Women in the Ancient Mediterranean - Research Paper Example

Introduction The most dominant bodies on thought, which have impacted on western society’s perceptions and treatment of women, include Greek philosophy, Judeo-Christian cultural beliefs, and western legal code. The outlined traditions have viewed patriarchal as natural in which male domination came out as healthy, with few exceptions such as Plato’s Republic. Implicit within the patriarchal ideology was the perception that those outside the hegemonic male were losers and inferior to males. The paper explores the status and role of women in ancient Mediterranean. A review of women’s agency in ancient civilizations such as Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Rome demonstrates the social, political, and cultural factors that propelled female empowerment. In addition to the powerful images of goddesses and women’s roles within the religious sphere, women’s activities manifested within other social realms including economic, health, war, poetry, governance, and philosophy (Rutland 16). Largely, the sphere of religious practice can be regarded as an opportunity for exceptional women to attain their own value within a culture that concisely defined feminine roles as subservient to masculine models. Hence, historians highlight the Minoan civilization that appeared to manifest several of female deities backing the assumption that women in Knossos benefited from religious gender democratization. In most cases, only exceptional women who are atypical of the mainstream impacted on the politics of the day, mainly through their husbands as was the case of Olympias (Alexander the Great mother). This observation also applies to Cleopatra VII, who was the final Pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty. This was also true of the egalitarian early Christian church that largely relegated women to the home to serve their husbands (Walcot 163). Discussion In ancient Mediterranean, women ranked along property rather than separate legal persona. As a result, the control of women remained a male prerogative; hence, adultery or rape remained sins against the male members of the family (husband, father, and brothers), and only incidentally against the victim (woman). This is well captured in the book of Deuteronomy (22:25-8), whereby if a married woman is raped within the confines of the city and is not heard to cry out, the ordeal is not considered rape but adultery, and as such, should be castigated accordingly. In the ancient Mediterranean, prostitutes were depicted as dangerous, capable of stripping men their virtue (at worse their masculinity) since they were not within the confines of a dominant male. Women came out as irrational, prone to hysteria, and sex-obsessed. Women, especially virgins formed a section of the limited good of the society as limited resources to be pursued and acquired by men of prestige, power, and wealth. Men epitomized status and honor while women epitomized decorum and purity and lack of these meant the presence of shame. The social stigma heightened the powerlessness of the woman (Walcot 163). For instance, upon registration, a prostitute lost her healthy liberties as a citizen and listed for life and marriage or motherhood could not eliminate her name from the list. This highlights that a prostitutes occupation was the core determinant of her entire life-style and the stigma associated with the occupation could not be eliminated. There is ample literature on the social structures of honor and shame and how they affected women within Mediterranean antiquity. Honor and shame acted as coordinates in an intricate matrix of other societal factors such as kinship, economic control, social networking, and social hierarchy. The honor code derived from gender roles linked to sex, whereby honor can be ascribed to men while shame to women. In this model, the honor of the family resides in its women (women embody the possibility for shame via their sexual conduct); however, men carry the responsibility for protecting women (considered as the “weak link” that ought to be controlled). In the same way as a mother nurses her child, the society within ancient Greece (and at large ancient Mediterranean) cultivated and fostered a demeaning role of women. In ancient Mediterranean, women endured numerous difficulties and hardship in three spheres of their life: marriage, social life, and inheritance. The three elements played a critical role in shaping and forming the mold of the submissive female. Marriage remains one of the most significant decisions and events in a woman’s life; nevertheless, women had no direct control over marriage. In ancient Greek society, women had little voice in making significant decisions such as the freedom to choose whom to marry. A woman did not enjoy the opportunity to decide whom she wanted to marry irrespective of whether she loved the proposed spouse or not. In ancient Mediterranean, women were viewed as objects given that they were “given” in marriage to their bridegroom. Consequently, the word of marriage can be regarded as betraying its character and function. Marriage was labeled as a loan or a transaction between two men, or an exchange and a chance for men to sustain their elevated position within the society. Furthermore, the distribution and ownership of inheritance remained skewed to the disadvantage of women. For instance, in ancient Greece a woman’s property remained separate from her husband and her husband maintained total control over that property. The limits on property ownership /or constrained women from gaining influence or authority within economic and political operations of the society. The injustice that existed between men and women within the society of ancient Mediterranean illustrates a period of great prejudice and discrimination against females. The social life of women within ancient Mediterranean usually mirrored the submissive female image. Women heavily engaged in nurturing their children and undertaking household duties. The seclusion and restriction of women within the household is an indication of the position women within the ancient, treated as “mere adolescents.” In ancient Mediterranean, women mainly stayed indoors to undertake domestic duties, whereby it was women’s duty to supervise the household (Smith 467). Furthermore, the relationship between women and their husbands anchored in equal terms of power. Women had a lower status relative to males, mostly degraded, abused and controlled. Women in the Roman Empire The status of women within the Roman Empire derived from the position of women within Hellenistic society, as well as the Italian civilization of Etruria. The Etruscans had awarded women significant freedom and respect. In the Roman Empire, numerous women enjoyed great wealth influenced by Hellenistic queens. The absence of husbands during campaigns that lasted for extended periods gave women an opportunity to exercise political power despite seldom holding political office. In theory, traditional sex roles embraced by Roman society generated strain between the theoretical ideal of women remaining at home and the reality of ease of moving into the political arena and the marketplace with relative freedom and ease. This emanated from the fact that traditional sex roles within Roman society dictated that women remain under the complete control of the pater familias (male head). Free women living in Athens within the Classical period (500-523 BCE) mainly lived in seclusion in order not to be seen by men not considered close relatives. The qualities admired in girls were usually submissiveness and silence. Aristotle held that the function of marriage and the role of women centered on providing for their heirs. Aristotle’s theories conceptualized women as subordinate by social necessity, as well as innately and biologically inferior within both physical and mental capacities. As a result, women held subservient positions within the society by “nature.” Aristotle equated the rule of men over women to that of “rule of the soul over the body, and of the mind, and the rational element over the passionate (Smith 469).” Sexuality within Ancient Rome Sexual attitudes and behaviors within ancient Rome manifested in Roman art, inscriptions, and literature, as well as archeological remains. The sexuality of the Romans was not secluded as a concern of the mos maiorum or the traditional social norms that influenced public, private, and military life. The Roman society was patriarchal in nature, whereby masculinity premised on the capacity for governing oneself and others considered of lower status in war, politics, and at home. Virtue came out as a masculine ideal of self-discipline while women were expected to exercise chastity or modesty. Roman ideals of masculinity grounded in taking an active role or dominance that mirrors the hierarchy of Roman patriarchal society. In ancient Mediterranean, it was anticipated and socially acceptable that a freeborn Roman to want sex with either male or female partners provided that he took the dominating role. Female sexuality can be considered as one of the anchors for social order and prosperity in which female citizens were to exercise their sexuality within marriage, and honored based on their fecundity and sexual integrity. Ancient literature largely adopts a male-centered view of sexuality (Cocceianus and Cary 6). Women remained in need of sexual stimulation for conception considered as their natural goal. This led to most specialists on the issue to deduce that they were sexually insatiable. This notion dominated ancient Mediterranean cultural circles to the extent that the cultural psyche acted as if sexual insatiability were an extension of nature. The destiny of the Greek woman appeared sealed as women were considered an individual that one had to be careful with, confined to the limits of the house, as well as under the constant supervision of men. Unfortunately, majority of contemporary historians continued to perpetuate this stereotypical vision in confining the portrayal of women to prominent examples such ischomachus in Xenophon’s Oeconomicus. The perception of women as being eternally minor made historians relegate women with inferiors, foreigners, and slaves as if women dwelled at the periphery of their society and city. The desire to comprehend their role within their societies heralded to the study of Greek women. The duality of the Greek woman dominates the story of Pandora, whereby despite having an inferior status, she enjoyed an inherent power that made men incapable of totally dominating her (Appianus 6). Pandora exhibits the frustration of men who would be willing to master and control everything. Theopompus within the CLIII book of his history outlines that: “sharing wives is an established Etruscan custom.” In one of the passages, Plautus (Cistellaria) maintains that Etruscan women, prior to getting married prostituted themselves so as to collect a dowry. Plutarch Views on Women Plutarch (in the first century A.D.) wrote his Moralia elaborating the customs of the ancient Greeks. Plutarch’s works mirror the same ambivalence registered in Plato, whereby Plato illustrated the ideal woman by utilizing the example of a heroic woman who had aided to liberate her city-state. In marriage, women were to be seen only when in the company of their husbands’ failure to which they were to remain silent and secluded. Plutarch expresses his divergence with Thucydides on the notion that women ought to remain silent at all times (Plutarch 2). Plutarch acknowledged that women should be educated in geometry, literature, philosophy, and astronomy and their husbands might act as a teacher of their wives. Plutarch cited women as prophets and poets and highlighted the overall literacy of married women and praised women who manifested political wisdom. The evidence availed by the Lives and the Moralia indicates that Plutarch possessed a low opinion of women, considering them as deceitful, sexually insatiable, savage, gossips, and frivolous. This coincided with the overriding perception of women as weak needing men’s protection from themselves as much as from others, but simultaneously dangerous (Plutarch and Babbitt 81). Nevertheless, there were outstanding exceptions, primarily on women whose stories dominate the Melierum Virtues. Hippocrites Views on Women In ancient Mediterranean, women were not perceived in the same way as men. Women enjoyed very limited rights and under the control of men holding political office and engaging in the city-state remained outlawed. This mostly emanated from their biology, especially their “constant mood swings and erratic behavior” made them “incontinent and incapable of making rational decisions.” This was referred to as “hysteria,” a concept that is widely described in Hippocratic Corpus (Hippocrates 101; King 8). The term “Wandering Uterus” accompanied “hysteria” reflecting ancient Greek belief “a wandering uterus” required to be restrained and controlled since it yielded to women’s health problems (Edwards and Vickie 54). Plato Views on Women In ancient Mediterranean, women remained overlooked in the manner in which they add to society; nevertheless, they are a critical part in defining relationships, families, and rules, which contributed to shaping the society. Plate writings indicate that he had a very divergent view of women from that held by the society. According to Plato, gender is such as diminutive detail that it can be abandoned when contrasted with the aim of the society. In a fair society, women equal men in the ability since they enjoy the same opportunity as men (Smith 467). Plato maintained that it was unreasonable to perceive that women’s natural capabilities should be limited by an arbitrary element such as sex. Women has similar desires as men as they are spirited, appetitive, and rational, which means that they have similar capabilities except physical strength. Women during Plato’s time did not have a voice, an opinion, or numerous rights. Plato believed that women possessed a right, or a role to play within the society. Plato believed that women were essential for society to run smoothly; nevertheless, this did not translate to the thought that women equals of men (Smith 468). Plato awarded women a chance during a period when the society did not and the majority of men perceived women as weak. Women were considered diverse to be men equals, and Plato perceived that women did not have the strength that men possessed. Aristotle Views on Women Aristotle views contradicted those of Plato as he belied that women are subsidiary to me owing to their natural characteristics. Aristotle considers women to be intellectually and biologically inferior to men. Aristotle was convinced that women were incomplete relative to men and nature ordained physical differences between male and female, as well as mental differences to the extent that they are “unfinished man.” Aristotle can be regarded as having an egotistical and selfish view of women relative to men as he viewed his own kind as dominant and in control (Smith 467). Aristotle pointed out that women did not have the spirited part of the soul, a critical element that allows them the execution to pursue their beliefs. Tacitus views on women The Annales by Tacitus highlights six major female characters divided into three categories: mistresses, mothers, and wives. Irrespective of their role, every woman gives the reader some valuable information regarding the man that she influences most. The most striking theme that emerges from the examination details that of powerful, strong, almost masculine woman. Tacitus negatively uses women in his Annales where he uses women rhetorically as extensions and reflections of men; however, Tacitus perceptions on women cannot be regarded as misogynistic as his negative treatment of women can be perceived as a negative treatment of men (Rutland 15). Euripides, one of the less misogynistic writers within classical Greek literature, depicted the majority of his women characters as assertive and noble, self-sacrificing heroines. The women characters were regularly portrayed as stronger and nobler relative to their male counterparts, rather than victims of the patriarchal exploitation (Rutland 16). Conclusion The status of women within ancient civilizations was mostly dictated by religion and position, seldom influencing the everyday lives of each female interaction. In most cases, majority of women lives within ancient world revolved around the household being the caretakers. In exceptional cases, women were depicted as enjoying some power as is the case of Mediterranean pantheon of goddesses’ mirrors power and cult-following. The primary duty of women within ancient Mediterranean was to marry and bear legitimate children to guarantee perpetuation of their family unit. Attic literature covering the period mainly depicted women as inferior, with unpleasant and dull character. At the period, the overriding view was that women should not be educated as such moves would make women more dangerous to men. Works Cited Appianus (of Alexandria). Appian’s Roman History, Volume 3. Trans. Horace White. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995. Print. Cocceianus, Cassius, and Cary Earnest. Dio’s Roman History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1927. Print. Edwards, Robert R, and Vickie L. Ziegler. Matrons and Marginal Women in Medieval Society. Woodbridge: Boydell, 1995. Print. Print. Hippocrates, Maladies, vol.8, bk.1, pars. 7, 32. London: Cambridge Press, 1923. Print. King, Helen. Hippocrates' Woman: Reading the Female Body in Ancient Greece. New York: Routledge, 1998. Print. Plutarch, and Babbitt Frank. Plutarch’s Moralia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1971. Print. Plutarch. Works of Plutarch. Boston: MobileReference.com, 2010. Print. Rutland, Linda. “Women as makers of Kings in Tacitus’ Annals.” The Classical World 72.1 (1978): 15-29. Print. Smith, Nicholas. “Plato and Aristotle on the Nature of Women.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 21.4 (1983): 467-478. Print. Walcot, Peter. “Plutarch on Women.” Norwegian Journal of Greek and Latin Studies 74.1 (1999): 163-183. Print. Read More