Throughout human history, civilisations have been influenced by the representations of aspects of the world around them, from the ancient sagas and oral traditions to the establishment of religious doctrine and canonical law. As the mindsets of societies evolve over the centuries, several issues remained until the last few centuries. The inequity of gender across Civilisations globally and the homogenous societies and dehumanisation over other ethnicities. As these matters were prevalent during the twentieth century resulting in the change of national values, primarily within the Western World, one must examine the importance of representation. Analysing the usage of myths and its influence on cultures, shaping values within societies to studying
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The earliest examples of the treatment of women regarding cultures can often be associated with ancient Greek societies. Ancient Greece was (in the majority of the city-states) misogynistic, and all of them favoured slavery. As the renowned philosopher, Aristotle said, women were, "more mischievous, less pure, more impulsive ... more compassionate more quickly moved to tears " than men. The works of Aristotle reflect the mindset of the ancient Greeks towards women, as, within the histories, there is not a single mention of women . Since this Greco- culture became so influential throughout western society shaping European identity, these misogynistic values remained prevalent within Europe for centuries to come. The representation of women within ancient texts can offer valuable insights into the cultures of various societies. An example of this is the thirteenth-century European myth of the “The Marriage of Sir Gawain and the Lady Ragnell.” As the Lady Ragnell was presented in this folktale as a hag in her assertive interactions with King Arthur, the intention of the story was to demean and demonise females in position of authority . This negative depiction of women in positions of power was so prevalent that females in the Twenty-First Century are afraid to be identified as …show more content…
These actions can be evidenced by Greek philosophers and historians describing groups that were not from Hellenistic Cultures as “barbaros” (βάρβαρος) or known in English as barbarian. Referring in Western history from the Greek and Roman perspectives as the Celts, Germanics, Thracians, and Iberians. As today the term barbarian represents a group of people not part of any great civilisation, our interpretation of such cultures is tarnished by this representation from ancient sources. The process of representation of ethnic groups as inferior throughout history provided a primary justification for slavery in the majority of cultures. Even onto the Christian Bible with its statement on slavery, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ. ” As this form of mindset became established within Christian culture, with Christianity firmly rooted within the mindset of Western Civilisation, the result are historical documents on Europe primarily from a Christian perspective. An example on how the popular beliefs of some individuals originated from Christian perspectives, would be Attila and the Hunnic People, as the only sources of the Huns come from outsiders perspectives. Jordanes the
The earliest examples of the treatment of women regarding cultures can often be associated with ancient Greek societies. Ancient Greece was (in the majority of the city-states) misogynistic, and all of them favoured slavery. As the renowned philosopher, Aristotle said, women were, "more mischievous, less pure, more impulsive ... more compassionate more quickly moved to tears " than men. The works of Aristotle reflect the mindset of the ancient Greeks towards women, as, within the histories, there is not a single mention of women . Since this Greco- culture became so influential throughout western society shaping European identity, these misogynistic values remained prevalent within Europe for centuries to come. The representation of women within ancient texts can offer valuable insights into the cultures of various societies. An example of this is the thirteenth-century European myth of the “The Marriage of Sir Gawain and the Lady Ragnell.” As the Lady Ragnell was presented in this folktale as a hag in her assertive interactions with King Arthur, the intention of the story was to demean and demonise females in position of authority . This negative depiction of women in positions of power was so prevalent that females in the Twenty-First Century are afraid to be identified as …show more content…
These actions can be evidenced by Greek philosophers and historians describing groups that were not from Hellenistic Cultures as “barbaros” (βάρβαρος) or known in English as barbarian. Referring in Western history from the Greek and Roman perspectives as the Celts, Germanics, Thracians, and Iberians. As today the term barbarian represents a group of people not part of any great civilisation, our interpretation of such cultures is tarnished by this representation from ancient sources. The process of representation of ethnic groups as inferior throughout history provided a primary justification for slavery in the majority of cultures. Even onto the Christian Bible with its statement on slavery, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ. ” As this form of mindset became established within Christian culture, with Christianity firmly rooted within the mindset of Western Civilisation, the result are historical documents on Europe primarily from a Christian perspective. An example on how the popular beliefs of some individuals originated from Christian perspectives, would be Attila and the Hunnic People, as the only sources of the Huns come from outsiders perspectives. Jordanes the