Women have given birth to new generations for centuries and have the common stereotype of being caring and gentle. But in the creation myth, women were given to man as a punishment. In the book of collected Greek tales, " Mythology Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes", by Edith Hamilton, women take up important roles that shape each story. Although women are usually characterized as being helpful and motherly, Greek mythology, on the other hand, portrays them to cause distress, fear, and anxiety to numerous men. Women’s actions are shown to be influenced with jealousy and vengeance which gives them an evil nature. 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...
As a child, I was fascinated by Greek mythology and history, and I made it my business in elementary school to read as much as possible about the subject, including the outstanding stories and the pantheon of gods presented. I thought of them as fantastic, supernatural tales with fitful gods and brave heroes, and I never stopped to consider that the mythologies could be representative of the cultural views and habits of the Greeks, specifically regarding gender roles. One such representaton is Virgil's epic Aeneid, which contains depictions of women in positions of power, and also characterizes these women as irrational, emotional to the point of hysteria, and consequently, unfit rulers.
In the myths of the Centauromachy and the Amazonomachy, the Greeks found a manuscript for moral and disciplinary guidance in their dealings with the women of the time. By assigning the women of Greece hybris, Greek men targeted the women of Greece to intense programs of subjugation and social retribution in order to prevent the emergence of Centaurian or Amazonian traits, which would destroy the patriarchal nature of Archaic Greek culture. Generally, Greek myths tend to exemplify gender profiling as a way to polarize the sexes in order to maintain a stable and workable patriarchy. This is evidenced in the Centauromachy and Amazonomachy, which identify undesirable and inherent qualities in the women of Greece.
The women in The Odyssey are a fair representation of women in ancient Greek culture. In his work, Homer brings forth women of different prestige. First there are the goddesses, then Penelope, and lastly the servant girls. Each of the three factions forms an important part of The Odyssey and helps us look into what women were like in ancient Greece.
In Greek mythology, women are typically associated with everything natural and evil, such as passion, jealousy, anger etc… and in Classical Athens, society feared their union because they thought some sort of crazy ritual must be going on. Some of these characteristics are depicted in the Odyssey. In fact, the slaves are shown serving the suitors, obeying their commands to meet their needs (even sexually). Also, the beautiful nymph Calypso is a perfect example of how she seduces Odysseus, falls crazy in love with him and holds him prisoner for years. And, Circe transforms Odysseus’s
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.
Clytemnestra is one of Greek literature’s most famous villains while Aphrodite is seen as one of the most desirable women in literature. Greek Goddesses are celebrated for their manlike traits where as human females are thought to be undesirable for them. This relationship further proves that gods and goddesses are superior not only in power but also in social status. By comparing Aechylus’ Agamemnon with The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite we can see how in ancient Greece, literature taught women to be inferior by showing them consequences of female actions to keep women in their subordinate positions in society.
Myths reveal to us the experiences of women living in the patriarchal society and we gain the symbol value accorded to women and we came to realize what the term "Woman" meant to the ancient Greek man.
Women, without divinity, are inferior to men and succumb to the less prominent roles of an accessory or prize. Being goddesses, they are heroes and in many cases active protagonists and superior to both men and women mortals. The status of being divine is the only characteristic that undos the sexism women face in the Iliad. The dehumanizing of women and the praising of goddess from moral men contradict each
While this stereotype proved true that women like to feel safe, it was biased towards the fact that women are actually capable of so much more. In the photo to the right, the woman is trying desperately to lift a light weight, while the man beside her is lifting it with ease. Even though the weight should mean nothing to her, she can't seem to lift it in comparison to the man. It shows how stereotypes rule everyone's mind into thinking women are incapable of doing such menial tasks without someone's help. Similarly, in the myth Orpheus and Eurydice, Eurydice was unable to fend off her offender. She was chased by Aristaeus through a thick forest where "she cried out desperately for help, but there was no one near to hear" (Gibson 31). In the myth she runs blindly deeper into the forest where no one would hear her cries for help. In reality, she could run back in the direction of the village, rather than running farther away from help. In this way women are shown to be menial and completely inadequate to take care of themselves in myths. On that account, mythological worlds define women as incapable individuals who always need a man to help them through their day to day lives. Although Eurydice has a strong presence in the plot of the story, she is deduced as a pathetic and powerless character throughout the story. This misconception is
The Hymn to Demeter (HH 2) and Aeschylus’s trilogy, Oresteia, portray the ancient Greek view that female character and behavior pose a danger to men and that women need to be controlled by them. This notion manifests differently in respect to gods and humans. Clytemnestra, a human, violates gender roles as she threatens the order brought by men while Demeter, a goddess, conforms to them.
Ancient Greek men trained in the military, if not, they watched dramas, and comedies in the Theatre. The shows often included the politics, and the gods. Women weren't allowed to go to the Theatre, or even be in it. So, the men played the women's role. The life of a woman in Ancient Greece was to do devoted work at home. They weren't included in the public life, or even politics. Women normally stayed in the house, but they can do one public job. That is, to act like a priestess in the temple. Kids, used their time to play with games, or toys. Greek boys, had fun by playing games like hockey. The games they played weren't in the Olympics. They normally played their games naked, so that the girls wouldn't watch. Ancient Greek females, usually
Throughout Greek literature it is strongly apparent how women are inferior to men but through Hera, Jocasta, and Antigone it is shown how women can have their own character development and be strong enough to try to defy their own fate. All three of these women showed defiance to powers supposedly greater to their own whether it be a king, a prophecy, or even the leader of the gods Zeus himself. The stories even go as far as to show how much everything falls apart once they are gone as in the case of Jocasta and Antigone. This goes to show that women not only can be seen as a driving force in their society but can even lead to the destruction of the people around them if they were to disappear.
Besides the physical differences, men and women have always been viewed differently according to society. In both the early preconceptions of women in early Greek myth, in particular, Pandora’s Box; and in the idea that women are not only demons, but more often the victims; reveals how women are perceived negatively as evil and dimwitted in both situations.
However, it is because of their life-giving abilities that their presences in these tales are assured to be ripe with metaphor and symbolism. This is what separates heroines from the heroes; the life-giving ability of females grants them a symbolic power that no man can truly attain. Represented as innately feminine, but also as mothers and protectors, women of the underworld have places in myth that are rich with meaning, both to the societies that worshipped them and to those that study them now.
Mythology was very important to the men and women of ancient Greece. They worshipped the gods and goddesses, wrote poems about them, and based a great deal of art work off of them. The people of Greece looked to the gods and goddesses for help in all aspects of their lives; including health, agriculture, and war. Reading about Greek mythology can inform people about the society of Greece itself because the Greek gods were created by the people of Greece. Three main goddesses who were worshipped by the Greeks were Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. These three goddesses represent three different types of women in Greek society. Sarah Pomeroy, author of Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves, believed that “the goddesses are archetypal images of human females, as envisioned by males” (8). Pomeroy understands the significance in the differences between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, and what those differences meant for the women of Greece who were required to follow three important rules. The first rule was for the women to live a life of domesticity and motherhood. This was very important to the men in the society. The women were the only ones able to bear children. Also, if they were forced to stay in the house, men could keep a greater control on their wives, and not have to worry about them having affairs. The second important trait was virginity until marriage. Its importance to the Greek culture lied in the fear of a woman’s power. The men of the society felt it best that a woman remained a virgin until she was married; however this same attribute was not required of a man. Their belief can be explained by this quote written by P. Walcot in the article “Greek Attitudes Towards Women: The Mythological Evidence”: “The Greeks believed women...