Sexual Power In Ancient Rome

The values and traditions that women were expected to hold changed extravagantly in the 700 years between the deaths of Lucretia and Perpetua. Through their respective documents, “Rape of Lucretia,” and “The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas,” we can see the change of ideals in the form of expecting Roman women to do chores and stay at home, while the Roman/Christian women are expected to hold their faith and Christian values dear. Both of them are portrayed in different light, but in the end it is done to argue for a cause. Lucretia is portrayed as a humble individual who holds honor of the family higher than herself. Perpetua is demonstrated as a stubborn individual who won't turn her back on her faith, even for her family.

While men have always featured prominently throughout history, women tend to be more of an afterthought, and especially in fiction, women tend to fall into strict archetypes that allow very little deviation. This holds true in Apuleius’ novel The Golden Ass, but many of the female characters also exhibit great agency and power that women in other Roman stories tended not to have. There is a wide range of female archetypes in this book but they are also deep and complex characters that should not be pigeon-holed into one category. One of the first complex female characters that Lucius, the main character, meets in The Golden Ass is the servant girl Photis. While Lucius is staying with his friend Milo, Lucius’ aunt Byrrhena warns him of Milo’s wife, Pamphile, who practices witchcraft, she tells him instead to turn his attention to Photis, saying on page 22, “So even though it has its hazards, Photis must be your target (Apuleius).”

It could be considered that at first look, Merry Wiesner-Hanks investigates an alternative view of the early modern world in terms of the history behind Christianity and Sexuality in the Early Modern World. Wiesner-Hank’s viewpoint moves on from her earlier studies in women and gender in Europe and instead investigates Latin America, Asia, Africa and North America within her renaissance studies of “how Christian ideas and institutions shaped sexual attitudes and activities from roughly 1500-1750”. This in depth examination of the concept of sexuality and the way that it is underpinned by religious life and institutions is divided into six chapters. Her chapters explore the context of sexuality within history, including women’s history, legal

The Greek gods and goddesses are the ultimate representation how Greek culture. Since the gods and goddesses did not mention Odysseus’ lack of sexual fidelity, this shows that the values for men in Greek culture were not infringed upon. Sexual fidelity and how it is dealt with by the story’s most important characters in The Odyssey show the morals of Greek

Women in The Odyssey Gender roles, specifically of women, were a little different back in 700 B.C. They played more of a typical role, expected to get married and have kids at a young age. They were expected to take care of the house and children, while their husbands were out fighting wars. However, while women in The Odyssey were greatly valued for their beauty, Homer reveals that they also had to be intelligent to be successful in their lives.

The Homeric Hymns portray Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis and Hestia as strong females who uphold their own beliefs; challenging the “typical” gender stereotypes of the time period. Women in antiquity were expected to follow and uphold certain societal rules, most of these rules emphasized the gender stereotypes that women were perceived as being. The use of the goddesses powers challenge these societal rules and ideas about women. Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, and Hestia are portrayed in the Homeric Hymns in contrast to ancient stereotypical roles of women being confined to the household; as a result this contrast emphasizes that women can showcase strength, intelligence, and power within society. A women’s life in antiquity was constricted by

This paper will discuss the well-published work of, Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken, 1975. Print. Sarah B. Pomeroy uses this book to educate others about the role women have played throughout ancient history. Pomeroy uses a timeline to go through each role, starting with mythological women, who were called Goddesses.

Modern historian, Ateneus, once wrote that Etruscan women “Lie on the kline not only with their husbands but also with strangers and have relations with anyone willing to do so” (Lobner n.d, 357)1. This is illustrated in Figure 1 where the women are shown seated next to men in the banquet. Etruscan women, whether married or unmarried are allowed to dine and socialize with men on any occasion. In other societies, the only women who are allowed to join men in banquets are the prostitutes, thus the negative interpretation over the freedom of the Etruscan woman in attending these festivities. The Etruscan women are described by other Greek societies as having no morals and women who enjoyed pleasure rather than being upright. This was observed by other societies who do not understand the right and privilege accorded to them by the society.

In ancient times, there is a general sense that women were simply items and slaves to their husbands. Ancient Greece specifically has a renowned reputation of favoring men. Men possessed the dominant role in public affairs and events while most women were pressured to stay at home. Very few records extensively discuss women; the records focus mostly on men. Despite the lacking records, it is certain how ancient Greeks viewed their women and their relationships with their male counterparts.

They viewed sex in terms of phalluses, of active and passive: something that was done to somebody, rather than with them [Source 2][Source 6][Source 9]. While an adult male was expected to sexually pursue both women and boys [Source 4][Source 9], a grown man who preferred a passive role would have been stereotyped as effeminate and ridiculed [Source 2][Source 4]. Marriages were usually for political or monetary reasons rather than love, so most romantic bonds were between two men [Source 9]. Another thing that separates the Ancient Greeks from the norms, values and definitions of today is that they attached no shame to sex

Women’s roles has changed dramatically throughout history. By looking at the lives of women, it would be possible to tell how the civilians at that specific period of time were living. In this paper, women’s lives in mainly three civilizations would be discussed, the Sparta, the Athens, and the Hellenistic era. In Sparta, women were needed to live at home, while their husbands remained in military barracks until the age thirty.

Introduction Women in the Middle ages were treated as the second class members within their social class. They were taught to be obedient to their husbands and were expected to run the household and raise children. Their role in the society, however, was much more complex, while some medieval women achieved a high level of equality with men. In the Middle Ages women had a secondary role, coming second after men.

In the Greece civilization, ladies were not given a position, they were thought to be not as much as slaves. Rome’s general public was separated into

Over generations, the role of women in society has shifted and changed immensely, improving upon many aspects of rights and values that women have. The changes occurred gave women opportunities to provide ideas, to have the same rights as men, giving women freedom, leading to many contributions of many significant and valuable events. But from current roles of women being equal to those of men, how women stood in ancient society significantly differs and contrast with ours today. Throughout history, the role and significance of women were always outweighed by the dominance and influence of men. The role of women in ancient times varied throughout, depending on the place and area in the world, in which women had different roles and impacts on their own society.

In the Ancient world, much like today, each society exercised, according to their custom, different treatment towards women. Today, unlike in the Ancient world, women enjoy more freedom, rights, and equality. In this essay, the status of women in ancient Egypt will be compared to the status of women in ancient Rome. Academic sources will be relied on to provide the necessary actualities when one investigates ancient lives and cultures. The legal status of women in society, the different roles that each unique nation’s women played, and the possible education permitted and occupations available to these women will be discussed, as well as, their domestic atmospheres will be critically compared in this short essay to demonstrate the different treatment (if there were a difference) of women in both these imposing periods of ancient history.