In Book V of The Republic, Plato details the roles of women and children in a perfect society. He has a very different and almost controversial view than most people during his time. Most believed that women should be confined to the household and raising children because they were most suited for those sorts of jobs. However, Plato expresses just the opposite. He thinks that women and men are equal; therefore, they should perform the same jobs. Women are just capable of performing certain tasks as men, so they should be free to do them. He also outlines the process of procreation in his perfect world and the sense of community it creates. Now that children are a part of society, Plato sees them as equals to men and women. So much so, that …show more content…
He brings about the analogy of the guard dogs. He asks, “Do we separate off male and female dogs from one another or do we expect both to share equally in standing guard and going out to hunt?” (142). He is trying to show that humans are the only animals that segregate men and women. He continues in saying, “Individually, many women are more skilled than many men” (146). Furthermore, he believes women are capable and suitable for being guardians, so they should be able to pursue that job. Women should also be exposed to the same education as the males. During wartime, Plato believes that women and even children are capable of fighting, so it is their duty to be involved in combat. He states, “it is obvious that men and women will take the field together. Further, when the children become hardy, they will bring them to the battlefield too, so that they will learn what they must do when they are grown” (158). To defend his point of view, he raises the argument that when loved ones are fighting alongside each other, the citizens are more motivated to fight and protect their community. In addition, the children need to be exposed to combat so that they are prepared and experienced for their future endeavors on the …show more content…
One main rebuttal to his want of equality of men, women, and children and their position on the battlefield is that women and children are not physically capable of performing the same tasks as men. Males are genetically built differently than women; they are bigger and stronger. Having women and children on the battlefield may not be the best option because of their lack of superior strength. Although, even though women and children are not as physically strong as men, they may be mentally tougher. Also, some women are stronger and more capable than certain men. But, is it really in the women and children’s best interest to be involving themselves in life-threatening
In Ancient Greece, women had little to no freedom in their lives. For instance, they had no role in politics, leaving that completely to men, were expected to stay indoors for the majority of their lives doing household work because they were under the control of a male relative, usually being their father or husband, and they were not allowed to study medicine. These standards were set by great writers such as Aristotle who wrote of women being inferior to men. He believed women were more emotional, which is why they would be useless in politics, and they were more deceptive and mischievous. Because only men were doctors, many women were dying during childbirth due to the fact that they felt uncomfortable about having a man handle their pregnancy.
“On the Equality of the Sexes” began with arguing against the idea that woman were not mentally equal to men in all areas.
middle of paper ... ... Children within the United States whose parents serve in the military are left to deal with issues of separation and fear. The fear of not knowing when their parents are coming home, and if they’ll come back to the same person they were when they left. Since we are incapable of hiding violence and the act of war from children, it is better to help them understand the meaning behind it and teach them that violence is not always the answer. Children react based on what they see and hear, and if the community and world around them portrays positive things, then the child will portray a positive attitude as well.
In The Republic Plato argues that some women have the ability to become philosopher-Guardians. This idea during that time wasn’t viewed as a normal idea to spring upon, therefor Plato argues this statement through questionings and contradictions to justify this radical idea. He does so by summing up his ideas and thoughts through his theory of virtue.
The speeches cause children to have revenge in their hearts and minds, and seeing the death of their friends and families are motivating them to fight. The war was coming, and the village needed more soldiers to keep the village safe. The boys were told to join the military or leave the village, but they knew there was only death once they leave the village. “‘Some of you are here because they have killed your parents or families, others because this is a safe place to be. Well, it is not that safe anymore.
...herself as a man and has misogynistic tendencies. Fortunately, the role of women in society today has changed very much from the roles that they played in classical mythology. Women are now seen as being able to play any role they desire, whether it is the role of a housewife or the role of a workingwoman with a successful career. It is no surprise that achieving the roles that women play today took such a long time when for so long even in mythology women’s roles in society were constantly pushed in the direction of domestics and when for so long women were portrayed as less then pleasant creatures. The fact that these sorts of roles were pushed on women in the Greco-Roman society was proof enough that it was a patriarchal society. It is astoundingly wonderful that the roles that women play in modern society have evolved so much since the times of classical myths.
For instance, if a woman were to be the wife of a guard, then she would be expected to live at the level of that status, too. She is expected to be able to contribute to society a great deal more, rather than stay at home and take care of her children and household. Plato points out that although women are not as strong as men, they are still strong nonetheless.
There isn’t enough literature from this time period from the lower and middle classes of society, and the view of women we have comes from writings of the upper class males. As much of an enigma that the women of Athens were, it is clear that “women were for the most part legal nonentities,” (O’Neal 117) that were denied any association and participation in the intellectual life of their city. The women were not involved in getting an education, and never learned to read or write. O’Neal writes, “The principal spokesmen of fifth century Athens, Pericles and Thucydides, disdained Athenian women.” (O’Neal 117) Based on their writing, and on surmountable evidence, it can be assumed that women had only two roles in Athens - a wife, or a mother. A girl was ideally married at 14 or 15 years of age, and there was necessity that the bride was a virgin, otherwise she was shamed and sold into
In his constant quest to find the true meaning of justice and the creation of the ideal city Socrates finds that while many of the element of the city have been properly set forth he forgot to take into account the place women will have in the city and the idea of child-rearing. After some careful discussion about the nature of women and how it would relate to their particular role in the city Socrates and Adeimantus come to the agreement that the women will be assigned their roles in the same manner as the men of the city. This agreement eventually will lead the men to the discussion of marriages and procreation in the city and how it is to be regulated in order to maintain the greater good in the city.
Women had very few rights, they lived as prisoners, serving men 24 hours a day. Women were sheltered from society, restricted to their husbands and their husbands houses, crying out for help and justice but there is no one to there to hear their screams. In the play Antigone when the title character had to sneak out of the house to meet up with Ismene. Ancient Greek men ruled a lot like over protective fathers with teenage daughters. Men were also scared of women gaining confidence and begin thinking on their own or worse taking action or speaking out against men, like in the play Antigone where Antigone confronts Creon by burying Polyneices after Creon strictly stated that no one bury him. If someone were to bury him, the whole Polis would stone them to death. When Creon found out that someone buried Polyneices, he did not even consider that it could have been a women that did it.
Women of any society always have had a different role to play than that of men. Psychologically, a woman is to find a mate in order to bring healthy offspring into the world. Conservative thinking tells women to cook, clean, take care of the family, and to perform other miscellaneous domestic chores. Yet, Sophocles also defines the place of a woman in his tragedies: Oedipus the King and Antigone. Women were respected as very powerful and dignified individuals, but at the same time were forbidden to meddle with the affairs of men as they, figuratively, were to stand behind men at all times. The mother and daughter combination of Jocasta, the typical Greek aristocrat, and Antigone, a strong-willed woman who defies her sex role, opposing each other in almost every aspect, clearly portrays the different lives of women at the time of these Greek tragedies.
These arguments were strong in that time, given that women were not only pressured by society to have children, but also for the gods and nature. For instance, for the Athenians, the best contribution that a woman can give to society was
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.
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.
Marriage is expressed platonically in the polis, which contrasts with the ideal of devoted monogamy in today’s society. Instead, the members in the guardian class share women along with their children, and marriage does not include living together. Plato proposes, “That all these woman are to belong in common to all the men, none are to live privately with any man” (457c-d). Plato believes that if the guardians will possess all the women and children in common, then the city will be more unified. He believes this mainly because the loyalty of