The symposium as an evolution from the savagery of Warrior-type celebrations and clubs was drawn from the fact that it functioned similarly to its predecessor. It provided a basis for the more civilised use of a gathering area to exchange ideas, drink, be merry and socialise (Bremmer, 1990). This also provided room for the politics of Ancient Greece to ignite. In the exchange of ideas and the rituals of pouring and being served drinks, these actions had practical consequences for it fosters civility and the proposals of these ideas in a recreational setting. The intricacies of the rituals of pouring and serving wine by adolescent boys had an impact on their development into fully grown and functional members of Greek society. The concept of power in the symposium in the way the men seat and the position of the boys standing up also allowed the boys to observe and understand it. In another words, the element of learning for the young adolescent boys were fully incorporated in the rituals and rites observed and made in the symposium. The very act of preparing and pouring wine was observed and detailed in every moment will be explored in the concept of the educational element of the symposium. Also, in Theognis book Two, the mention of pederasty was very much a part of the relationship between the adolescent boys serving and listening to the men who congregate at the symposium for their leisurely yet almost serious activities. The concept of the youthful boy who was borne of aristocracy who needs to handle the ropes towards turning into a full-fledged man of society in Ancient Greece was very much entrenched in the existence of pederasty in the symposium. In this way, the Erastes chasing the Eromenos is a common theme in the pederast...
... middle of paper ...
...oroughly the educational element to the nature of pederastic relationships and the growth that adolescent boys could achieve political when they come of age.
Theognis' indication of the educational element of pederastic relations portrays an intrinsic knowledge of the steps for a boy to achieve a much more well-rounded education. Also, this educational element serves to enrich the boy in matters of the social and political aspects of attaining adulthood. The educational relationship between the erastes and the eromenos thus shows that back in Archaic Greece, pederasty was an important element in the growth of an aristocratic child into a fully functioning member of Ancient Greek society. Theognis' focus on pederastic relations also points towards the fact that women did not have the same privilege as men in cultivating a career and entitlement to an education.
185-196. Dillon, Mathew, and Garland, Lynda. Ancient Greece: Social and Historical Documents from Archaic Times to the Death of Socrates. Routledge International Thompson Publishing Company, 1994, pp. 179-215 Lefkowitz, Mary.
Cole's article is not to attack Aristotle on his views of where a woman should be placed within the social and political order, in accordance to the Classic Greek period. Her intrigue is within "surveying some central values of that particular social and political institution," (Sterba 79). At first she begins with Aristotle's view on gender and class in ethics. Making a definite point among the social/political class, ancient Greek women and slaves were only allowed their male citizens to think for them. Being dependent on men silences the women and slaves without a voice to speak out, for the women work while the men socialize with others, the men assume that the women do not need a voice. According to Aristotle, even a woman's virtue is to be subservient to all males. As a part of common life the woman is considered the pack horse and the mother to raise the children, for the men. With all the work that women put into their specific households, some education and training would mature from the experience. It was thought again by Aristotle within; Deliberation, Education, and Emancipation, that woman did not possess the aptitude for practical reasoning. For whomever possessed practical reasoning carried with them authority on their decisions and the action pending. From these three classic Greek examples of how women were considered mentally and treated physically, the author Cole provides a progressive outlook of how women could have gained social and political power in a society of male dominant figures.
The main themes in this book are war, power, heroism, love, loyalty and growth. We are given further insight into the classical Greek society as Alexas reminisces about his family life, his training as an athlete, the Olympic Games, his homosexual relationship with his mentor Lysis, and his encounters with Socrates the Philosopher. The main characters seem dogged by guilt, loneliness or failure, often the failure to love. The book ends on a triumphant note, with the Athenians defeating the Spartans, and liberating their city from the corrupt politicians.
There are two important matters that the "Funeral Oration of Pericles" proves, these two matters are, the great respect that Athenians have for their warrior class and how the Athenians were exceedingly proud of their city and its customs. The following paper discusses the way of life of Athenians and how the Funeral Oration of Pericles influenced it.
In Ancient Athens, marriage and the relationship between husband and wife formed the core structure of Greek society. In both Xenophon 's Oeconomicus and Lysias ' On the Murder of Eratosthenes, there is a profound emphasis on the separation of women from men and their role in maintaining an orderly household. Both also establish unambiguous and separate spheres of responsibilities for men and women. However, there exists a clear difference between equality of the relationships and communication between the spouses. While the couple in Oeconomicus engage in an egalitarian, pleasant, and understanding relationship, Euphiletus and his wife 's relationship is opaque, treacherous, and marked by hostility and sparse communication. In both households,
The book then talks about viewpoints of women, both real and those who face tragedy. Women during this time were very secluded and silent, but the heroines contradicted that. This chapter talks about the images of women in the classical literature in Athens, and the role they had in society. Many tragedies were ones that formed by mythes during the Bronze Age. It showed the separation in what made women heroic, rather than average. While viewing other Scholarly sourcese, Pomerory writes her own theory, she used others
Like I said before, Each man in the relationship had a different role “The older man was called the erastes or lover. Ideally, it was his duty to be the boy’s teacher and protector and serve as a model of courage, virtue, and wisdom..” and then there was the younger man “.. eromenos, whose attraction lay in his beauty, his youth, and his promise...
...ion back to the seasons and agriculture. Greeks were also very concerned about property rights and inheritance, as Hesiod shows us with his worries about the uncertainty of children’s paternity when women are not kept submissively in the home. Through his advice to his brother, Hesiod’s Works and Days becomes a wealth of information about the particulars of life in ancient Greece during the 7th and 8th centuries B.C.E.
of the book. USA: Simon and Schuster, Inc. 2000. The.. Print. The.. Blundell, Sue. Women in Ancient Greece.
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.
on in the Greek society, poor and rich students all went to school and all men
In Classical Greece, roles played by males and females in society were well-defined as well as very distinct from each other. Expectations to uphold these societal norms were strong, as a breakdown within the system could destroy the success of the oikos (the household) and the male’s reputation—two of the most important facets of Athenian life. The key to a thriving oikos and an unblemished reputation was a good wife who would efficiently and profitably run the household. It was the male’s role, however, to ensure excellent household management by molding a young woman into a good wife. Women were expected to enter the marriage as a symbolically empty vessel; in other words, a naïve, uneducated virgin of about 15 years who could be easily shaped by a husband twice her age. Through the instruction of her husband, the empty vessel would be filled with the necessary information to become a good wife who would maintain an orderly household and her husband’s reputation, thereby fulfilling the Athenian female gender role for citizen women.
Women in antiquity did not have an easy lot in life. They had few, if any, rights. Surviving early records of the civilizations of antiquity from ancient Greece, Egypt, China, and Rome suggest the diversity of women’s roles differed little from region to region. There were a few exceptions, mostly concerning women of nobility and the city-state of Sparta. Excluding the rare instances mentioned most antique women were generally limited on education, mobility, and almost all possibilities interfering with domestic or childbearing responsibilities. The limited social roles of women in antiquity suggest the perceived c...
ABSTRACT: As Michel Foucault describes it, the homosexual paideia in classical Greece was an erotic bonding between a boy who had to learn how to become a man, and a mature man who paid court to him. In many of his dialogues, Plato plays with this scheme: he retains the erotic atmosphere, but he inverts and purifies the whole process in the name of virtue and wisdom. In the Republic, however, Socrates' pupil forsakes this model in favor of a bisexual education for the shepherds and shepherdesses of the State. Aristotle resolutely opposes this move. He thus reverts to a kind of homosexual paideia for the future citizens of his ideal state, but this choice fosters many unspoken problems.
Ancient Greece developed the idea of school systems around mid seventh century B.C., one century after writing was introduced (Handbook: Greece 253), however, it was not until the Hellenistic age that these schools were founded or maintained by the city (Devambez 404). Before the Hell...