Women in Ancient Greece: a Political and Artistic Approach
Jean-Luc Lamboley (Université de Grenoble II)
Political Systems and Definitions of Gender Roles, edited by Ann Katherine Isaacs (Edizioni Plus, 2001)
Abstract
If we consider the Greek civilisation from a strictly political angle, that is to say, looking at civil rights, or public activities inside well-established institutions, it is clear that the definition of women’s roles is very poor, even non-existent. Citizenship is conceded to women insofar as they give birth to children, and this way, allow to perpetuate a City always controlled by men only. At this point, I could end my speech or take the risk of being outlawed as regards the topic. But if we admit that our modern societies are still based on solid elements coming from classical antiquity – the very notion of citizenship, democracy, civil and human rights and so on –, if we admit that Greek philosophy has conceived universal values, it is not possible to imagine that this civilisation has cancelled womanhood. So my challenge is to show you that the Greeks were able to give us a very high idea of womanhood, but, as is suggested by the title of my text, it will be necessary to move from the political to the religious and artistic field.
First, we can note that the law established by Pericles around 451 B.C. is important because it proves that the legal notion of citizenship is pertinent for women who are not completely excluded from the civic community. Let me recall that according to this law a young Athenian could be a citizen only if his father and his mother were citizens in their own right. We may also recall Aristotle’s statement that the education of women is bound to be important, since they make up a half of the free population.
Secondly, the overriding importance of religion in Greek communities in general leads to consider another path to integration in the civic community: I mean priesthood. Indeed, the role of women appears very clearly when we consider the religious life of Greek cities, especially in the archaic period – when private and public activities were not as separate as in the classical period – and in a particular situation: when a colony, that is to say, a new Greek community, was founded. It seems that a foundation could not be done without the presence of women who brought with them the cults from the mother country, because it was standard practice for the colonists to establish in their new cities the cults that were maintained in their mother cities. So it is impossible to imagine the performance of the rituals of Greek women’s cults by a population of largely native women and the idea of Greek men setting out alone to establish a new Greek community without any Greek women is absurd.
Jean-Luc Lamboley (Université de Grenoble II)
Political Systems and Definitions of Gender Roles, edited by Ann Katherine Isaacs (Edizioni Plus, 2001)
Abstract
If we consider the Greek civilisation from a strictly political angle, that is to say, looking at civil rights, or public activities inside well-established institutions, it is clear that the definition of women’s roles is very poor, even non-existent. Citizenship is conceded to women insofar as they give birth to children, and this way, allow to perpetuate a City always controlled by men only. At this point, I could end my speech or take the risk of being outlawed as regards the topic. But if we admit that our modern societies are still based on solid elements coming from classical antiquity – the very notion of citizenship, democracy, civil and human rights and so on –, if we admit that Greek philosophy has conceived universal values, it is not possible to imagine that this civilisation has cancelled womanhood. So my challenge is to show you that the Greeks were able to give us a very high idea of womanhood, but, as is suggested by the title of my text, it will be necessary to move from the political to the religious and artistic field.
First, we can note that the law established by Pericles around 451 B.C. is important because it proves that the legal notion of citizenship is pertinent for women who are not completely excluded from the civic community. Let me recall that according to this law a young Athenian could be a citizen only if his father and his mother were citizens in their own right. We may also recall Aristotle’s statement that the education of women is bound to be important, since they make up a half of the free population.
Secondly, the overriding importance of religion in Greek communities in general leads to consider another path to integration in the civic community: I mean priesthood. Indeed, the role of women appears very clearly when we consider the religious life of Greek cities, especially in the archaic period – when private and public activities were not as separate as in the classical period – and in a particular situation: when a colony, that is to say, a new Greek community, was founded. It seems that a foundation could not be done without the presence of women who brought with them the cults from the mother country, because it was standard practice for the colonists to establish in their new cities the cults that were maintained in their mother cities. So it is impossible to imagine the performance of the rituals of Greek women’s cults by a population of largely native women and the idea of Greek men setting out alone to establish a new Greek community without any Greek women is absurd.
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