Women's Role In Ancient Greek History

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

Women were unable to own land property. They were only allowed to own small personal possessions. Women were not allowed to voice their opinions about public issues. Men were the only ones who could participate in political events. Women were only permitted to participate in festivals, religious events, weddings, and funerals. Women were given free time in which they were permitted to go visit a female friend only for a short period of time. All females were also not permitted to watch the Olympic Games because the contestants did not wear cloths. Chariot Racing was the only event that women were allowed to compete in. However, this was very rare because they had to own a horse. The only way women were able to attain any sort of power is when they became the wife of a prominent man. Women were socially inferior to men.

Women have played important roles throughout history. They have been responsible for the rise and fall of nations, sustaining families, and have been the focal point of worship in ancient religions. Moving forward in history, women's roles have continually changed. Their status as matriarchs changed as the more advanced ancient civilizations rose. The patriarchal societies of ancient Greece and Rome viewed women differently from some societies of past eras. The study of the economic and political status of women, their rights, and their contributions to both these ancient societies reveals how views change throughout history.

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.

A man could divorce his selected wife for any reason that he desired, though if the reason was other than adultery then the man was forced to give up one half of his property to his wife. Greek woman were possessions to society as well, they had limited freedom, but could not own any property because they were not considered citizens.

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?"

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.

Throughout history, most societies held women in an inferior status compared to that of men. This was often justified as being the natural result of biological differences between the sexes. In many societies, for example, people believed women to be more emotional and less decisive than men. Women were also viewed to be less intelligent and less creative by nature. However, research shows that women and men have the same range of emotional, intellectual, and creative characteristics. Many sociologists and anthropologists maintain that various cultures taught girls to behave according to negative stereotypes (images) of femininity, thus keeping alive the idea that women are naturally inferior.

In the world of Ancient Greece, a large array of deities were worshipped. Each god had their own forms of identification in which they used to express themselves. This includes things such as personality, style, sexuality, and many other things. One of these forms of expression was gender. The Greeks seemed to focus more on the two typical genders, which are male and female. Some Greek gods seemed to play into certain gender roles, but others portrayed traits of the opposite sex. In this paper, I will be analysing the possibility that the Greeks believed the female and male genders were closely connected and that is why many of the gods are described with blended aspects of gender.

1. Women in Ancient Greece Mention ancient Greece to a friend and they may think of democracy, the Olympic games or the Spartan army. However, men created many of the sources that tell us about these institutions and developments; men were also the intended audience (Scott, 2009). But the ancient Greeks still felt a female presence in many aspects of their culture, including female gods, characters in poetry and folklore, and of course in everyday life. Women in the city of Sparta were allowed to own land, and one of the Spartan kings’ sisters even entered a chariot team in the Olympic games of 396 and 392 BCE (Scott 38).

The role of women in Greek literature has demoralized them and showing them in a maligned light. The women are portrayed as frail, cruel, insensitive, or as seductresses. These characteristics have been integrated into today’s society and [have] built the standards and defined the moral outlook of women. However, in Greek mythology, powerful and strong women are not as well celebrated, such as Athena. Homer’s The Odyssey construes the positive and negative role of women through the epic poem. The women in the poem are depicted through the contrasting actions of Penelope and the maids, in addition with the opposite personalities between the goddess Athena and the nymph Calypso.

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.”

This investigation will attempt to answer the question what are the similarities and differences of the role of women in Athens and Sparta. The question is relevant because women’s roles have developed over time and knowing women’s history helps women’s rights to keep moving forward. The issues that will be addressed are the religious, job roles and the expectations of women in their society. Women of wealth and women of lower classes will be included. This investigation will focus on the time period of 600 BC to 300 BC and the places investigated will include Athens and Sparta. This will be accomplished through a thorough examination of academic journals, books and websites.

Women in ancient Greece still have an impact on us today. They were very similar to us women nowadays and at the same time very different. There wasn’t just one type of women in ancient Greece though. There were women who lived in Sparta, Athens, and many other city states, those are just the main city states. Each city state had different lifestyles and traditions, so women in one city state were different from another. Women in ancient Greece didn’t impact us in one way, they impacted us in many ways.