The Muses In The Theogony

Poet Sappho was born in early 615 B.C. to a grand, aristocratic family on the Greek island of Lesbos. Known as “the tenth Muse” by Plato (poets.org), Sappho had much influence on Greek culture during her time. She was devoted to her wealthy life to her academy for unmarried, young women. There she made a name for herself by serving as a teacher and poet to these young women. However, majority of Sappho’s poems seemed to be targeted towards the female community, but since little information is available today, the mystery still remains. “In the nineteenth century, Sappho’s poems were the inspiration for the coinage of the modern term lesbian (book, 635). Her poems depict a community were girls were intensely involved with one another, enjoying

There was immense variation in the roles of men and women in ancient Greece. Gender was treated very differently than it is today. While we may still have sexism that is very apparent in our modern day, it is nothing compared to how differently men and women were treated in their respective city states. In ancient Greece citizens were commonly divided up into classes which decided how they were to be treated. These classes defined their status in the world and structured their way of life into a hierarchy. This classification was not limited to just what family you were born into but also to your gender. Men were seen as the head of the household. Their main jobs were to engage in politics, provide for the family and, prove their masculinity. Women on the other hand has limited privileges. Their main concern was taking care of the family. These differing roles in gender continued throughout their whole entire lives. Starting in the early life and continuing into there marriages. This essay will delve deeper into the roles of each gender and explore the similarities and differences between women and men in ancient Greece.

In Greco-Roman Culture, humans imagine the deities of mythology to be and act certain ways, due to the needs they must fill. People invented certain deities for reasons that align with what they needed from them. To examine how a deity has a certain purpose, one must first examine what they are like. Athena and Ares are examples of deities invented for very specific purposes. One must first look at Athena and Ares’ similarities and differences in relation to their characteristics, their sexuality and physical appearances, as well as their different powers and how they are worshipped, to discover why they were created.

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.

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.

The ancient Greek world does not look favorably on women. Women are seen as docile, unintelligent, and domestic. Placed socially below men, they are locked into tending to household duties and to their children, and can not go out without a man. Women are not expected to be educated or participate in political discussion, with the exception of knowing just enough to be able to be entertaining at a dinner party and not embarrass her husband. Lacking in political and social rights, women do not have many chances to hold a political or social lime light, and are expected to stay in the background while the men took the forefront. However, there are a handful of texts in Greek literature that showcase the opposite, and put female lead

Women in the society of Ancient Greece were expected to be very emotional and nurturing to their children. They are also defined as very dependent and weak creatures. On the other hand, men in Ancient Greece were expected to be strong and intelligent.

In Sarah B. Pomeroy's influential monograph, Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity (1976), it is pointed out that in the past, when scholars have considered the quality of life for women in classical Athens, they have often subjectively selected the type of evidence to use for their argument. She argues that `optimists,' who are of the opinion that women enjoyed a comparatively liberated lifestyle, focus upon the prominent role that women play within art and drama. `Pessismists,' on the other hand, base their ideas upon Athenian laws and the writings of orators and moralists (Pomeroy: 1976; Just: 1989). The evidence that we have available regarding women `relate to different levels of reality' (Humphreys: 1983; Just: 1989), therefore the sources pertain to different aspects of women's lives and need to be pieced together to provide a clear picture.

The education of ancient Greece was different depending on where you lived. In Sparta, after the age of six, boys would learn how to read and write, but they only needed those skills to read and write messages. The boys and girls were taught how to fight and were beaten and abused when they cried or complained, sometimes even just out of the blue so that Sparta would have a powerful army. In Athens and all the other states, after the age of six, the boys went to school and were taught science, math, literature, music, politics, art and how to read and write. The girls however, would not go to school and were only taught how to read and write if their moms knew how to.

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

display the power and jobs of the goddesses. The Greek people lived to please the deities

Goddess, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Classical Women of Antiquity, written by Sarah B. Pomery, focuses on the main categories of women in the literature and society of ancient Greece and Roman over a time period of fifteen hundred years. Pomery focuses on these roles and how they are significant in the development and structure of these great ancient civilizations. Her goal in writing this book was to expand upon her first book, entitled Goddesses as she discusses in the Preface of this book. She wanted to include the significance of all women’s roles beyond just that of Olympian women because the first thesis was so well received.

In the excerpt Lysistrata written by Aristophanes, a flock of women gather in order to listen to Lysistrata’s speech of how to stop the war and bring peace back to Greece. “So very dainty because that the salvation of all Greece is actually in the hands of women” (76). In order for peace to be restored the women must work together. Lysistrata makes them feel useful and powerful by these statements, but she also forms doubt in their minds. “But what can women

Women’s rights movements have made incredible progress in recent times. Although there are many countries around the world where women are facing political and social unjustness, the social class of women in ancient Greece of 5th century BCE was solely grounded by patriarchal ideologies. The Greek playwright Euripides creates a persistent character Medea, in his classic tragedy Medea. Today, scholars study this relentless protagonist who has become an eternal and timeless symbol of femininity and womenfolk revolt. Whilst many themes such as passion, vengeance, and exile are present within Euripides’ Medea, the theme of women and femininity is critically manifested throughout the interactions of its central

Religion was a big thing in ancient Greece. It was personal but also present everywhere in Greece. The Greeks were polytheistic which means a belief in many gods. Each god that the Greeks believed in was in charge of an emotion or some piece of nature. The main gods lived in Mount Olympus. The main gods and goddesses were Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hestia, Demeter, Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares, and Hephaestus. Athens was named after the goddess Athena who is the goddess of war, arts, crafts, and wisdom. During this time goddesses were dominant so Greek woman had a big influence on religion. Since women were more soft spoken and had a higher voice than men they would whisper to the gods or sing softly to them. Women in ancient Greece were seen as oracles because of this.