Amazon The Histories Summary

16). Homer told stories and history traveling across the country and followed a mythopoetic tradition, but nothing was recorded (Hoefferle, p. 16-17). The revolutionary shift came from the emergence of historians who criticized Homer’s lack of applied rationalist methods to the study of their past (Hoefferle, p. 16). Herodotus was the first to break away from that tradition and “attempted to study the world through observable evidence” ( Hoefferle, p. 17) Herodotus’ thinking was very different and intuitive for the time period.

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 article “No women no war” was written by Pasi Loman , a post graduate student from university of Nottingham. Loman discusses about the role of Greek women in defending their cities and communities. The author attempts to clarify the assumptions made by modern scholars or authors that women did not play a part in foreign military campaigns i.e. war. Loman discusses about Greek women and their views, emotion and reaction based on warfare, the impossible existence of amazons.

Gender inequality has been a controversial topic for numerous religions and cultures throughout history. Women were commonly regarded as the subservient gender, an idea that was no different in Ancient Greece. Throughout Greek mythology, women were considered inferior and troublesome symbols, while men were known for courage, leadership, and strength. While there is no argument of the flagrant sexism that is illustrated in Greek mythology, it can also be claimed that women were given a situated position of freedom, necessity, and power as well. Many popular Greek plays and myths contain several complexes and well described female characters. These goddesses themselves, partook the role of victim, heroine, and villain as it illustrated the diversity of characters in which women were portrayed and seen in both Ancient Greek society and mythology, allowing us to question “Were the women of Ancient Greek mythology equally represented as free and superior?” The creation of the Greek mythological universe, the creation of multi-gendered goddesses or deities, and the free and superior personalities accredited to women in Ancient Greek mythology to answer the question that women were fairly represented as powerful in Ancient Greek mythology.

For this informative report I will attempt to point out the roles women and how they are viewed in ancient Greece. I will then show how these views are present in Homer’s "The Odyssey." How are women, goddess or mortal, conveyed in "The Odyssey?"

The ancient Greeks are known for many things, and one of them is their stories. Whether they are told through epic poetry or drama, these tales have lasted throughout the times. However, as the times change, so did the Greek ideals about heroism and society. In this essay I will be using Homer’s Iliad and Aeschylus’ Persians to illustrate the differences in society and how they affect the heroism in the literature of later periods. The Persian people are depicted in ways that makes them appear weaker than the Greeks, but time changed how this was achieved. Due to a change in the values of Greek society, the Persians were portrayed as weak with the same traits that made Achilles appear to be so strong.

In ancient Greece, it was crucial that men proved their masculinity in order to uphold their worth and earn them a place in social establishments. An important aspect of human life is a man’s masculine identity and how it plays a role in society. However with this idea of masculinity came limitations that were not to be crossed. Ancient Greek epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, both function to provide their own view on masculinity in society through the reverse sex similes. In the Iliad the crucial role of Achilles as a warrior and his association with maternal protection, as represented through it’s reverse sex maternal similes, ultimately proves problematic. This intrinsic part of man to fight on the battlefield to win timê and kleos is ultimately

            Before comparing the women of the Odyssey to those of Athens, it is beneficial to take a look into the lives of the latter.  A respected woman was to have characteristics including obedience, virtue, refinement, productivity, honor, beauty, talent and intelligence (social consciousness).  Sarah B. Pomeroy has studied this aspect of ancient life and

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.

The Amazons, a tribe of enigmatic warrior women of ancient Greek myth who are said to have lived in what was then Scythia and Sarmatia, which is now considered Eastern Europe and Central Russia. Achilles and Heracles both battled against these Amazons. Each noting their explicable warfare strategy and ability. But who exactly were these bow-wielding, horse riding women warriors of the Eurasian steppes? In this book, Mayor uses a wide variety of sources, ranging from a wide variety of different fields of study, to attempt to shed some light on this inscrutable society. Mayor uses some fairly new, yet certainly ground-breaking recent discoveries in the field of Archaeology to create a base for her argument. Giving numerous examples of women, some in their teens, being given the burial of a warrior.

The Amazons were a group of warrior women who fought many of the great Greek heroes. They consistently went against what was considered the normal female role and led lives like their male counterparts. Unlike some myths in Greek mythology, the myths that involve the Amazons are spread out over time and often have multiple variations of one myth. Myths involving the Amazons even sometimes have versions of the same myth with different Amazon warriors, making it difficult to understand what Amazon women is associated with the certain myth. Throughout Greek mythology, the Amazons were portrayed as fierce warriors and this carries over into today’s society.

Women in ancient Greece had very few rights in comparison to male citizens. Women were unable to vote, own property, or inherit wealth. A woman’s place was in the home and her purpose in life was to rear children. Considering this limited role in society, we see a diverse cast of female characters in Greek mythology. We are presented with women that are powerful and warlike, or sexualized, submissive and emotionally unstable. In many myths, we encounter subversive behavior from women, suggesting, perhaps, the possibility of female empowerment. While produced in an ostensibly misogynistic and oppressive society, these myths consider the possibility for a collapse of male power and the patriarchal system. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey,

Despite Athenian and Spartans being associates of the same influential nation, these two states or ‘Peloi’ and denominations of people in Ancient Greece in (400BC) were substantially different. The women in their own distinct societies endured several problematic issues and experienced inequity, demoralisation and condemnation. The notion of women and their purpose was typically conjectured by men in society, specifically Aristotle who claimed that women brought ‘disorder, were evil, were utterly useless and caused more confusion than the enemy’ . However despite misogynistic, biased and loathsome perspectives of women, both Athenian and Spartan women have all played exceedingly significant roles and contributed substantially to the prosperity of Ancient Greek society in their own inimitable ways.

Since the Neolithic Age, gender specific roles were put into place. Men held all the occupations that required constant intellectual power and muscles, while women did all the laissez-faire work that would not put their lives in jeopardy. Men were perceived to be better than woman in every aspect of life in the beginning ages of the world, and even today in the 21st Century. This long going battle of the sexes is seen all throughout history, and illustrated in many forms of literature. “The Myth of Atalanta” is an insightful tale that has been around since the ancient times of Greeks and Romans with a clear message of gender issues. The story illustrates the message through the character’s actions, significant events, and the use of symbolism.

People today are not the only ones who have been fascinated with the Amazons. The Amazons were immensely popular with the Greeks and