...Women in the Ancient World From the very beginning of time, women have played a very significant role in development and advancement of life, serving as the companion for men as well as procreating with them to ensure the world would be inhabited and settled. In present-day society, we view women as essential to everyday life. Society sees and treats women as intelligent individuals who are equally efficient for most of the same work and intellectual skills as men. In most cases, we believe that women and men are equal, as women are able to legally run for and hold government offices, perform physical labor, work in medical professions, and basically anything they desire so long as, like anyone else, they attain the required certifications, education, etc. However, this outlook on women’s roles and abilities was not always shared among the social order. Throughout history, women’s roles in society, economy, government and culture have evolved and shifted dramatically. Throughout each culture and society in the ancient world, we find differences in the way women were treated, the responsibilities expected of them, and their learned place in the social order. Women featured in Homer’s The Iliad were some of some earliest examples of women being viewed with poor outlooks in the eyes of men in Greek culture. David Harvey claims that Aristotle had no doubt that women were inferior in this particular society (Harvey, 46). They were mainly viewed as prizes throughout Homer’s...
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...Zeph Geyer Ancient World History Rough Draft 11/8/2014 In most civilizations in the ancient world, there were vast differences between the lives of men and women. For example, women could not serve in the Roman Senate, own property in ancient Greece, or ask for divorce. All of these rules existed while men had the ability to do all of these things. The life of a woman in the ancient world was in no way equal to men in most societies. The Egyptians believed that joy and happiness were of the utmost importance in life, and regarded the home and family as a major source of happiness. This meant that the Egyptian’s thought better of women who did not work, and took care of the home and family. All other ancient civilizations had one thing in common. Mesopotamia, Rome, Greece, and Israel were all surrounded by other sets of people. This meant that these other civilizations had to be warlike societies, and this meant women would have less of a role because men believed women could not fight as well in battle. Egypt developed under unique circumstances. The Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea separated the Egyptians from everyone else in the ancient world. In other words, the Egyptians did not have a warlike society because training like that was unnecessary. Since there was no need for a warlike society in Egypt, women had a more established role in society. Women’s rights in Egypt were more equal to men than other civilizations because of the unique circumstances under which...
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...first sentence of the Production Notes declares that “it is a memory play.” The term “memory play” suggests that it is a play worked out in one’s mental process, rather than a realistic representation. Instead of external reality, the inner vision becomes the primary concern of expressionistic drama. Thus this paper focuses on the repressed state of each character in the Wingfield family, and tries to shed light on their inner psychology by means of psychoanalytical approach. As a mother figure, Amanda is quite distinctive from those in conventional drama. With the father absent for years, Amanda takes on not only maternal nuturing responsibilities but also the paternal disciplinary role. She is a breadwinner (though partly) as well as a caretaker. Yet in her attempt to fulfill this double-sided role, she actually encounters a series of frustrations and repressions, which provoke her to escape into the retreat of past. In the play, what characterizes Amanda is her poignant sentiment toward the Old South days. She believes in the myth of “gracious living, family tradition, chivalry, coquetry” (Senata 23). Obsessed with the past, she frequently retold her memory as a young girl who received at most seventeen gentleman callers within a Sunday afternoon. Once these memories are provoked, “her eyes lift, her face glows, and her voice becomes rich and elegiac” (Glass 10). The elegiac mood nevertheless permeates the...
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...The roles of women in ancient Greek tragedies . The ancient Greek society was a society dominated by men, even the plays and proses mostly constituted of heroics of men, like Hercules, Achilles and many other. In such societies , women were considered to be frail and were expected to be submissive to men, a prize of war for victors, and their main role was to support their husbands. However, in many tragedies, women were often depicted as major characters, inkling that women may not have been the weak the submissive characters as they were thought to be. Many well-known Greek plays contained several well-written, complex, and heroic female characters. Each female character took upon herself, the role of villain, the role of victim, and the role of heroine. The tragedies also revealed the problems women encountered in this era within marriage, inheritance and social life when they attempted to break out of their traditional gender roles. Clytemnestra, daughter of Leda and Tyndareus, was probably one of the most recognizable female villains in history due to her partaking in the murder of her husband Agamemnon and his female consort, Cassandra. . in the play Agamemnon by Aeschylus, she was depicted as brutal, treacherous, and cunning woman. Her speeches made the citizens and the audiences to be well-aware of how she would welcome her husband home. “Let there spring up into the house he never hoped To see, where justice leads him in, a crimson path. In all things...
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...Gender Roles in Ancient Greece and Rome Mary Wright HUM/100 November25, 2013 Ryan Roark Gender Roles in Ancient Greece and Rome In ancient Greece and Rome the roles of each gender played a significant part of the history that we learn of today. Each gender had particular a different role in the ancient times of both of these empires. Men and women were valued for different reasons and had different responsibilities and duties that they were to uphold. Today those roles are not thought of as the same, the gender roles have pretty well evened out. In Athens women were looked greatly upon to not gossip amongst themselves, to keep their homes neat and tidy, for giving birth to legitimate children. This is how they were valued, based upon how well they did each of these duties. Unfortunately, women in Greece were not considered as citizens. In these times, the father had rights over his daughter. After marriage a father had the right to ask for his daughters return. Women in Greece often were kept at home and could own their own property but was not allowed to sell or dispose of her property. In Rome, women were more free as they were able to own their own property as well as sell or dispose of their property. Women also were free to go about where she liked, they were not kept at home out of sight. As to where women in ancient Greece belonged to their father, women in Rome were subject to the dominant male role in her birth house or if she was married that...
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...Gender Differences in Early Civilizations The treatment of men and women was a big part of ancient societies as it is today. In all the different areas of living, masculinity and femininity are seen in drastically different ways. In ancient civilizations, gender played a great role in the way people were treated. In some cultures like ancient Egypt, women and men were treated equally for the most part. In other cultures, such as ancient Rome and China women were treated far worse than men. Different civilizations had very different ways and reasons for the treatment of women in comparison to men. Both of them had different everyday lives based on their gender roles and how the society viewed each gender. Gender difference existed in ancient...
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...ROMAN WOMEN ARE VISUALIZED IN ANCIENT ROMAN ART. DISCUSS HOW THIS IS AN EXPRESSION OF ROMAN VALUES AND THE SOCIAL ROLES OF WOMEN. The society of the ancient Romans has often been considered as the foundation for our modern society. Although the legal status of women in ancient Rome was quite confined, in actual fact women played very crucial roles in business, the arts, and politics. Roman women in ancient times, though discriminated against on ground of gender but was seen as the most liberated in the world of that time. When looking at the sources for ancient roman women many questions are asked and considered, such as, what was the role of roman women in their society? Were they considered citizens who had personal freedoms, or were given no or little education? Were there roles really important to society? Whenever we go through the records of roman women's status in society there is always a great consternation. Several sources or journals which mention the roles of women in ancient roman society, several works which mention them as wives and mothers. There are sources however limited they may be which delve deeper into the scope of these questions, which give a glimpse into the lives of roman women. Woman in artwork has been portrayed as the guarantor of bounty and fertility. Roman women throughout their life from childhood and education to marriage and further in the motherhood had played a great role in society of that time. Moreover, Roman women in ...
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...Women’s Role in Ancient Times HIS 103 World Civilizations I Women's Role in Ancient times A woman in today’s society is somewhat equal to a man’s but the treatment of women in ancient times were strict and women had no rights as compared to men. During the Ancient times, there was the misconception of women and the different roles they played. They were to stay at home and took care of their households and such other womanly duties that were deemed appropriate for their gender during those periods. Also, it was very important for a woman to know the laws and requirements of their roles and how those roles were perceived in a society. In many countries, the women had similarities, and a few differences. Although time has progressed and there are some roles that are no longer in existence, the women of today and ancient times still have things in common. For example, women still have the role of caring for their children, instilling family values, and commitment to sacred vowels of matrimony. Throughout history, there are many cultures that shared the same common beliefs about the role of women. Women in the countries like China, Egypt, Rome, and the Mesopotamian society are a few places that women’s cultures are shared with common similarities but there are some with different aspects. Women were considered weaker than men and were unable to perform work that requires muscular or intellectual development. Because of this, women were restrained to accomplishing light...
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...“Women’s Monumental Mark on Ancient Egypt” Barbara Lesko’s article argues the fact that women in ancient Egypt were as important figures as the men were. The title suggests that women left a monumental mark, such as tomb chapels and temples, rather than just an impact on ancient Egypt. Though Lesko’s argument tries to portray women of great power and ranking, being director of the dining hall for example is not a position to be exuberant about. Lesko’s argument did not persuade me into believing the supposed unbelievable power women held; not counting the few royal women. However the abundant presence of art and architecture dealing with women in ancient Egypt is surprising. Lesko’s main argument dealt with women of ancient Egypt supposedly holding the same power and rights as the men. A strong point that exemplifies her argument is the presence of female art depicting women sitting beside their husbands rather than standing behind them. The importance of men and women being portrayed side by side shows equality between the two, rather than a portrayal of a woman servicing her man. Another strong point within Lesko’s argument is the fact that women had statuettes and life-sized statues dedicated to their obvious importance to ancient Egyptian society. Having life-sized statues of women is a bold statement that exemplifies the importance women held in society in conjunction with men. However, Lesko’s argument contains some problematic points such as women holding the same stature...
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... Feminism in Ancient Greek Culture from the Perspective of Lysistrata Lysistrata is portrayed as a hero by Aristophanes and just as Antigone had played a social role in politics, so is Lysistrata portrayed. Most ancient Greek writers were people who had established themselves in the society. They were people of class, and when they wrote about women, they mostly wrote about women from their own social class. Women were shown to participate only in the domestic roles of childbearing and that saw many women confined to their houses. They rarely ventured out of the proximity of their domestic dwellings, let alone participate in manly politics. Lysistrata, however, steps up and take up a political role, an unusual thing in ancient Greek. She empowers women and shows their ability to run the state. Lysistrata is thus shown to be a feminist hero boasting of women empowerment. Many Marxist thinkers would conclude that Lysistrata was nothing more about feminism bout about sex. The women of Greece attempt to end the war using their sexuality, an act that prevails as they see their men return home and agree to sign a peace treaty. There is, however, much more beyond sexuality as the play displays issues of gender, masculinity and femininity. In Lysistrata, the masculine authority that has always prevailed in Ancient Greek is challenged by the women of Greece. The main characters, Lysistrata, Myrrhina and kalonike are all given positive roles that depict women as heroes. ...
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...Throughout the history of the world, art has its own history as well. The Ancient art period started before 500 B.C with its characteristics were about God, Goddess and Heroes. Women, in ancient Greek and Roman societies, did not have high status and they were considered as properties of men. During that time, woman was just being a wife and being a mother and stayed at home to take care of the house for her man. Women did not have any role in politics therefore they could not vote and they did not have any right for themselves. The roles of women could be learned by reviewing how female figures were created through the ancient Greek and Roman art works. Most of the female figures, in any art work during this period, were either goddess; such as statue of Athena goddess of wisdom,warfare and women's craft, or monsters; such as Sphixn in Greek mythology. Therefore, during the ancient...
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...Women’s Status in Ancient China Elane Yap Theng Yu HELP University Outline I. Introduction A. Opener: B. Thesis Statement: Women in Ancient China led a tough life as they faced discrimination in each and every day, no matter if it is in their roles in family, education, occupation and their dressing and makeup, thus these led to the revolution of some women. II. The ancient China society practiced the beliefs that men are dominant to women. A. Theory of Yin-Yang 1. low position of women compared to men 2. less useful and valuable than men III. Women in ancient were forced to make themselves to become beautiful. A. Foot binding 1. forced to bind since young 2. undergone painful and debilitating process 3. displaying of status and symbol of beauty IV. Women’s stages in their family were seen to be weak. A. Subject to their fathers 1. had no right to voice out B. Servant to their husbands 1. bear a male offspring to their husbands C. Not allowed to remarry after husband died 1. death penalty V. Women were only allowed to get limited education and job opportunities. A. Education 1. domestic duties 2. literatures that taught them the ways of complying with men B. Job 1. centered on the home 2. help their husbands VI. Conclusion: Women’s Status in Ancient China China, which is located in East Asia, has one of the oldest civilizations, dating...
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...Long Essay #1 09 March 2016 Ambiguous Roles Throughout centuries women have tried to be equal to men, from their position in the workplace to voting rights, women have struggled to obtain the power that men withhold. In the ancient society, many would say that women had no power, but after reading The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey it revealed that the role of women is actually very diverse. In some readings, women play little to no role at all, but in others, women demonstrate their power and play vital roles. During this era, women endured many difficulties which had ultimately shaped them into a submissive figure. While women were not the most influential gods, nor the strongest or intelligent humans,...
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... The Ancient Greeks lived in Greece and the countries that we now call Bulgaria and Turkey. The Ancient Greece empire spread over Europe as far as France in the East. The Greek Empire was most powerful between 2000 BC and 146 BC The ancient Greeks developed new ideas for government, science, philosophy, religion, and art. Ancient Greece was split into many different states, each one was ruled in its own way. Each state had its own laws, government and money but they shared the same language and religion. The two most important city states were Athens and Sparta. Legacy of the Ancient Greeks - (How Ancient Greece influenced modern day culture.) The influence of the Ancient Greeks are still felt by us today. The major impact in our lives today are in the arts, in philosophy, and in science, math, literature and politics. How do we know about ancient Greece We know much about the Ancient Greeks from objects which have survived for thousands of years. Archaeologists have dug up Ancient Greek artifacts and buildings and marine archaeologists have found wrecks of Ancient Greek ships and their cargoes. Pottery has been the most useful find because it was often decorated with scenes of everyday life. We could work out what life was like by studying the pictures on the pots. The Romans liked the buildings, statues and paintings of the Ancient Greeks and copied them. Some of these have survived. Men Men had a much better life in Ancient Greece...
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...Just as a mother nurses a child, the society of ancient Greece, 400 B.C., nurtured and cultivated its demeaning role of women. In ancient Greece, women endured many difficulties and hardships especially in three main areas. The problems women encountered in this era occurred within marriage, inheritance and social life. All three elements shaped and formed the mold of the submissive female. Marriage, a romanticized idea of being united with a person one loves dearly was the furthest thought from the mind of a woman living in ancient Greece. Marriage was considered one of the most important decisions and events in a woman’s life, but she had no direct control over it. However, in ancient Greek society, females were given little voice, if any, in major decisions. They were denied the freedom to choose whom to marry. When a young woman was to marry, she was “given in marriage by her male relatives and (her) choice had no legal bearing on the contract” (Sealey, p. 5). A woman was not allowed to decide whom she wanted to wed, whether she loved her proposed spouse or not. A woman was not given the opportunity or option to select her husband; therefore she “did not marry; she was given in marriage” (Sealey, p. 25). Women were not active in making the initial decision, because it was arranged and planned by a father figure or male relative. A woman, such as Medea, often dreaded the day of her wedding rather than looking forward to it as one of the happiest and...
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