In both ancient Greece and ancient Rome, women were idealized or demonized in storytelling. Tales of "glamorous mistresses" and "adultresses" characterize some of the ancient Roman literature (Dixon). Like ancient Greek literature, ancient Roman literature also portrayed domesticated women as being highly virtuous to convey social norms and ideals for female behavior.
Women's work was defined and restricted by their gender. Women in both ancient Greece and ancient Rome did household work. In both societies but especially ancient Rome, "women were expected to be involved in cloth production: spinning, weaving and sewing," (Dixon). In ancient Greece, the only public role for women was reserved for a select few: the priestess (Rymer). Only one "authentic voice" of a female poet has survived: that of Sappho (Blundell 66). In ancient Rome, "a few examples of women in higher-status positions such as that of a doctor, and one woman painter is known," (Dixon). Female nurses and midwives were not unknown in ancient Rome, as Pompeii wall graffiti has shown (Dixon). Women's work was generally undervalued and generally low-status, but some positions were viewed as downright "disreputable" such as barmaid or sex trade worker (Dixon).
As Rymer points out, generalizing about ancient Greece or Rome is tricky because each of these societies was diverse. Moreover, they changed over time. In ancient Sparta, for instance, women enjoyed a relatively large degree of freedom, responsibility, and even political and economic power. Spartan women "were able to go out in public...
Women in the Ancient World: Witches, Wives, And Whores One of the paradoxes of the ancient and medieval world is that although women were often discriminated against and treated as second class citizens (or not allowed to be citizens at all); they had an extremely central role in literature of the period. Women fulfilled a symbolic function in literature, representing foreignness, danger, and sexuality. Occasionally, when women's virtue surpassed that of
Some Ancient Greeks even went as far as to think that women started to have deeper voices consequent to the moment when they lost their virginity (King 28). Euripides also acts as one of the principal Ancient Greek scholars who damaged the role of women in his society, given that his writings relate to the role of women as individuals who are generally persecuted by the masses. Women were practically
Either as mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, mistresses, lovers or supernatural creatures, women populate the world of the Odyssey and bring thus an important source of information when it comes to finding parallels between their representations in real life as drawn from the representations they get in the Homeric epic. Based on the same starting point as the Odyssey, another ancient author, the Roman Virgil wrote the epic Aeneid. He lived
Birth control which is also known as fertility control and contraception, describes the devices or methods that are used to prevent an egg from getting fertilized by the sperm and thus preventing pregnancy[footnoteRef:2]. Provision of birth control and planning a pregnancy is referred to as family planning. Safe sex implies the use of condoms; both male and female, does not only prevent unwanted pregnancies, but also prevent the spread of
BIRTH CINTROL AND Self-INDUCED ABORTIONS IN ANCIENT Birth Control and Self-Induced abortions in Ancient Rome The approach of having an abortion, the extinction of a pregnancy so that a baby is not born goes all the way back to ancient times. Pregnancies were ended through a number of approaches, and that does include the application of abort made herbs, the handling of extremely sharp tools, the necessity of putting pressure on the
World Civilization to 1500: Comparing Ancient Athens and Ancient SpartaIntroductionAncient Athens and Ancient Sparta were both Greek city states�but they were two very different civilizations in spite of the fact that they existed in some proximity to one another. Athens was known as the seat of culture and learning in the ancient world, and Spartan culture was often ridiculed by Athenians because it was much more focused on sports, physicality
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now