Gender Roles In Greek Mythology

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Greek Conceptions of Gender Gender inequality has been the major topic of discussion for many cultures right the way through history. Throughout Greek mythology, women are portrayed pessimistic and troublesome symbols, while men are known for being strong and controlling. Greek mythology has always been thought of as a patriarchal society and there are many reason as to why. Talking about Greek Goddesses we always think of a typical woman who is correlated with women’s roles, for example being a loyal wife, kind and caring towards her children and husband and be the idea women. The quote by Roger D Abrahams “the male ideal of women is projected in hero tales” defines the reasonable judgment of Greek mythology. Women in Greek myths seems to …show more content…
When people think of goddesses, they think of Hera who was known as the Mother-Goddess, Queen of Heaven, wife and sister of Zeus, mother of children, and very beautiful according to the Greek mythology. However, the authors’ view of Hera was that she was revengeful, cruel, jealous, and capable of anything:
Proud, revengeful, and jealous, Hera resented the fickleness of her husband’s affections, and was wont to wreak her revenge on any Being, mortal or divine, upon whom he looked with too much favor. (Guerber, p.33)
This solidifies how the author views Hera and how she’s being portrayed. Jealousy, revenge, and these negative traits are the male ideals of a ‘negative women’ just how intelligence, kindness and beauty is the positive side of a
…show more content…
She is not the typical submissive women who every man expects her to be but she is dangerous, wild and powerful. Her figure was a powerful goddess instead of a simple female figure and while she was expected to be the perfect mother, she actually improves her sexuality and doesn’t mind that women have to ‘stay pure and celibate’. The important aspect of Aphrodite is that she follows her passions and still remains the powerful and respected goddess of Olympus. This exemplifies that Aphrodite wasn’t depending of a men or didn’t need someone controlling her to be a goddess or someone respected. She had her own rules and lived her life without the pressure and everyone desired her. This is also a perfect example of an independent business woman in today’s society who follows her dreams and goes against the stereotypical idea of a

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