Contents:
The Women of Athens: Two Views
Directions:
Greek society, like most societies all over the world throughout history, was dominated by men. This was true of democratic Athens in the age of Pericles, no less than of other city-states. The actual position of women in classical Athens, however, has been the subject of much controversy. An additional problem is the absence of authentic women's voices in the form of documents written by women of the time.
The bulk of the evidence coming from the law, philosophical and moral writings, and other documents of daily life, shows that women were excluded from most aspects of public life. They could not vote, take part in the political assemblies, hold public office, or take any direct part in politics at all. In Ancient Athens, which permitted all of these things of its male citizens, the exclusion of women is all the more striking.
The same sources show that the private lives of Athenian women were equally limited. An Athenian woman was always under the guardianship of some male--father, husband, or nearest male relative--no matter her age. Women married young, usually between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, while their husbands were usually over 30. The difference in age reinforced the guardian role of husbands in a marriage. Marriages were arranged; a woman normally had no choice. Her dowry was controlled by a male relative and given to her husband to control. The main function of a respectable Athenian woman was to produce a male heir. A daughter could inherit property from her father in the absence of brothers or other males heirs, but she would be forced by law to marry a relative on her father's side.
Because the pure and legitimate lineage of children was so important in continuing the family line, women were carefully segregated from men outside the family and were confined to special quarters --"the geneikon"--in the house. Men and women did not socialize within the home--the husband would entertain male guests exclusively. While men were free to seek sex outside the marriage, such behavior was severely punished in women. Respectable women stayed home to raise the children, cook, weave cloth, and oversee the management of the household. Once a year, women could participate in the public festivals in honor of Athena and attended the dramas presented on this occasion. Aside from this, women were expected to remain home, out of sight, silent, quiet, and unnoticed. In his famous "Funeral Oration," Pericles said: "the greatest glory of women is to be least talked about by men, whether for good or bad."
This view of the status of women, based on legal sources and the public writings of Athenian men, leaves us with an interpretive problem. It does not fit well with evidence from literary sources, particularly the tragedies and comedies of the great Athenian dramatists. These often show women as central characters and powerful figures in both public and private spheres. This suggests that the role played by Athenian women may have been more complex than their
legal status suggests. Clytemnestra in the tragedy Agamemnon (by Aeschylus), for example, arranges the murder of her royal husband and places her lover on the throne, whom she dominates. The bold defiance of Antigone, too, makes us wonder about the submissiveness of Athenian women. In the play, Medea, by Euripides, the title heroine is a powerful and terrifying figure, who negotiates with kings and commits an astonishing number of bloody murders in the course of the drama. Yet into her mouth, Euripides puts the following words, which seem to be an accurate summary of the condition of women in 5th-century BC Athens:
Of all things which are living and can form a judgment
We women are the most unfortunate creatures.
First, with an excess of wealth, it is required
For us to buy a husband and take for our bodies
A master; for not to take one is even worse.
An now the question is serious whether we take
A good or bad one; for there is no easy escape
For a woman, nor can she say no to her marriage...
A man, when he is tired of the company in his home.
Goes out of the house and puts an end to his boredom
And turns to a friend or companion of his own age.
But we are forced to keep our eyes on one alone.
What they say of us is that we have a peaceful time
Living at home, while they do the fighting in war.
How wrong they are! I would very much rather stand
Three times in the front of battle than bear one child.
Medea, by Euripides.
Greek Vocabulary List: English Words with Links to Ancient Greece
Be able to explain the English meaning of the following words and their origins in the history and culture of ancient Greece.
History
Idiot
Politics
Sophomore
Sophomoric
Thespian
Spartan
Democracy
Oligarchy
Monarchy
Aristocracy
Tyrant
Hoi polloi
Philosophy
Platonic
Stoic
Academy
Solon
Draconian
Laconic
Marathon
Hubris
Assignment:
For Plato: major works to include: Apology, Crito, The Republic.
For Aristotle: major works to include: Politics, Ethics, Poetics
Here are some additional sites for Plato:
http://www.knuten.liu.se/~bjoch509/philosophers/pla.html
http://www.connect.net/ron/plato.html
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/GREECE/PLATO.HTM
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/plato/index.htm
Aristotle:
http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Aristotle.html
http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/a/aristotl.htm
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/aristotle/index.htm
Socrates:
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/socrates/index.htm
http://www.hol.gr/greece/philoso.htm
http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/g/greekphi.htm
http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/Philosophy/Ancient_Greek_Philosophy/Philosophers/