In today’s world, women for the most part have equal opportunity as men. Whether they elect to stay at home and raise a family, be the primary source of income for their household and have a career, or be independent and provide solely for themselves, American women get to decide their own destiny. The attitudes towards women and their role in society have evolved significantly since the days of ancient Greece, where most women were submissive and treated as objects. This societal change is due largely in part to feminist attitudes and ambition. These attitudes were evident as early as ancient Greek times in certain works of literature. Modern feminist ideas were not commonly shared among women in ancient Greece. However, works such as Aristophanes’ Lysistrata and Euripides’ Medea both exhibit the concept of protofeminism through their use of empowering characters, thus challenging the idea and attitude of women playing a submissive role in ancient Greek culture. …show more content…
Women were viewed as simply a caregiver, and it was their duty to bear children while being bound to their homes. Although marriage and a woman’s spouse was arguably the most important aspect of their life, women had no say in whom it was that they were married to. This same trend is common in most of the other important decisions in a woman’s life during this time period. Women had no authority whatsoever and played a very demeaning role as opposed to their male counterparts. Men in ancient Greece were superior figures and had power over almost every societal aspect such as politics and property. Due to the fact in this time period, women were constantly objectified by men, the thought of women displaying feminist attitudes by being independent or taking charge would strongly challenge the attitude of women having a submissive role in ancient
Modern visuals of female empowerment are a normal element throughout many cultures in current society. Female politicians, CEO’s, and educators are everywhere in modern culture and are often portrayed in literature and film. The patriarchal society in ancient Athenian time relegated the role of women as homemaker, subjected to the whim of the men around them. The female leads found in Madea and Lysistrata are steeped in the male dominated culture Euripides and Aristophanes wrote in. Main point One.
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. Intriguingly enough, despite the customary submissive role, women had a more multifaceted role and image in society as juxtaposed with the rather simple role men played. Morals for the two were also different. Men obviously had the upper hand with women being the traditional passive.
In the two great Greek theater plays, Euripides’ Medea and Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Jocasta and Medea are two important female characters that both have similarities and differences, but Medea is the stronger character both physically and emotionally. Medea and Jocasta both are extremely important in their stories and for the outcomes of their stories. They are two women that have power in male dominated societies.
Proper women of ancient Greece where troubled with not having a voice and hardly having any rights even when they were able to become citizens. In Homeric society, women were seen as a necessary evil that men had to deal with. Though Women in the Archaic Age gained the ability to gain property and citizenship. Taking care of the house while teaching the children and directing the servants was all in the days work for a woman throughout both Homeric and classical Greece. Religious events were a popular thing to go to because they were not allowed to do much else in this time.
It is clear that men dominated in the Greek culture. “Women were expected to be faithful to their husbands, but the reverse was not the case as husbands could freely engage the services of prostitutes, live-in lovers, and courtesans” (Cartwright n.pag.). This issue can be perceived in The Odyssey. For example, Odysseus expected Penelope’s fidelity but his unfaithfulness to her is not an issue. Although he was gone for a long time and his real intention was to return to Penelope, his unfaithfulness cannot be ignored. During this time frame it was acceptable for the man to be unfaithful, but a woman could not do the same. Lynn Peppas states that for women in Greece, “It was her job to raise children, spin wool and flax, and weave it into bedding and clothes. She had to manage servants or slaves and care for them when they were ill” ("Daily Life in Greece,” n.pag). It is also made seen that women were expected not to intervene on anything regarding their life. The male had all the decisions in regards to the woman. Women had little say to anything. An instance where this is portrayed is when Telemachus states to Penelope, “You should go back upstairs and take care of your work, / Spinning and weaving, and have the maids to theirs. / Speaking is for men, for all men, but for me / Especially, since I am the master of this house” (376-379). In this statement Telemachus is being clear that a woman cannot make any decisions and only a male can.
Ever hear about the time a woman ended a war? Or how it was ended by the restriction of sex to their male counterparts? Sure it did not happen in reality, but Greek playwright Aristophanes makes this falsity a plausible reality. Set during a break in the Peloponnesian War, Lysistrata tells the tale of a woman who convinced her fellow female citizens of Athens and those from other poleis that they could end the war through restricting sexual intercourse with their husbands, who just so happened to come home from the battlefield. Filled with crude phallic jokes, cross-dressing, and painful erections, the play Lysistrata by Aristophanes gives a comedic and somewhat accurate interpretation of the daily lives of women during the Classical Period in Ancient Greece. I intend to argue that Lysistrata provides an almost authentic representation of elite Athenian and non-Athenian women in the Classical Period by its specific characterization of the young and elderly roles, the portrayal of sexual control females had over their own bodies in comparison to men, and the projection of females outside of their domestic sphere.
Aristophanes is thought to have been born between 447 and 445 BC in Athens, during a period in which Athens had cultural and political dominance in Greece. In Athens during the year 411, the disapproval of the war by wealthy citizens led to the destruction of the democracy and the creation of an oligarchy. Aristophanes wrote Lysistrata during this time of political strife. Lysistrata is a play about a Lysistrata, an Athenian matron, that asks all the women of Greece to refrain from having sex with their husbands until the men sign a peace treaty to end the Peloponnesian war. The women’s power and leadership displayed in the play was in direct contrast with the legitimate role of women in Ancient Greece. Lysistrata shows women of strength, power, and determination. Although, Aristophanes occasionally presents the women in a stereotypical manner, his positive portrayals of women overwhelms this, whereas the men in his play are never shown in a favorable fashion. Regardless of Aristophanes's intent, I argue that the ancient Greek play, Lysistrata, empowers women even to this day.
In ancient Greece, women had little to no power and were under the control of men their entire lives. Euripides’, Medea, tells the story of a woman, Medea, betrayed by her husband and how her feelings of jealousy and revenge overpower her actions. Medea suggests that women should not see themselves in stereotypical constructed roles and responsibilities. The literary critic, Andrew Messing, argues in his work, “Protofeminist or Misogynist?,” that Euripides wrote Medea in anticipation for modern feminist concepts and that Jason represents the sexism in Greek Society. Many women feel dominated by men, but rather than accepting this as their fate, they should assert their power.
In Euripides’ play, Medea, the storyline introduces the audience to a bold feminist character and confronts the central ideas of femininity in Greek culture. Throughout the play, Medea transforms from the typical emotionally weak character that women usually portray, to a strong-willed manipulator that is capable of violence. As Medea relentlessly pursues her ambitions, her character defies the typical typecast behavior of a female and approaches her desire for revenge as a male protagonist would. As a result, Euripides’ Medea presents as a feminist text – one that portrays the female character as a tragic heroine in the tradition of the Greek male warrior. However, this portrayal does not depict an elegant or noble view of feminism, but one that describes it as evil and immoral.
Women’s role in Greece can be seen when one first begins to do research on the subject. The subject of women in Greece is coupled with the subject of slaves. This is the earliest classification of women in Greek society. Although women were treated differently from city to city the basic premise of that treatment never changed. Women were only useful for establishing a bloodline that could carry on the family name and give the proper last rites to the husband. However, women did form life long bonds with their husbands and found love in arranged marriages. Women in Athenian Society Women are “defined as near slaves, or as perpetual minors” in Athenian society (The Greek World, pg. 200). For women life didn’t
Why on earth do men think we’re smart and cunning and capable of anything and everything?” To the modern reader, Aristophanes disempowers women because the comedy suggests that the only power women hold is their sexual identity when they present themselves as the idealized women. Although Lysistrata is a woman, she devises a plan that exploits women as sexual objects, “I’ve discovered that the salvation of the whole of Greece depends upon us, upon our tits and clits!” Her plan insinuates that the only way for women to help in government is by promoting their sexuality, not their creativity, intellect, leadership, etc. While Lysistrata explains the wool metaphor, she switches from talking about women to what men should do to properly run Athens.
In most Greek tragedy, it is clear that females are not vital in society. Women are rather a necessity for the birth of new citizens and seen as just the vessels for carrying children. Greek cultural values depict women as subservient to men given no chance or opportunities to participate in society. The female is not considered to be part of Greek democracy because she is perceived to be dishonest and frankly her entire life is then masked by the masculinities that this society tends to favor. Thus, it is important to note the frustrations this belittling of expression brings upon females in these tragedies. In Euripides’s Medea, we can observe the fascination of women and the effects being subordinate to their male counterparts has in
Classical Greece governed itself with a democracy. Legislations and leaders were determined by a vote put up by its citizens. Women were considered citizens but did not hold the right to participate in this democracy. Athenian women were completely secluded from public life and her “place was in the
The role of women in Greek society is a major theme in Medea by Euripides. In ancient Greek society, according to men, women are submissive and frail. Women’s social status is also considered to be very inferior. Feminism is considered the theory of men being treated very differently than women and the male dominance over women in society. Medea is someone who wonders about the differences between the treatment of men and women.
The societies presented in Medea and The Tempest orchestrate women to fulfil domestic, submissive roles, regardless of the difference in setting. Euripides’ Medea is set in a patriarchal society, where women have minimal rights and are expected to follow their husbands. Medea, a foreign woman who “knows from bitter loss what it means to have once had a homeland” (Euripides, n.d. :2) has not been raised in Greek society but is nonetheless expected to follow rules of behaviour. 5th Century Ancient Greek men were dominant yet fearful of powerful women (Vasillopulos, 2014: 42).