Essay On Ancient Greek Goddesses

For this reason women in ancient Greece seemed inferior socially. But the women were isolated in their homes and did not mix in the society of men. What the men thought may not have been that important to the women.

Throughout ancient human history, men and women held vastly different roles. Women were often given the duty of bearing and raising children, whereas men were expected to fight, provide an income, and protect the household. Women were seen as totally inferior to men and described by Euripedes as “a curse to mankind” and “a plague worse than fire or any viper.” However, this misogynistic view of women and designated role of inferiority was not apparent in every ancient civilization. The role of the female in ancient Greek history can best be explored and contrasted between two important civilizations: The Spartans and the Athenians. The Spartan women were incredibly advanced for their time, and the Athenian women were drastically far behind. Both the Spartan and Athenian women held roles at home and lived lives far removed from the men of their societies. However, their lives were much different. While the Spartan women were strong and educated, the Athenian women held a status almost equal to slavery. The Spartan women were far more advanced than Athenians in aspects of life including education, athleticism, and independence.

The religious beliefs of ancient Greece civilizations may have been why ancient Greek women were allowed more freedom and privileges in their roles in their society. The religion of Ancient Greece was Mythology. Unlike other religions of ancient times in which the leaders or gods were typically men, in Greek Mythology there were gods but goddesses as well.

Stemming from a desired standpoint, Aphrodite, a gorgeous, perpetual young woman with a beautiful body is known as the goddess of love and beauty. Graciously assisting men charm their desired spouse with love enchantments, Aphrodite herself was no stranger to divine lovers as she held various relationships with both gods and mortals. Yet, despite her dynamic desirability and mixed personality, Aphrodite had to overcome her weak and frightful self (http://www.greek-gods.info/greek-gods/aphrodite/) due to her jealousy. Even though it was thought that she was born the daughter of Zeus and Dione, it was more frequently believed that she was born of the foam in the sea off of island Cyprus. Later on, Aphrodite went to marry lame smith Hephaestus, Olympian god of Iron, but was quietly acquiring a private affair with Ares, god of War.

Because the Greek culture and places a large emphasis on heritage and history, including women with essential positions in creation myths, allowed them to prove their free and powerful status in Greek mythology. One essential character

Women in Athens lived in a society dominated by men. They had very few rights and essentially, there was nothing equal about it. The education of Athenian women was to say the least, lacking. Unlike men, they weren’t taught in school by actual teachers. They were taught at home by their mothers or tutors of some sort. Much of their education focused on household skills and many men viewed women as being inferior. Women were held back from participating in the sports that were ever so popular with the men.

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.

The Greek and Roman societies were a very patriarchal society. This is reflected throughout the myths in classical mythology. By looking at the many pieces of literature involving Greeks and Romans we will see that the roles women portrayed are very different from women’s roles in today’s society. Although there are a few similarities to women’s roles in today’s society, their roles are more like those women in the past. We can see this by looking at the qualities of Greek and Roman female gods and looking at the roles women play in the myths.

Greek Woman was considered to be submissive which means once you are married to a woman, then she is in your full control. The woman in ancient was not allowed to own the property, in one way we can also relate that the woman had fewer rights than the man because they could hardly express their feeling. The woman was not considered as the citizens.

In Athens, there was a lot of opportunity for a male. An Athenian male could become a scholar, poet, politician, or pretty much anything they wanted; but females on the other hand, didn 't have that power. Men was under the understanding that females were incapable of making reasonable decisions in the political world. The idea of gender equality was non-existent in the Athens society. As said by Historian Don Nardo “throughout antiquity most Greek women had few or no civil rights and many enjoyed little freedom of choice or mobility.” He also stated “aside from poetry, women’s writing survives only in private letters written on papyrus preserved by ancient of nature, only from Hellenistic and Roman Egypt.” (O’Pry 2012) Women in the Athens society that were in an upper class were

   Ancient Greek society treated women as secondary citizens. Restrictions were placed on the social and domestic actions of many aristocratic women in ancient Athens.  The women depicted in Homer's Odyssey, on the other hand, are the ideal.  Penelope, Clytaemestra, Athena, and Helen are all women with exceptional liberty and power.

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

The role of women in ancient Greek life was insignificant compared to that of Greek men. A woman's job was to take care of the children and to cook and clean unless she had servants or slaves that would do it for her. Yet, in Greek mythology, women were often written as major characters. Well-known Greek plays contain many well-written, complex, female characters. Female individuals in Greek mythology were often seen as very powerful and fierce and were depicted by “her wits, her beauty, or her bad deeds.”

They were unable to vote and inherit their own land, unlike the women of Sparta. But as a whole, women were still like property. Wives were submissive to their husbands, like how Andromache is to Hector. Greek women of the ancient world had a purpose, and it was the purpose of rearing children.

Aphrodite, the irresistible goddess of beauty, was the daughter of Zeus and Dione. She was said to may also have risen from the foam of the sea of Cyprus, where she was then brought to the gods. She trailed behind beauty and aesthetics, for no loveliness nor joy would exist without her.