The Role of Women in Ancient Greece and Egypt - Research Paper Example

The Role of Women in Ancient Greece and Egypt Introduction The position of a woman is different in different countries but throughout our history it is possible to trace one common thing – women have always had subordinate position. Such position of a woman is quite understandable as she is not so strong physically as a man. Furthermore, there are many psychological features, which make women different from men. Women are considered to be more emotional and less capable of making fast decisions. In many countries there is an opinion that women are even not so intelligent and do not possess creative mind. Certainly, these wrong beliefs have been already disproved by the science after different investigations were held to prove that women and men do not differ much in their emotional behavior and possess the same intellectual and creative abilities. Many experts state that in many societies women are deliberately taught to be inferior and subordinate. These negative and destructive stereotypes are mainly maintained by men who try to save their privileged positions as more and more women in the world manage to overcome the influence of feminine teaching and take the place under the sun. Feminine teaching is different in different countries and has its roots in the country’s history. The given paper will consider the role of women in Ancient Greece and in Ancient Egypt. We will compare the role of women in these countries considering different aspects of their life and prove that in Ancient Greece women’s life were severely controlled by men, while in Ancient Egypt, women had better position taking an active part in the political life of the country. What is remarkable about Ancient Egypt is that in contrast to other ancient civilizations Egyptian women had the rights almost equal to men’s. It was not natural for early civilizations as in our past women had always been considered inferior and were not given any rights. The role of women was to bring up children and do about the house. Using their physical advantage, men captured all the power and controlled their wives, daughters and sisters severely. It is really surprising that in Ancient Egypt women had many rights, even a right to have private property. They could take many decisions independently. Egyptian women could apply to court and appear in public. However, their appearance in public without men was still undesirable and they stayed home most of the time. Women could have different occupations, but their abilities still were limited and many of them were housewives. Some women could work in workshops and few of them could even occupy leading positions. The position of women in Egypt was better than in any other ancient state. Their position was described as follows: “Egyptian women, the mother that one respected above all, the women subject to a strict moral code, but granted a great freedom of expression -- her entire legal capacity, her shocking financial independence, the impact of her personality in family life and the management of common belongings and her own belongings” (Desroches Noblecourt, 1986).This was due to the fact that Egyptians had very special principles. The life in Ancient Egypt was focused on reaching happiness and pleasure and the family was considered to be the main source of this happiness. In the ancient world the position of women in the family was determined as subordinate, but there were variations depending on the territory and the principles, which were maintained in this or that ancient state. The influence of such prejudices was stronger if the legislation created a strict distinction between men and women and their roles in the society and in the family. Marriage and family were always valued very high, but in many countries women were considered to be just home servants. Children also had absolutely no rights and they got them only when they become adult. In Ancient Egypt the role of women in a family were considered to be very important as women provided men with love and support. Children were also treated nicely. Due to high family values women also had rights in politics. Notwithstanding that a woman had almost no chance to become Pharaoh, they had many rights, could apply to court, divorce with their husbands, sign papers, etc. Men in Ancient Egypt had not only rights, but also obligations. They were taught before marriage: “If you are wise, keep your house, love your wife without interference, feed her properly, dress her well. Caress her and fulfill her desires. Do not be brutal, you will obtain much more from her through respects than through violence. If you reject her, your household goes down the drain. Open your arms, call to her; witness your love to her” (cited in Montet, 1946). In contrast to Egypt, Ancient Greek civilization is characterized by patriarchy, thus women did not have much freedom. Meyniac, Phelippeau and Borgo write: “The traditional image of the woman in Greece east that of a recluse in the gynaeceum, dedicated to the house works, the housewife, (oikos), that which one perpetually represents with his weaving loom. Its attributes are the wool basket, the stopper rod and the mirror. It is in particular as well as many women appear on the funerary vases and steles. This vision must however be interpreted with a certain passing: it reflects an ideal and not necessarily the reality lived by the women” (Meyniac et al). They were always under men’s control: in childhood and youth they were controlled by fathers and brothers, then by husbands. The control was so severe that women even were not allowed to leave home. They could leave it only in exceptional cases such as religious holidays or weddings. Women could only look after children, make clothes for children and husbands, cook food. If a woman belonged to low class of Ancient Greek society, she had much more tasks to implement every day. Those who belonged to privileged class had slaves and had less work about the house. The opportunities to entertain themselves were also shortened for women. Men were the heads of the families and always suppressed their wives. Certainly, there were some women with strong character who managed to capture the leading positions in their families, but there were considered to be exceptions. The role of a woman and her occupations were rather primitive. According to Meyniac, Phelippeau and Borgo, “the situation of the woman in Athens can be appreciated initially through the marriage and by the place which it occupies in the house, the oikos. It is initially to the girl of the citizen that one is interested. In the gynaeceum, the mother will educate her daughter to make a future good wife of it. She thus learns how to spin wool, to weave the fabrics, to direct the servants. In the aristocratic families, the girl learns how to read and write and receives a more thorough teaching in music and poetry; it is an education partly dependant on its future religious role. In Sparte, the girls receive also physical education, a little with the image of that of the boys” (Meyniac et al). The principles in Ancient Greece were rather strict: men did not allow their wives and daughters to watch Olympic Games and participate in sport games. This restriction was made mainly because the players did not wear clothes. Women who had a horse could take part in chariot racing and this was the only kind of sport they had a chance to participate in. In the political field they could not occupy any positions and vote, only men had such privileges. The role of women in the filed of religion could be more active, but namely because religious principles were created first of all for women to follow them: According to Meyniac, Phelippeau and Borgo, “The life and the religious practices give to the Greek woman all her place within the civic community. But the role of the woman in the religion seems as much a factor of its integration in the city that like a manner of marking its otherness and its complementarity with respect to the men. This role is played first of all within the house, of the oikos. The woman, like housewife, makes a worship daily in Hestia, the goddess of the hearth; she holds also a paramount place in the worship of the ancestors and the ceremonies and practices funerary.” (Meyniac et al). Notwithstanding that Ancient Greek civilization was one of the most developed, the focus was still made on the inferior position of women. Conclusion Women have always been inferior. Even now, despite many efforts taken by feminists, women still struggle for their rights as men do not want to lose their privileged positions. They still want women to serve them and try to offend a woman in every suitable case, demonstrating their physical advantage. Such attitude towards women was formed long ago in the ancient world. In the given paper we considered too most developed ancient civilizations: Egyptian and Greek. After analyzing the role of women in these societies we can make a conclusion that notwithstanding that Ancient Greece is considered to be one of the most developed ancient state, the position of women there was far from perfect. Women were severely suppressed, they had absolutely no rights, even in their families they were inferior and considered as servants. Ancient Egypt presents us with quite different situation. We can see that it was the only ancient civilization, which provided women with rights. A woman was valued high both in the family and in the field of politics, they had a right to vote, right to sign documents, to divorce with their husbands. They could become merchants and acquire different knowledge. Unfortunately, our world did not change much since ancient times. Women are still considered to be housewives and notwithstanding that in the majority of modern countries they have equal rights with men, they still stay at home most of the time. Many women work but in this case they have double job, both at home and at work, as men do not hurry to help their wives about the house. They consider this work to be women’s first obligation. At the same time modern men spent the money earned by their wives with great pleasure. The conclusion can be made that Egyptian women were valued higher than many modern women. Further research is needed to be implemented to reveal the causes of that and find the ways to improve the situation. Every day women still have to prove their value; let’s hope that this struggle will have positive results. References Desroches Noblecourt, Christiane. (1986). Femme au temps des pharaons, Stock; Meyniac, Jean-Pierre, Phelippeau, Valérie & Borgo, Pierre .(n.d.).Women in ancient Greece, Retrieved June 17 2013 from http://www.memo.fr/en/article.aspx?ID=ANT_GRE_014 ; Montet, Pierre. (1946). La vie quotidienne en Égypte au temps des Ramsès, Hachette. Read More