection. In the comedies, however, some the female characters were almost the exact opposite of the girl in Oeconomicus. Even though ideas about how girls were raised and how they behaved after they were married are very different in Oeconomicus and in Aristophanes’ comedies, both sets of ideas get at a husband’s desire for his wife to have been closely controlled by her father, and then by him. Aristophanes and Xenophon illustrate this desire by presenting the ideal characteristics of a wife and the characteristics men fear. They also use exaggeration to make the distinction between the good wife and the undesirable wife even clearer. Because husbands wanted their wives to be controlled first by their fathers, and then by them, women spent their entire lives under the control of men.…
Women of that time in other cultures were treated like their father’s/husband’s property. That was the case all around the world, from China to Medieval Europe, to Rome. Women had no rights other than to maintain the house hold and bear children. Greece was a sight exception in this regard. Women who held higher positions in the society had quite independent lives, along with sixth century Spartan women; however, Athenian women did not share the same liberties as their neighbors. Athenian women rarely left their homes, but when they did, it was for religious purposes or festivals. Aristotle best summed up the role of Athenian women with a quote which basically says the woman in meant to bear children and maintain a home. Women were not completely…
- Athenian democracy was limited in comparison with today's standards. Only men could participate: women were seen as inferior beings who needed moral guidance…
Gender inequality has been a prevalent issue in society through many centuries. Modern arguments about appropriate gender roles often cite traditional texts. Many use Sophocles’ Antigone and the creation myth in “Genesis” to defend or attack gender dominance. Antigone and “Genesis” contain a complicated view of women’s liberation and subordination. Through recognizing the role of gender in Antigone and “Genesis”, both authors reveal that even though women were presumed to subservient to men during these time periods, there were authors who did not agree with the limitations put on women.…
The treatment and stigma towards women is constantly evolving. It varies from country to country, and it changing even today. As war driven cultures started to take over, freedom and respect for women decreased in ancient societies. Their freedom, rights, and societal status were ever changing in history. For this paper, the focus will be on the Ancient Minoa, Classical Athens, and the Roman Empire.…