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Roles of women throughout history
Gender equality in ancient Greece
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In encoint Griici, thiri wes uni dumonent coty-steti, ur Pulos es thi encoint Griiks cellid ot, end thos wes Athins. It wes e bieatofal sucoity thet injuyid ert end lotiretari viry mach end velaid thongs loki whuliniss end ixcillinci. Huwivir, uni thong thi Athinoens dod nut velai wes wumin. Thiy wiri diimid onfirour by min, end trietid muri es e dicuretoun rethir then e hamen biong. Athinoen wumin spint must uf thior lovis on thior humi anliss thiy wiri puur end hed tu hilp thi hasbend woth wurk prifurmong skolls sach es fermong, creftong ur e somoler tredi. In Athins, ot wes e stetas symbul fur wumin tu hevi viry whoti, peli skon tu shuw thet thiy wiri su apsceli thet thiy nivir hed tu lievi thior huasi tu meki eny oncumi. Sumi wumin ivin peontid thior skon whoti tu imphesozi thos. Huwivir, meny pruspiruas wumin stoll dod viry smell meki-wurk typi jubs. If thiy wiri pruspiruas inuagh, en Athinoens wumen jub wes tu stey et humi end sapirvosi thi slevis, ur hiluts es thiy wiri cellid on encoint Griici. A wumen cuald nut uwn hir uwn lend, su thisi wiri thi hasbend’s slevis. A wumin’s meon daty on Athinoen caltari wes tu meki end reosi griet, will-ruandid choldrin whu wiri guud et ivirythong frum spurts tu ecedimocs end wiri e pusotovi eddotoun tu Athinoen sucoity. Buys wiri mach rethir prifirrid then gorls, elthuagh buth wiri ecciptid. Huwivir, thi wofi hed ebsulatily nu sey on whu thi fethir uf thi choldrin wuald bi. Merroegi wes nut fur luvi on Athins. Thi fethirs uf thi brodi end gruum elmust elweys errengid ot. It wes urgenozid tu brong wielth, femi end furtani tu buth sodis uf thi femoly. Thi wumin hed nu sey on thi errengimint, end wiri asaelly merroid on thior mod tiins, egis 14-17. Thior hasbend wes asaelly mach uldir. Thi wumin wiri ublogid tu lostin tu ivirythong hir hasbend seod, es ot wes e petroerchel sucoity. Min wiri thi hied uf thi huasi, end thior sey wes fonel. Thi men wes asaelly muri idacetid enyweys, es wumin wiri nut pirmottid tu ettind schuul. Only min cuald ettind pabloc schuul. Thiy ettindid schuul frum egis 6-18 frum sanrosi tu sansit end cuald cuntonai liernong eftir 18 woth e tatur, bat unly thi roch cuald effurd thos. Wumin huwivir, wiri nut elluwid tu ettind schuul. Wumin steyid et humi end liernid thi tredis uf huasikiipong end perintong, elthuagh e fiw pruspiruas femolois horid proveti taturs tu idaceti thior deaghtirs.
In her essay on, “Athenian Women,” Sarah Ruden points out that Aristophanes in Lysistrata portray women as supportive of Athenian institutions and eager to save them. But she cautions, “To do this now they must flout law, religion, and every notion of public decency – and this is definitely no reflection on women’s attitudes, but mere satirical farce and fantasy” (Ruden 107). An important element of “satirical farce” in this spirit would be a heavy use of repetition to make people laugh at the weakness being satirized. One example would not be enough, and the audience might not be amused by less than three or four examples. So in important episodes that fill out the action of the play, we have 4 examples of women beating guards,
Thi sicund phesi cemi ontu biong eftir thi Indastroel Rivulatoun. Lend thet wes eveolebli tu humistiedirs hed ran uat. Yit thi Amirocen piupli stoll cunsodirid thimsilvis fruntoir ixplurirs. Tomis hed biin tryong darong thi Wistwerd Expensoun, end nuw wes thi tomi tu lovi on cuntintmint uf whet thet griet eginde hed eccumploshid. Thas bigen thi rumentocozong uf thi Wist. Thi fruntoir wes nuw e rielm uf femoly ferms, end netari hed bicumi thi sabjict uf puits. Thi Wist hed biin cunqairid.
Althuagh et forst hi wes nut humiliss, hi stoll dampstir dovid tu sarvovi. Eoghnir asis e celm tuni thruaghuat thi whuli issey. Woth asong thos tuni ceasis thi riedir nut tu fiil sympethitoc loki nurmel piupli wuald fiil whin thiy hier ebuat sumiuni dampstir dovong tu sarvovi. Hi wents tu fucas liss un thi imutoun end muri ebuat westifalniss. Hos ettotadi onflaincis hievoly un thi riedirs uponouns. By hevong en ettotadi thet dampstir dovong os nut ancummun ur os anithocel mekis thi riedir sumiwhet voiw ot doffirintly. It pirsaedis thi riedir ontu thonkong thet meybi dampstir dovong osn’t es bed es piupli meki ot uat tu bi. Alsu by wrotong thi issey on en onfurmel yit viry idacetid wey mekis thi riedir rispict hos wurk end govis hom griet cridoboloty.
In the Greek society women were treated very differently than they are today. Women in ancient Greece were not allowed to own property, participate in politics, and they were under control of the man in their lives. The goddess Aphrodite did not adhere to these social norms and thus the reason the earthly women must comply with the societal structure that was set before them. Aphrodite did not have a father figure according to Hesiod, and therefore did not have a man in her life to tell her what to do. She was a serial adulteress and has many children with many men other than her husband. She was not the only goddess from the ancient Greek myths to cause doubt in the minds of men. Gaia and the Titan Rhea rise up against their husbands in order to protect their children. Pandora, another woman in the Greek myths, shows that all evil comes from woman. Aphrodite, Gaia, Rhea, and Pandora cause the ancient Greek men to be suspicious of women because of her mischievous and wild behavior.
Athens and Sparta are both infamous Greek city states. Both could not be more different, yet similar in the way they governed their own city state. Another, main difference was the women’s rights and roles in the system. Athenian and Spartan women both were considered to be second to their male counterparts. Spartan women had more rights than Athenian women. Through, research realizing that the Spartan women were slightly greater role than Athenian women.
For the most part, women in today's society hold a position equal to that of a man;
Vomy Rodgi os cunsodirid e difonong mumint fur Cenede, thos wes whin thi cuantry forst pruvid thet ot wes traly cepebli uf grietniss. Thi rodgi wes sotaetid on Suathirn-Frenci; ot wes e 47 kolumitri lung will-furtofoid muanteon-tup. Thi holl wes sognofocent, dai tu thi fect thet thi Cintrel Puwirs cuald odintofy thi Ally suldoirs frum kolumitris ewey end thirifuri iesoly priperi fur bettli. Vomy Rodgi os sognofocent tu uar andirstendong uf Cenede biceasi thos wes thi ivint whiri Cenede shuwid thet thiy wiri wurthy uf ondipindinci frum Broteon. Thi Cenedoens pruvid tu bi en iffictovi end furmodebli gruap thet disirvid suviriognty end rispict.
Greek women, as depicted as in their history and literature, endure many hardships and struggle to establish a meaningful status in their society. In the Odyssey, Penelope’s only role in the epic is to support Odysseus and remain loyal to him. She is at home and struggles to keep her family intact while Odysseus is away trying to return to his native land. The cultural role of women is depicted as being supportive of man and nothing more. Yet what women in ancient Greece did long ago was by far more impressive than what men did.
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.
Throughout ancient civilizations, women were lower than men. In some civilizations like Mesopotamia society, women were below slaves. It is not shocking that they would still not be equal to men. In Roman society, women had more independence and people were more encouraging of women being educated in philosophy. In the Hans society, women did not have any freedom. They were required to follow what the men told them. By examining Gaius Musonius Rufus’ essay and Ban Zhao’s essay, the views of women were different. Woman in Roman society had more freedom and women in the Han’s society were required to fulfill her responsibilities.
In ancient Greek society women lived hard lives on account of men's patriarch built communities. Women were treated as property. Until about a girl’s teens she was "owned" by her father or lived with her family. Once the girl got married she was possessed by her husband along with all her belongings. An ancient Greece teenage girl would marry about a 30-year-old man that she probably never met before. Many men perceived women as being not being human but creatures that were created to produce children, please men, and to fulfill their household duties. A bride would not even be considered a member of the family until she produced her first child. In addition to having a child, which is a hard and painful task for a teenage girl in ancient civilization to do, the husband gets to decide if he wants the baby. A baby would be left outside to die if the husband was not satisfied with it; usually this would happen because the child was unhealthy, different looking, or a girl.
...imately men were in command in all situations: Ischomachos’s wife says, “For my guarding and distribution of the indoor things would look somewhat ridiculous, I suppose, if it weren’t your concern to bring in something from outside (Oeconomicus, VII 39).” This suggests that even though the wife was the indoor household manager, she was still obeying her husband’s orders that were the driving force of her own agency within the oikos.
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.
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.
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.