...Greek Mythology has assigned many roles to women in society. Women hold most of the power, although it is not very obvious. Also, women have to be beautiful in order to be accepted into Greek society. Finally, women are supposed to be obedient in Greek society. Women hold most of the power in Greek society. In the myth the Trojan War, Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite find a golden apple labeled “to the fairest.” They all believe the apple is for themselves, so they go to Paris of Troy to decide. All three goddesses offer something to Paris. Paris chooses Aphrodite, who offers the most beautiful woman in the world. Women played a huge role in starting the Trojan War. It was the goddesses who went to Paris and it was a woman that Paris was after. Women have to be beautiful in order to be accepted in Greek society. For example, in the myth Perseus, Medusa is turned into a Gorgon, “each with wings, and snaky hair, most horrible to mortals." Medusa is shunned by society because she looks like a horrible monster. Perseus is told to go slay Medusa because she isn't beautiful and because she is a monster....
Words: 405 - Pages: 2
...first sentence of the Production Notes declares that “it is a memory play.” The term “memory play” suggests that it is a play worked out in one’s mental process, rather than a realistic representation. Instead of external reality, the inner vision becomes the primary concern of expressionistic drama. Thus this paper focuses on the repressed state of each character in the Wingfield family, and tries to shed light on their inner psychology by means of psychoanalytical approach. As a mother figure, Amanda is quite distinctive from those in conventional drama. With the father absent for years, Amanda takes on not only maternal nuturing responsibilities but also the paternal disciplinary role. She is a breadwinner (though partly) as well as a caretaker. Yet in her attempt to fulfill this double-sided role, she actually encounters a series of frustrations and repressions, which provoke her to escape into the retreat of past. In the play, what characterizes Amanda is her poignant sentiment toward the Old South days. She believes in the myth of “gracious living, family tradition, chivalry, coquetry” (Senata 23). Obsessed with the past, she frequently retold her memory as a young girl who received at most seventeen gentleman callers within a Sunday afternoon. Once these memories are provoked, “her eyes lift, her face glows, and her voice becomes rich and elegiac” (Glass 10). The elegiac mood nevertheless permeates the...
Words: 2012 - Pages: 9
...The roles of women in ancient Greek tragedies . The ancient Greek society was a society dominated by men, even the plays and proses mostly constituted of heroics of men, like Hercules, Achilles and many other. In such societies , women were considered to be frail and were expected to be submissive to men, a prize of war for victors, and their main role was to support their husbands. However, in many tragedies, women were often depicted as major characters, inkling that women may not have been the weak the submissive characters as they were thought to be. Many well-known Greek plays contained several well-written, complex, and heroic female characters. Each female character took upon herself, the role of villain, the role of victim, and the role of heroine. The tragedies also revealed the problems women encountered in this era within marriage, inheritance and social life when they attempted to break out of their traditional gender roles. Clytemnestra, daughter of Leda and Tyndareus, was probably one of the most recognizable female villains in history due to her partaking in the murder of her husband Agamemnon and his female consort, Cassandra. . in the play Agamemnon by Aeschylus, she was depicted as brutal, treacherous, and cunning woman. Her speeches made the citizens and the audiences to be well-aware of how she would welcome her husband home. “Let there spring up into the house he never hoped To see, where justice leads him in, a crimson path. In all things...
Words: 2094 - Pages: 9
...Vredenburg Myths of the Greek World #3 Assignment In our society the roles and equality of men and women are treated as equal. The norms of men and women have changed through history in the U.S. and in countries around the world. Particularly in the eyes of Greek culture, there are many differences in how they portray men and women. They express their views through their stories of Greek mythology. This is best expressed in the Greek plays and stories such as Sophocles’ Antigone and Oedipus the King. In the story of Antigone and Oedipus theKing, male are predominantly superior to women, yet some of the women in the stories transgressed their roles in society to their own. The roles of women in Greek society were very similar to the roles of women all around the world. Their role in society was to be the care takers and was known as nothing more than a child bearer and object of sex. They were portrayed as weaker and obedient to men. In Sophocles play of Antigone, Antigone’s sister says, "We who are women should not contend with men; we who are weak are ruled by the stronger. . . Pardon me if I obey our rulers since I must" (Sophocles, Antigone 61-66). This shows us how typical women act and believe in Greek society. In Oedipus the King, the inferiority of women is shown through the portrayal of Jocasta, being shown as the weaker sex. As we have learned from history, in these Greek plays, the women were played by men, showing that they did not trust women because of the presumed...
Words: 1409 - Pages: 6
...and roles that are intended to apply to men and women. These gender roles and structures also seem to transcend into the literature of that society and time period respectively. There is a particularly stark contrast in the roles of women between cultures in specific stories. European-centric stories tend to have inverted roles of women in comparison to Native American stories. For example, Theseus, a tale of greek mythology, has strikingly contrastive roles of women when juxtaposed to a book such as Land of the Spotted Eagle that emphasizes women’s roles in Native American stories and culture. These examples, among others highlight differences and make note of similarities. The...
Words: 940 - Pages: 4
...own history as well. The Ancient art period started before 500 B.C with its characteristics were about God, Goddess and Heroes. Women, in ancient Greek and Roman societies, did not have high status and they were considered as properties of men. During that time, woman was just being a wife and being a mother and stayed at home to take care of the house for her man. Women did not have any role in politics therefore they could not vote and they did not have any right for themselves. The roles of women could be learned by reviewing how female figures were created through the ancient Greek and Roman art works. Most of the female figures, in any art work during this period, were either goddess; such as statue of Athena goddess of wisdom,warfare and women's craft, or monsters; such as Sphixn in Greek mythology. Therefore, during the ancient...
Words: 839 - Pages: 4
...Women had a minimal role in Greek society. How far do you agree? Discuss. As a woman living in the Classical Period of Greece, your life was controlled heavily by those around you. This is true, at least through the eyes of ancient male authors. Xenophon makes a statement in the Oeconomicus that embodies the entirety of the predominant male view on women’s place in society: ‘And since both the indoor and the outdoor tasks demand labour and attention, God from the first adapted the woman’s nature, I think, to the indoor and a man’s to the outdoor tasks and cares.’ (Xenophon, 1979; Sommerschield, 2015/16) These writings, however, are littered with the ancient stereotypes and fictions that populated the fringes of the male imagination when addressing the female role (Sommerschield, 2015/16). The culture of classical Grecian society was rife with...
Words: 2002 - Pages: 9
...Name_____________Jawad Salman_________________________ Global Issue Response Form: Greek Drama (rev. 6/13) (The easiest way to complete the assignment is to download the Word file from CN or MyCourses, save it with your own filename, type your response into the Word document, save the document, and submit it. Please delete excess blank lines in each section.) Before completing this form, please see the sample Global Issue Response on CN and MyCourses (Bb) Submit your response via MyCourses Assignments in the correct folder for this response Check which one of the two relevant Global Studies learning outcomes best relates to your specific Global Issue topic. Your Global Issue response must be on one or more of the plays we have read in this course and the surrounding culture of 5th Century BCE Athens and Greece. _____ Describe and analyze a culture or society outside the United States, or describe and analyze some part or aspect of this culture or society in relation to the wider culture or society of which it is a part. (Choose this outcome for a topic that relates to the entire culture, such as religion, customs, and political structures.) __X___ Identify and analyze cultural or social diversity in a culture or society that is found outside the United States. (Choose this outcome for a topic that relates to some form of diversity within the culture, such as issues involving race, class, or gender.) Identify, in a sentence or two, your specific Global Issue...
Words: 1381 - Pages: 6
...The earliest Greek civilizations thrived nearly 4,000 years ago. The Ancient Greeks lived in Greece and the countries that we now call Bulgaria and Turkey. The Ancient Greece empire spread over Europe as far as France in the East. The Greek Empire was most powerful between 2000 BC and 146 BC The ancient Greeks developed new ideas for government, science, philosophy, religion, and art. Ancient Greece was split into many different states, each one was ruled in its own way. Each state had its own laws, government and money but they shared the same language and religion. The two most important city states were Athens and Sparta. Legacy of the Ancient Greeks - (How Ancient Greece influenced modern day culture.) The influence of the Ancient Greeks are still felt by us today. The major impact in our lives today are in the arts, in philosophy, and in science, math, literature and politics. How do we know about ancient Greece We know much about the Ancient Greeks from objects which have survived for thousands of years. Archaeologists have dug up Ancient Greek artifacts and buildings and marine archaeologists have found wrecks of Ancient Greek ships and their cargoes. Pottery has been the most useful find because it was often decorated with scenes of everyday life. We could work out what life was like by studying the pictures on the pots. The Romans liked the buildings, statues and paintings of the Ancient Greeks and copied them. Some of these have survived...
Words: 2012 - Pages: 9
...Feminism in Ancient Greek Culture from the Perspective of Lysistrata Lysistrata is portrayed as a hero by Aristophanes and just as Antigone had played a social role in politics, so is Lysistrata portrayed. Most ancient Greek writers were people who had established themselves in the society. They were people of class, and when they wrote about women, they mostly wrote about women from their own social class. Women were shown to participate only in the domestic roles of childbearing and that saw many women confined to their houses. They rarely ventured out of the proximity of their domestic dwellings, let alone participate in manly politics. Lysistrata, however, steps up and take up a political role, an unusual thing in ancient Greek. She empowers women and shows their ability to run the state. Lysistrata is thus shown to be a feminist hero boasting of women empowerment. Many Marxist thinkers would conclude that Lysistrata was nothing more about feminism bout about sex. The women of Greece attempt to end the war using their sexuality, an act that prevails as they see their men return home and agree to sign a peace treaty. There is, however, much more beyond sexuality as the play displays issues of gender, masculinity and femininity. In Lysistrata, the masculine authority that has always prevailed in Ancient Greek is challenged by the women of Greece. The main characters, Lysistrata, Myrrhina and kalonike are all given positive roles that depict women as heroes. ...
Words: 1781 - Pages: 8
...events. Even still, these works helped define Greek culture to what it was. An aspect of every culture is defining the roles of all citizens. All men, women, and children had roles in Greek culture, roles given to certain individuals varied by city-state. One group of individuals to concentrate on is women. The role and rights of women have been debated for centuries. Two city-states in Greek society, Athens and Sparta, offer a glimpse into two ancient cultures in which the role of women was vastly different. Athens and Sparta were two city-states in Ancient Greece. A city-state...
Words: 1041 - Pages: 5
...Women in Greek Society Although modern historians focused on cultural advancements in Ancient Greece, the society remained traditional, in that males assumed a bigger role in most aspect. While men were able to get involved in politics, through a system called polis, women were only confined to oikos, in which they were expected to stay at home and watch their children. Although they had right to their property, this was only possible with the permission of the husband, whom they had to rely on heavily in order to carry out their restrictions, such as going outside. Also, older men married young females, which led the husbands to become overly controlling of their wives. Women and men were expected to live in this manner from early in life, which is shown by the fact that girls were heavily supervised while boys had relative freedom. However, although...
Words: 1583 - Pages: 7
...Cultures: Greece and Rome A gender role is something that decides what role the man will play in society, and what role the woman will play in society. These roles can include the position, status, activities, and behavior that is appropriate for one’s sex. The roles of men and women have always been different, and they have generally been expected to have different attitudes and thoughts. Social aspects are reflected by behavior, and the idea that specific behavior is naturally tied to the biological sex of a person is challenged by these social aspects. The word “role” can be reducing because it indicates that something is strongly characterized, but gender roles are specific to culture and history, and the roles do change over time. Gender roles have stayed fairly regular over the course of time, such as women being the sole custodian of the children, many of the roles have changed. It is necessary to know that gender roles can be explained in different ways depending on the culture and background of a specific people. Some cultures feel as if the woman should stay home and take care of the children and the home, while other cultures may feel that the woman should be out making money to help support the family. Even today some cultures believe that women should not be independent or build a family for themselves. Some expectations of gender roles even still prohibit women the right to vote or try to be equal to men. The specifics of gender roles are not determined by biological...
Words: 841 - Pages: 4
...violence, young boys are playing female rolls without wearing masks, many scenes and time change. However, if it was played in Greek theatre style, the audience could see a different style of performance and there would be a different effect. In Greek Theatre we would see no violence; males would play female parts by wearing masks, there would be one setting and day light only. In the Renaissance theatre violence was shown frequently at their performances. In the story of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is involved in a street fight and he kills Tybalt, who was Juliet’s cousin. In the Greek theatre no violence was shown. If it was played in Greek theatre style, the audience wouldn’t see violence in the theatre. In my opinion, if we want to play Romeo and Juliet in Greek Theatre style, the option would be a narrator to tell the story of the street fight which ends up with the death of Juliet’s cousin which eventually raises the tension between two families and the opposition of Juliet’s family with marriage to Romeo. In Romeo and Juliet, we can see young boys playing women’s roles in Renaissance style. They create typical images of female characteristics. In a Renaissance theatre young boys were the performers of female roles and they wore no masks if required. Teenage boys were used to play female roles because of their high pitched voices, sounding more like women; they look more natural...
Words: 826 - Pages: 4
...events that take place in this work of literature. While Medea was a Greek horror story at the time it was written, major concepts of the play now appeal to modern feminist ideas. Medea addresses some important topics...
Words: 963 - Pages: 4
