Sarah Pomeroy asked herself the question, "What were women doing while men were active in all the areas traditionally emphasized by classical scholars?." This question is the reason for her book Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves, Women in Classical Antiquity. Pomeroy basically wanted to write a book to tell what women were doing during Greek and Roman times. This is the first book written in English devoted entirely to the subject. Pomeroy covers about fifteen hundred years starting during Bronze Age and ends with the death of Constantine in A.D. 337. The book is broken down into ten chapters that start with Goddesses and Gods and then travels through time progressing to the women of Rome and Late Republic. Pomeroy does a very good job of describing all sides of life that women went through during these years of antiquity.The book begins with mythology Gods and Goddesses. Mythology gives theGreeks some of their views of women and how they are to be treated. Even with titles ofGoddesses, Aphrodite, Hestia, Athena and Artemis are still subject to the male God Zeus. Some of the Goddesses were born of man, not of woman, showing that women weren't even important or needed in child baring.The Bronze Age brings with it oral traditions of history and storytelling, this tied with hard evidence gives some information on how women were viewed by men. In the story of Homer's Illiad, the ten-year war is fought over a woman (Helen). Women were viewed as property, they were won in contests and used for payment of debt. Through the Bronze and Dark Ages, and the entire Archaic period, women were treated pretty muchthe same was varying some from city to city.Pomeroy describes many types of women who lived during Classical Greek times. Not necessarily different races of women, but different classes of women. There where citizen women, this was a woman who

Godesses,Whores,Wives,and Slaves by Sarah Pomeroy. (1969, December 31). In DirectEssays.com. Retrieved 09:43, May 24, 2013, from http://www.directessays.com/viewpaper/13759.html

Direct Essays. "Godesses,Whores,Wives,and Slaves by Sarah Pomeroy." DirectEssays.com. DirectEssays.com, (December 31, 1969). Web. 24 May. 2013.

Direct Essays, "Godesses,Whores,Wives,and Slaves by Sarah Pomeroy.," DirectEssays.com, http://www.directessays.com/viewpaper/13759.html (accessed May 24, 2013)