Lysias On The Murder Of Eratosthens

My two primary sources would be coming the book Sources of World Societies Volume I . The two different documents I will decided to follow and describe will be the trail of Lysias on the Murder of Eratosthenes on page 97 and the writing of Cicero, The Defense of Marcus Caelius Rufus: Description of Clodia on page 121. The main focus of my writing would be the interlining on how both were different but had the same stands on they looked upon women. Bot doucmuents will speak on how woman should be seem as property and as a man you must proect your property at all cost. It was a man world and it sure did look that way by the details I took from both documents.
The muderof Eratosthenes was a speech was given by a certain Euphiletos, defending
him against the charge that he murdered Eratosthenes, after he supposedly caught him committing adultery with his wife. Euphiletos defends himself claiming that the killing of Eratosthenes was justifiable homicide, rather than murder. The case was heard before the delphinio, the court which ruled on cases of justifiable homicide. The speech would also go on to include the whole story of what led to the murder of Eratoshenes. The book insistend that Eratosthenes was the one who seduced the woman in order to have an affair. That fact alone is important but I will look at the wording of how of the defensive of the reasoning why it was justifiable because his wife was his property and a man must defend his property. A few sentences that stood out for me was ones by the on page 97 “ But when my child was born, from then on I trusted her and I placed all my property in her care”. This would be seem as the man would look as for a wife that could only bare child for the man in order to keep his property growing. As the woman was looked apon as property she must obey and have sole respobitirs for caring for the child as the man would go on go about this life. Going back on the foucs point of this case it goes on about to state on page 100,” It is not I who shall kill you but the city’s law, which you broke, becausw you consideres it less important than your pleasure”. I am taking this last edvaince as the of way of not only a man who is defending himself trail but also how they look the act of adultery as not a family issue but as community issues as they saw women as proberlty yhat should be proctet even by law. The defense of Marcus Caelius Rufus is a case that revooles round Clodia.
She is a woman of a noble brith who was into proety and also carried a notorious reputations. This document goes on tells events of the act of an apptemp of poisoning her. I will take examples within the text to relay my theory as certain women were looked at as proberty. The simple idea had been put on man during this time of Rome that it was not only okay but should be allowed for a married man to carry on various affairs with prositutites and lovers. As this will be given the idea of the” wife” as proberty that one man investes in in order to produce children and carry on the man name. They should not be looked at as equals. With the expections of woman like Clodia who is catorgized as a woman who carries a notorious reputations. My assumastion to my theory would catoraey is the way of an escort and as we disscuss in class certain women were put aside and not deed women that you should marry. As taken from page 122, “ If anyone thinks young men ought to be forbibidden affais even with prostitutes, he is very austere…….he is also not in harmony with the customs of our ancestors.” The idea of a man not going out and involving himself with different woman was more of a tradtion. Another case would be made during agreement about a double standard for woman being whores and that of a man who just sees sex as sex and not a form of adultery. From page 123 “ If a young man should happen to be found in the
company of such a woman, then surely…..you would agree that this was not so much adultery as just plain sex--- not an outrage to chastity, but mere satisfaction of appetite”.

As I conclude my theories by linking the differences of each documents can lead to the same basic princlpe on how they look at woman as less than man and more of property or as the last document read not adultery as just plain sex.
I linked the two together by in which both were in form of cases being held but that was not the foucs point of my connections. I looked for a few senecnes with the documents in order to prove my case. The idea of woman being looked at as property and the idea that a man has the right to sleep around still occurs in today solicties. Thus being the reason why I choose to write about this topic because I find it interesting that history tend to repeats itself. As it even states in document The Defense of Marcus Caelius Rufus, that it is the customs of our ancestors as an excuse to correct a
wrong.