Womens' Roles in The Epic of Gilgamesh, Lysistra, and Perpetua

A detailed Summary of Womens' Roles in The Epic of Gilgamesh, Lysistra, and Perpetua

Time reveals how women's roles have changed throughout history and literature. Women have changed from the roles of submissive servants to powerful figures with leadership abilities. Each of the following pieces of literature: The Epic of Gilgamesh, Lysistrata, and Perpetua take place in different and descending time eras. As each piece is read, a new era of women's roles are revealed and with them a higher sense of their value.

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the women start their role at the "bottom rung on the ladder", always trying to climb their way to the top. They remained at home with the children, caring for them and were expected to remain loyal to their husbands. They were submissive, with no power, and had no voice in the society in which they lived. A perfect example of their value is the fact that the most respectable profession of the time was prostitution. In this story, the prostitute sent to Enkidu played a positive role for the women of the time. She brought Enkidu out of his "shell" and opened his eyes to a whole new world. She bathed him, dressed him, and brought him to civilization (Gigamesh, pg.20, 21). By bringing Enkidu to the sheph

Perpetua was a very strong woman who did not deny who she really was, even though the cost was her life. She was a Christian woman in a time where Christians were outcasts in society. She knew in her heart that Jesus Christ was her Lord and Savior and stuck with her beliefs till her dying day. Women in this time advanced into dominant figures and strong leaders in what was once a male dominant society. Perpetua was a strong female role model of her time and still inspires women everywhere no matter what race or religion to fight for what they believe in.

Although women did not seem to increase their power by much, in Lysistrata women did achieve a much stronger role in society. By setting their minds together, Lysistrata with the help of the Athenian and Spartan women ended a generation of war between Athens and Sparta. This story is a good example of how the role of women has changed. In the beginning of the story, the women were slaves to their husbands' every want and desire. The women never even questioned the way they were treated. They were not allowed to discuss how they felt about the wars their husbands were fighting. If they tried they were

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Approximate Word count = 782
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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