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Women In Classical Greece

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Women had a minimal role in Greek society. How far do you agree? Discuss.

As a woman living in the Classical Period of Greece, your life was controlled heavily by those around you. This is true, at least through the eyes of ancient male authors. Xenophon makes a statement in the Oeconomicus that embodies the entirety of the predominant male view on women’s place in society: ‘And since both the indoor and the outdoor tasks demand labour and attention, God from the first adapted the woman’s nature, I think, to the indoor and a man’s to the outdoor tasks and cares.’ (Xenophon, 1979; Sommerschield, 2015/16) These writings, however, are littered with the ancient stereotypes and fictions that populated the fringes of the male imagination when addressing the female role (Sommerschield, 2015/16). The culture of classical Grecian society was rife with …show more content…
A woman’s role was based on the males around her, and the home. She had no voice in politics, and legally her power was imaginary unless she had the voice of her kyrios accompanying her. Her insignificant reflected onto the view of women in medicine, they were corrupt, polluted, and deformed. It was this pollution however that gave women more responsibilities, such as preparing the dead. Without this, the Grecian society would not have been able to become as relevant today, as it has become. For women, religion was a place that their individuality could be expressed. It allowed women to be in a position of power that was otherwise restricted, and their possible roles were much greater than that of those in the home. Without women, any civilisation would fall. They have a pivotal and imperative role in both the creation of mankind, and in the function of a society. In classical Greece, women’s role in public society was minimal, however, in the religious and domestic world, they had almost the same options and responsibilities as their male

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