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Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days - “The Creation of Pandora”
Greek myths femininity
Greek myths femininity
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According to the ancient myths and the secondary sources read throughout this course in relation to women, it is suggested that women in ancient Greece were treated as less than their male counterparts because of the contrast present in being both praised and abhorred for their innate sexuality. This innate sexuality is seen as uncontrollable specific to negative traits associated with it like deception and madness, which manifested itself in enforced ideals and a patriarchal system that feared women. This fear of the female nature led to men controlling them and was reinforced in daily life and ritualistic practices. This assumption is supported by the myths Hesiod’s Myth of Pandora and the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite as well as the secondary readings of The Daily Life of the Greek gods by Giulia Sissa and Marcel Detienne and Cultic Models of the Female: Rites of Dionysus and Demeter by Froma Zeitlin. Hesiod’s Myth of Pandora depicts a woman named Pandora who basically brought all negative aspects of life into Greece. Zeus made her as a punishment for Prometheus going against his wishes and stealing fire for mankind in an effort to create something that would “give them an affliction in which they will all delight as they embrace their own misfortune”(Hesiod 38). As …show more content…
Even Aphrodite, the patron goddess of love and sex, is a virgin until she succumbs to pleasure and copulates with Anchises. By ideologically supporting enforced virginity, women are forced to devote their time to God, family, and domesticity, ensuring that they do not stray from their husband. With this enforcement of monogamy, sexuality has to be a secret for women, because they have obvious displays of infidelity in pregnancy. Thus, limiting the sexual power that women have in a way that men no longer need to fear it; they don’t have to fear something they have control
Based on the readings, I conclude that Hesiod has intended his audience to regard elpis as a curse rather than a blessing. First of all, when Zeus is over taken by his anger with Prometheus after Prometheus makes an ill hearted attempt to fool Zeus at Mykone in regards to which food to choose. After Zeus discovered this trickery, he and the other gods put ingredients together to create a woman called Pandora. Pandora is a ‘gift’ to Epimetheus. The poem writes “Prometheus had said to him, bidding him never take a gift of Olympian Zeus, but to send it back for fear it might prove to be something harmful to men,” (Hesiod, Works and Days, 85-90).
The Role of Women in Greek Mythology In learning about the feminist movement, we studied the three articles, discussed and reviewed the different authors perspectives on the topic, and learned how important the role of woman in Greek mythology is. In presenting the feminist theory to the class, we analyzed the three articles, Women in Ancient Greece; Women in Antiquity: New Assessments; and Women in Greek Myth, and discussed how although the three articles provided different views on Feminism in mythology, they all essentially are aiming to teach the same basic concept. In order to understand the feminist theory, we have to understand the notion that although myths are invented and that they involve fantasy, the concept of mythology does not necessarily imply that there is no truth of history in them. Some of the humans may have lived while some of the events may have taken place. Most importantly, the social customs and the way of life depicted in the myths are a valuable representation of Greek society.
Yet, despite the fact that no two women in this epic are alike, each—through her vices or virtues—helps to delineate the role of the ideal woman. Below, we will show the importance of Circe, Calypso, Nausicaa, Clytaemestra, and Penelope in terms of the movement of the narrative and in defining social roles for the Ancient Greeks. Before we delve into the traits of individual characters, it is important to understand certain assumptions about women that prevailed in the Homeric Age. By modern standards, the Ancient Greeks would be considered a rabidly misogynistic culture. Indeed, the notoriously sour Boetian playwright Hesiod-- who wrote about fifty years before Homer-- proclaimed "Zeus who thunders on high made women to be evil to mortal men, with a nature to do evil (Theogony 600).
When Jupiter realized that Prometheus had given the mortals fire, he was outraged. “But one day, when he chanced to look down upon the earth, he saw the fires burning, an the people living in houses, and the flocks feeding on the hills, and this made him very angry.” (Paragraph 17) Jupiter was furious when he realized that the mortals would gain strength and become more powerful. He was so worried that he decided to punish all of mankind by creating a wife for Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother, with curiosity and a box. She was called Pandora, and when she opened the box, she unleashed great terrors upon them
While reading the works of Hesiod, it is impossible not to notice the way that women are characterized and discussed. In his two major poems, the Theogony and Works and Days, he makes no attempt to make his contempt and abhorrence of the female sex a secret. In Works and Days, Hesiod includes the story of Pandora – a woman created by the Greek gods meant as a punishment for the human race – in his discourse to his brother, Perses. The Theogony – through an account of the creation of the universe and the origins of all the gods – presents depictions of women as monstrous and wicked. The negative and misogynist views of women exhibited in Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days give insight into the similar views of women that existed in ancient
In Hesiod’s version, Zeus created Pandora as a punishment to man and illustrated her as an evil, deceitful and supposed curse on mankind, “Evil conspirators. And he added another evil to offset the good...she was a real pain for human beings” (Hesiod, 149-164) On the contrary women in Ovid’s tale were treated as companions who worked together for the greater good, as depicted by the myth of Pyrrha and Deucalion, “Then, side by side, they went without delay to seek the waters of Cephisus’ stream.” (Ovid, 17) Deucalion and Pyrrha are portrayed to be righteous and true devotes of the Olympian gods and hence given the responsibility of repopulating earth. Ovid demonstrates that the humans in this myth portray the role of a god, where they repopulate Earth with righteous humans, thus creating order in the universe again. He portrays their role as a vital component in this occurrence as without their diligence and morals—this act would not have been possible. Thus, establishing the human-centered concept of his
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.
While in Theogony it only describes the beauty, Athena gave her. I think Hesiod does this because in Theogony, he later explains how evil women is to men. In the description of the woman he wanted to show how different women would look from man, in Theogony he is telling the background stories so he must tell his reader how this woman looks like and emphasis more on her beauty and how that would capture a man. While, in Works and Days his speaking to his brother and he probably knows how that woman looks like and so he emphasizing more on how she was created evil, how the gods and goddess design her to be evil. In this poem, Hesiod tells us her name Pandora while in the other poem he does not. I think this is like this because in Theogony women is the embodiment of evil. She is more of a symbol, Theogony is meant to tell us how things came about and what things are. While in Works and Days the woman was design as someone who will ruin mankind not exactly classifying all women as being the evil but instead being descent of the one who ruin mankind. She was the tool made to unleash all the evils in the world. I think Hesiod did this because his explaining to his brother Prometheus reckless actions leads to the
Through Theogony and Works and Days, Hesiod expressed a hostility toward women that was endemic throughout Greek antiquity. His misogyny is best revealed through his story of Pandora, the creation of women. The very idea that women were created as an affliction for mankind proves that Hesiod looked down upon women with disdain. The depiction of Echidna as a beautiful woman and terrible beast represents his vision of the female race. His compassion for anti-feminist ethics and absolute distrust of women is present in both his books. His misogynistic random sucker-punches at the opposite sex were common belief in ancient Greece. "He who believes a woman, believes cheaters." His teachings of women were common belief in ancient Greece and his prejudices were completely misogynistic.
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.
Hesiod, a Greek Poet, describes Prometheus as a trickster because he outwitted Zeus by offering him a false sacrifice that included a choice between bones and meat. This angered Zeus so much that he decided he would not give the power of fire to the “Melian race of mortal men who live on the earth” (Hesiod, Card 545). According to Hesiod, Prometheus was able to outwit Zeus by stealing fire from Mount Olympus in a “hollow fennel stalk.” Hesiod’s telling of the myth doesn’t explain why Prometheus stole the fire but after analyzing later retellings it is evident that he did so to help the human race in their development as a civilization. Zeus made sure that both Prometheus and mankind would suffer for Prometheus’ decision to go against Zeus. For example, Zeus said, “You stole the fire and tricked me, happily, you, plague on all mankind and on yourself. They’ll pay for fire: I’ll give another gift to men, an evil thing for their delight” (Hesiod, Card 545). The “gift” that Zeus is referring to is Pandora, the first woman on Earth. Pandora unknowingly released famine, disease, and plague into the world when her curiosity got the better of her and she opened the box that Zeus gave her. Zeus also made sure to punish Prometheus directly by bounding him to a rock “with inextricable bonds and cruel chains” where an eagle would eat his immortal liver every day creating an eternal and
Mortal females cause struggles among men and are portrayed as wicked in Greek Mythology. In the story of How the World and Mankind Were Created, the Father of Men and of the Gods, Zeus, swears to get revenge upon mankind because of the poor sacrifices made to the altars. Therefore, he “[makes] a great evil for men, a sweet and lovely thing to look upon… they [call] her Pandora… the first woman… who are an evil to men, with a nature to do evil… is the source of all misfortu...
When you think of ancient Greece, you probably think of togas, polytheism, epic heros, and olives. But do you how women were treated or veiwed? There is quite a lot of evidence displayed throughout manyplays, epics and other documents. Oedipus the King and The Odyssey are two ancient Greek works of literature that exemplify their society perfectly. Ancient Greece was a patriarchial society where women were treated as objects and sex symbols and misogyny was often present.
Prometheus tried to warn his brother to not accept any gift from the Olympians. However, when Epimetheus saw Pandora he forgot about his brothers warning. Pandora’s beauty and charm made a quick effect to the titan. Pandora arrived to Epimetheus with a box. This box was given to her by the gods and it contained evils for mankind. Instead of Pandora, being the evil punishment it was the box she carried that encased all the evil. When Pandora opens the box all the evil spirits fly out and spread evil all throughout the world. According to Harris (2008), “Other versions of Pandora myth indicate that the jar she brings with her contained not evils but blessings”. However, Hesiod version of this story Pandora lets out miseries for mankind. Thus, Hesiod illustrates Pandora as being a malevolent person that causes turmoil. This myth is a way for Hesiod to warn his fellow man against women. The gods are Hesiod’s way to say negative aspects about women that can derive from his own personal
Walcot, P. “Greek Attitudes towards Women: The Mythological Evidence.” Greece & Rome 2nd ser. 31.1 (Apr., 1984): 37-47. Cambridge University Press on Behalf of The Classical Association Article Stable. Web.