Essay 'The Golden Ass'

Over the course of time, the roles of men and women have changed dramatically. As women have increasingly gained more social recognition, they have also earned more significant roles in society. This change is clearly reflected in many works of literature, one of the most representative of which is Plautus's 191 B.C. drama Pseudolus, in which we meet the prostitute Phoenicium. Although the motivation behind nearly every action in the play, she is glimpsed only briefly, never speaks directly, and earns little respect from the male characters surrounding her, a situation that roughly parallels a woman's role in Roman society of that

“Behind every man, there is a woman.” As seen throughout history, society has dumped women into a lower “rank.” Women have been seen as much less significant and less important as pertaining to men. This idea of society’s own patriarchal illustration can be seen in William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, in which Julius Caesar’s wife, Calphurnia, is left widely unnoticed and highly insignificant although she holds an image that is really quite important.

Oxford University Press, 1995. Pomeroy, Sarah B. Women’s Identity and the Family in the Classical Polis. na, 1995. IV,VII. “Women’s Life in Greece and Rome”, compiled and translated by A.G. Hug.

Despite being written in a period of time in which women were considered “Third class” citizens, and being considered expendable, the portrayal of women in ancient Greek literature is consistently rebutting societal norms through the roles of intelligent mortal women such Penelope from the Odyssey, or Antigone from the aptly named “Antigone”. These women, whose intelligence and blatant bull-headed stubbornness is displayed rather early in these stories, both rebuke the societal norms explained by the stories, and consistently proves that women are not just ancillary characters literature, and are capable of besting their male cohorts in challenges of wit and loyalty.

In this paper I will be discussing how both males and females were portrayed in the book The Odyssey. While reading the story I was not surprised to see that men were treated as being superior to women. First I will discuss the roles of Odysseus and Telemachus as strong male roles throughout the story. Secondly I will discuss the role of Penelope and the goddess Athena. I will provide examples showing how males were seen as superior to women. I will do my best to paint a picture of how a model Greek male and female would of behaved during this time. If there were any instances where either a male or female violated the rules of behavior according to those times, I will discuss the situation that caused them to act differently. Lastly I will

The title of Sarah B. Pomeroy's book on women in antiquity is a summary of the main categories of females in the literary imagination and the societies of ancient Greece and Rome, over a period of fifteen hundred years. Beginning with goddesses, Pomery retells some Greek myths, outlining the social functions of female Olympians – the goddesses are archetypical images of human females, as envisioned by males. Desirable characteristics among a number of females rather than their concentration in one being are appropriate to a patriarchal society. Demosthenes states in the fourth century B.C. this ideal among mortal men, "We have mistresses for our enjoyment, concubines to serve our person and wives for the bearing of legitimate children (Pomery 1995)." Pomery’s goal in writing this book was to detail and outline the true significance of women in all other their roles in antiquity.

Since ancient times, though occupying an entirely different position in a society dominated by men, the female gender still holds and exerts a certain sphere of influence and power. This sphere of power is commonly underestimated and belittled, and yet feared and suppressed by the very same men who refuse to acknowledge it’s power and influence. Feminine sexuality is frowned upon by men because it is the one of the most powerful aspects granted to women, but even through suppression, their influence upon men is unavoidable. Men fear what they do not understand and despise what they cannot conquer. This existence and exercising of female power is explored in the Greek Epic, The Odyssey, in which Homer recounts the famous trials of the Greek

Let me start by saying that I feel the proliferation of media and devices, particularly social media, make ALL information available to EVERY person across the globe 24/7. This being said, the availability of an uninformed jury pool is virtually impossible. In today’s society, everyone has information, therefore to assume that any perspective juror is unaware of at least the basics of every meaningful crime in their local, state and national scene is naïve at best. The best a defendant and defense attorney can hope for is that the jurors will put aside any preconceived notions of the guilt or innocence of the accused, follow the jury instructions, and render an unbiased verdict. Do I feel that this happens…NO. Jurors lie, attorneys and judges

Throughout Virgil 's The Aeneid, Aeneas conflicts between pietas and furor, in which several female characters influence his transition into the Roman leader whose virtue seeks duty towards the gods, family, and empire. In this epic, major woman roles such as Dido and Juno demonstrate raging qualities of furor that clash with Aeneas’ founding of Rome. These foil characters ravage Aeneas’ identity throughout his journey, and underline the misogynistic cultural views of Virgil’s era. However, this paper will reflect not the general representation of a cynical outlook on women, but will demonstrate how minor characters, Creusa and Lavinia, serve as the women who define and guide Aeneas ' masculinity and direct him towards Rome by ensuring his pietas. Creusa and Lavinia play a vital role in embodying the concept of Roman masculinity through the performance of their ethnicities and gender. Ethnicity and gender will be used to describe them as allies of the Roman empire through their share of culture, lineage, and the set of cultural expectations applied to their biological roles. Aeneas’ two wives are at the counter ends of his mission. Thus, their identities are constructed as complements to support the opportunity of ethnic unity in Rome. Creusa and Lavinia help Aeneas understand how his relative power relates to him and his community by demonstrating the positive effects of cost and human suffering that further establishes achievements. Therefore, they elucidate how the order

3.1 Validity of Available Evidence Academic study of everyday women in the polis of ancient Athens is a relatively new subdiscipline of classics. Extant evidence is both literary and archaeological. Women pervade every genre of classical literature, but their voice is absent from the record. Many male authors present either their own idealised or misogynistic views, distorting the information perceived about women, whether mortal or immortal (Pomeroy 1975:x). Furthermore, most of the women recorded in the literature of antiquity represent or are associated with the elite groups of society making it harder to extrapolate about the lives of ordinary women.

Euripides’ play Medea, tells the story of a young girl from a faraway land who lost everything because she sacrificed for a man who eventually left her. Medea gives modern audiences a peek into the society that Euripides lived. Specifically, Medea reveals that this society imposed patriarchal power that rendered women powerless in their choices, exhibited misogyny that characterized women negatively, and relied on xenophobic racism that cast those from the far east as inferior “other”. In part, the play reveals the workings of patriarchal power. Medea’s initial lack of power has to do with her youth and status as a girl.

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.

Classic Greek literary works go back further in time than the invention of modern history, therefore such works can provide valuable insight into the way of life and beliefs of ancient peoples. The cultural attitude towards gender norms held by the ancient Greeks can be inferred from the portrayal of gender by characters in classic works. However, individual literary works do not necessarily represent the widespread view of gender and gender roles because the works may be biased by the author’s personal opinions. Therefore, analysis of a variety of literary works that span through time is necessary to gather a collective representation of the cultural norms practiced in ancient Greece. Based on the representation and treatment of women by male

As Bernard Knox and others have shown, she also is a woman whose behavior and motivation are cast in a male rather than a female mode and follow the male heroic code of honor and revenge. Medea thus comes to embody the problem of defining the nature of woman; and the female chorus is left just as puzzled as the everyone else.

Barry Strauss, professor of classics at Cornell University attempts to redefine a one of history’s biggest love affairs, the Trojan War. Strauss explains how certain events and characters from Homers “The Odyssey” might have actually existed, but also uses modern discoveries from the Bronze Age to compare Homers account to those of Egypt, the Middle East, and etc. While Homer’s epic should not be read as a historical document which recounts the Trojan War hundred percent accurately, it can still be seen as document which embodies some historical truth. The novel as a whole explains the customs, economic standing, fighting styles and beliefs of the Greeks. Strauss’s writing style allows for the book to be accessible to both students and historians. He argues that just like Franz Ferdinand was the spark which ignited World War 1, Helen on the other hand was just a spark which escalated an existing tension between the Greeks and Trojans. Strauss’s personal input on the war itself gives the novel a different outlook on the Trojan War because, it allows for readers to see beyond the facts and make connections with ideas that Strauss had made with recent discoveries and Homers epic.