Ancient Athenian women were seen as inferior in the male dominated Ancient Greek world. Females were excluded from all public spheres, and barely seen in public. This essay will discuss this statement with reference to the origin of the patriarchal society, and the role which all women fulfilled in Ancient Greek Society, thus will there be refereed to women of different class.
Origin of the patriarchal society.
Ancient Greece was a saint like society, thus did they believe in the gods and following the views of the gods. Zeus, one of the most powerful gods, created a patriarchal society in Olympus, he thus opposed any power to women. One can see this in the first book of Odyssey, with the portrayal of Penelope by Homer. Penelope …show more content…
Pomeroy argue that this meant females had no control over the politics. In Goddesses, whores, wives and slave’s emphasis are being placed on the antediluvian society that Athenian females lived in. There were strict rules to prevent illegitimate heirs, this led to the great constraint on female’s freedom. (Pomeroy, 79). Rush Rahm supports this argument by stating that the reason for why in Greek tragedies there’s always such a strong link between weddings and funerals, are due to the antediluvian society that females lived in and the rituals that were forced upon them. Ancient Athenian women were eliminated from public, due to the expectations placed upon them to give birth to legitimate heirs, and were seen as second class citizens in the male dominated, antediluvian society O’Neal …show more content…
Lower class females did not have the luxury to stay at home, and be a wife and a mother they needed to do work in public identical to the work of men. Prostitutes, known as Hetaerae was also very well educated and took part in public activities like debating. Thus can there be concluded that female’s role in society were determined by their class. All though lower class females and prostitutes and more freedom, Women in Athens did live in a patriarchal society where their movement was