Athenian Women :: essays research papers

ATHENIAN WOMEN It is ridiculous to assume that the Athenian wowork force of Ancient Greece were respected and worship by men. These women were not held in high regard. Men controlled all aspects of their lives, beginning with their fathers and continuing with their economizes once they married. Most girls were married in their very early teens to men that were usually much older (Xenophons Oeconomicus), sometimes as much as twice the age of their wives. The age difference was considered a moot come in since women at that time often did not survive the rigors of repeated childbirth and died young. It was also generally believed that marrying a very young girl enabled the husbands to train her and dramatis personae her into a proper Athenian wife. Athenian women had almost no influence or power in Greek society and were not highly regarded until they could take a shit a male child (Socrates). The common belief at that time (in most Western societies) was that women were necessary to produce children. Women existed for the sake of procreation, to bear sons in coiffe to continue the family name (Aristotle states that the man supplies the substance, the soul, i.e. the form for children, the woman provides only the nourishment), (Source Generation of Animals). In Athenian society, extramarital affairs by husbands with women (and men) was the norm, and it indeed contributed to the image of a mans prosperity if he had a mistress. Did the males in this society consider their wives praiseworthy? In my opinion the answer is no, since a wife who was the husbands property and could be disciplined if she did not conform to the Athenian standards of wife. Athenian wives were judged in society by their frugality, ability to raise sons, and their devotion and fidelity to their husbands, (e.g., Penelope and Odysseus). A married woman caught in adultery would have been forced to abandon her home and children for the disgrace it would bring the family name, (Hunt, pg. 70). Men in old-fashioned Athens (as in just about every Western civilization) had altered views of women. They saw women as being weak and dependent (Xenophon Oeconomicus), and because of the socioeconomic structure of the time, they were.Women in this society could, to some degree, assert power and influence in the home. The everyday life of the ideal Greek woman included child bearing and rearing, cleaning, some(prenominal) weaving cloth and making clothes, cooking and supervising slaves and other domestic tasks, (Xenophon, On Household Management).