Women in Ancient Greece
In Ancient Greece, women's activities, social engagements, and duties were clearly laid out. Greek culture was highly developed, and each person fulfilled their role. From the time a young Greek girl was born, she began to learn the skills necessary to satisfy the social requirements of the time. Greek women were expected to be neither seen nor heard, since their only purposes consisted of childbirth, household tasks, and pleasing their husbands. A girl also came to know about the societal constraints placed on her at all times. Women were for the most part limited to their residences. A wife could only go outside of the residence to attend religious festivals or visit a nearby neighbor, but other activities were limited to inside the home. Higher class women were expected to have a chaperone accompany them when, and if, they left the house. They were confined to their homes and were expected to stay out of sight if the husband invited guests over. The best wife
Spinning and weaving were the essential skills of an accomplished housewife, and raising children, especially male ones, was most important of all. A man was permitted to entertain himself with other women, while a good wife had to bear the meandering of her "great" husband because it was considered too insignificant a problem to bother him with. Although most households included at least one slave, running the household involved a great deal of hard work for the wife herself. Childbirth was a woman's main duty, which the culture aptly reflected. Heating was provided by hearths, and lighting came from simple oil lamps. Loyalty to a husband appears to have been the highest excellence a woman could attain. Her contact with other people was limited, because women were thought of as property; therefore, their emotional and social needs were for the most part disregarded. The lack of basic amenities meant that much effort went into maintaining the basic necessities of life. When a Greek girl was married, she was taken from the home of her family to that of her husband, or to that of her man's family. The historian Valerius Maximus wrote about the virtue of loyalty in a woman. According to Maximus, women were supposed to "look the other way" at their husbands' infidelities. Maximus makes an example of a servant girl who concealed her master's secret even at risk of death. Woman were only second-class citizens at the time, and their lifestyle proved as much. (Frost) "Women were supposed to be pure and true in terms of values and characteristics.
Common topics in this essay:
Ancient Greece,
According Maximus,
Athenian Women,
Frost Women,
Valerius Maximus,
women expected,
household tasks,
women supposed,
greek girl,
|
Acceptance Essays
