The Role of Women in Greco-Roman times

A detailed Summary of The Role of Women in Greco-Roman times

The Role of Women in Greco-Roman Society:

The Greco-Roman society was a very patriarchal society. This is reflected throughout the myths in classical mythology. By looking at the classic mythology we will see that the roles women portrayed are very different than women's roles in today's society. Although there are a few similarities to women's roles in today's society, their roles are more like those women in the past. We can see this by looking at the attributes of Greco-Roman female gods and looking at the roles women play in the myths. By comparing the roles of women in the myths with women's roles today we will see that the roles have many differences and few similarities.

The first things we will look at to show women's roles reflected in Classical mythology are the attributes of the female gods. Of the fourteen main Olympian Deities, only six of them are women. This includes Hera, Hestia, Demeter, Artemis, Athena, and Aphrodite. Of these six I believe Hera, Demeter, and Aphrodite best portray the role of women in Greco Roman society, as reflected in Classical mythology

The Olympian Deity who best shows the role of women is portrayed by Greek Mythology is Hera. Hera is the god

return. Now there are even women in the wars.

The Homeric Hymn to Demeter is another myth that helps explain the role of women in the Greco-Roman time period. In this myth Zeus gives away his daughter Persephone to Hades. Because of this her mother Demeter is so upset that she does not allow the crops to go. To save the human race Zeus has Hades give Persephone back. But before she returns to earth she has a pomegranate seed, meaning she must split time between the underworld and earth. This is the cause for the changing of the seasons. This myth shows how the fathers chose whom their daughters married during the Greco-Roman time period as well as blaming a woman the seasons when crops will not grow. This is different than the role woman play in today's society because although it is still common for a father to give away his daughter at wedding, fathers in our society rarely choose whom the daughter will marry.

wouldn't have that that crown or thunderbolt thrower anymore in today's society.

The story of Theseus and Hippolytus is another myth that shows the role of women in Greco-Roman society. In this story Hippolytus rejects Aphrodite to follow Artemis. In revenge, Aphrodite makes Hippolytus' mother Phaedra fall in love with him. Phaedra, unable to control her sexual desire, makes her move on Hippolytus. After he rejects her, she hangs her self and leaves a note saying that Hippolytus raped her. When his father Theseus returns he kills him. This story shows that the Roman-Greco society thought women were filled with lies and the cause of many bad things. This is different than women's roles in today society because today it is usually thought that more men lie to avoid troubles and confrontations.

Another Olympian Deity who helps show the role of women in Greco-Roman society was Demeter. Demeter is the goddess of grain and fertility. Demeter controls the crops and the making of children. I think that Demeter showed women's roles as gardeners and the thought at the time that it was the women's doing that determined whether she would get pregnant and which sex it would be. This is different than today's society because today garde

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Approximate Word count = 1469
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History