The role of Women in Greece :: essays research papers

Greek women, as depicted as in their history and literature, execute many hardships and struggle to establish a meaningful status in their society. In the Odyssey, Penelopes unless purpose in the epic is to back down Odysseus and remain loyal to him. She is at home and struggles to keep her family intact while Odysseus is away trying to return to his native land. The cultural role of women is depicted as being supportive of man and nothing more. Yet what women in ancient Greece did long ago was by far more impressive than what men did. regrettably though, they were still placed at a level that was below man because he is depicted as being the rootof the family. This fact not only holds true for The Odyssey but in the ancient Greek way of life, too. For example, women did not have such a meaningful role in Greek dramatic event as the men did. The parts of women would be played by men in the majority of the plays. The reason this took place was because all of the playwrights were men. There were cases in which women were utilize in plays but they were used solely as models. Nonetheless, all of the types of women that lived in ancient Greece were depicted in all of the playwrights. The women in these plays were depicted by the role of a sinner, saint, poetess, coward, heroine, and many more. This was purposefully done in an attempt to make the audience relate to a certain character. In doing so, they could imagine that they were indeed a part of the play to some extent. As a result, these characters have significant religious meanings and serve as a form of inspiration to other women. This would in the main apply to those women who were in attendance. This would include women of all classes that simply wanted to watch a play. Their limitations amongst society can also be noticed by the heart and soul of education that they are entitled to. Platos Republic mentions how the role of women is determined by the status of their spouse. For instance, if a woman were to be the wife of a guard, whence she would be expected to live at the level of that status, too. She is expected to be able to contribute to society a great deal more alternatively than stay at home and take care of her children and household.