Essay On Assyrian Women
"Babe, go make me a sandwich." Since the dawn of time, women have been considered inferior to men. Most societies throughout history viewed women as poisonous or unimportant compared to male counterparts. Men provide for the family; the woman cleans, cooks, and stays silent. Two of the most contradicting societies were the Greeks and the Assyrians. Women in Hellenistic Greece were treated with more respect than women in Assyrian societies because Greek men saw women as angelic, perfect, chaste, and innocent with no possible way of "poisoning" a man. "Poisoning" refers to destroying the man's chances at reaching the afterlife, which Assyrians did not believe in. The Assyrians also had a very pessimistic outlook on life, which influenced the thoughts on men and women during the time period.
To begin, Assyrian women were expected to follow a strict code written by Tiglath-Pileser I. This code was very specific and …show more content…
was enforced via the harshest consequence possible, death. Of course, women were always at fault or in the position of the abused person. One of the laws, in which the woman was treated in a horrid manner, was "Unless it is forbidden in the tablets, a man may strike his wife, pull her hair, her ear he may bruise or pierce. He commits no misdeed thereby."1 The man was given free reign to abuse the woman, and the effect of the law was the unnecessary suffering of the women.Another piece of evidence proving the treatment of the Assyrian women was worse, is the law that reads, "If a man have intercourse with the wife of a man either in an inn or on the highway, knowing that she is a man's wife, according as the man, whose wife she is, orders to be done, they shall do to the adulterer. If not knowing that she is a man's wife he rapes her, the adulterer goes free. The man shall prosecute his wife, doing to her as he likes."2 In this case, the man has a chance to be cleared of the charge. The woman does not receive any form of reprieve, no matter the situation.
In contrast, Grecian women were expected to follow the same concepts of rule, but laws and punishments were less harsh and less specific. The Greeks believed that there were three types of women in society. In the Greeks' Law Code, the writer, Hesiod, mentions the three types of women and the effect of the woman's will on a man. One example of this is, "The mare, is a rare sight to one's guests; but to her husband she is a curse, unless he be a tyrant who prides himself on such expensive luxuries. The ape-like wife has Zeus given as the greatest evil to men. Her face is most hateful. Such a woman goes through the city a laughing-stock to all the men. The man who gets the woman like a bee is lucky; to her alone belongs no censure; one's household goods thrive and increase under her management; loving, with a loving spouse, she grows old, the mother of a fair and famous race."3 This section of text shows the image that men in Greece had of each woman in society, and how the men viewed the effects of loving/marrying such women.
In Hellenistic Greece, the women were considered precious and important to the future of the society as a whole.
The Assyrians did not view women in this manner because of the pessimistic view that was characteristic of Assura. Hellenistic women were not abused as Assyrian women were, and the men seemed to almost worship Grecian women. Life in each society was difficult, but the Assyrian women experienced more downs than Hellenistic women. Perhaps the most astonishing particle of evidence, however, is the continuation of ancient ideals in these two societies thousands of years later.
In the end, Assyrian women were treated poorly compared to Hellenistic women because of the views held by the Assura. Had it not been for the negative outlook, women in Assyrian society may have been treated with more respect. The treatment of the women in both societies is not ideal, and the negative treatment continues to grow in the world today, thousands of years later. Therefore, women in Hellenistic Greece were treated with more respect than women in Assyrian
societies.
To begin, Assyrian women were expected to follow a strict code written by Tiglath-Pileser I. This code was very specific and …show more content…
was enforced via the harshest consequence possible, death. Of course, women were always at fault or in the position of the abused person. One of the laws, in which the woman was treated in a horrid manner, was "Unless it is forbidden in the tablets, a man may strike his wife, pull her hair, her ear he may bruise or pierce. He commits no misdeed thereby."1 The man was given free reign to abuse the woman, and the effect of the law was the unnecessary suffering of the women.Another piece of evidence proving the treatment of the Assyrian women was worse, is the law that reads, "If a man have intercourse with the wife of a man either in an inn or on the highway, knowing that she is a man's wife, according as the man, whose wife she is, orders to be done, they shall do to the adulterer. If not knowing that she is a man's wife he rapes her, the adulterer goes free. The man shall prosecute his wife, doing to her as he likes."2 In this case, the man has a chance to be cleared of the charge. The woman does not receive any form of reprieve, no matter the situation.
In contrast, Grecian women were expected to follow the same concepts of rule, but laws and punishments were less harsh and less specific. The Greeks believed that there were three types of women in society. In the Greeks' Law Code, the writer, Hesiod, mentions the three types of women and the effect of the woman's will on a man. One example of this is, "The mare, is a rare sight to one's guests; but to her husband she is a curse, unless he be a tyrant who prides himself on such expensive luxuries. The ape-like wife has Zeus given as the greatest evil to men. Her face is most hateful. Such a woman goes through the city a laughing-stock to all the men. The man who gets the woman like a bee is lucky; to her alone belongs no censure; one's household goods thrive and increase under her management; loving, with a loving spouse, she grows old, the mother of a fair and famous race."3 This section of text shows the image that men in Greece had of each woman in society, and how the men viewed the effects of loving/marrying such women.
In Hellenistic Greece, the women were considered precious and important to the future of the society as a whole.
The Assyrians did not view women in this manner because of the pessimistic view that was characteristic of Assura. Hellenistic women were not abused as Assyrian women were, and the men seemed to almost worship Grecian women. Life in each society was difficult, but the Assyrian women experienced more downs than Hellenistic women. Perhaps the most astonishing particle of evidence, however, is the continuation of ancient ideals in these two societies thousands of years later.
In the end, Assyrian women were treated poorly compared to Hellenistic women because of the views held by the Assura. Had it not been for the negative outlook, women in Assyrian society may have been treated with more respect. The treatment of the women in both societies is not ideal, and the negative treatment continues to grow in the world today, thousands of years later. Therefore, women in Hellenistic Greece were treated with more respect than women in Assyrian
societies.