Athenian Women :: essays research papers

ATHENIAN WOMEN It is ridiculous to assume that the Athenian women of Ancient Greece were respected and adore by men. These women were not held in high regard. workforce controlled all aspects of their lives, starting with their fathers and continuing with their economizes once they married. Most girls were married in their very untimely teens to men that were usually much older (Xenophons Oeconomicus), sometimes as much as twice the age of their wives. The age difference was look ated a moot point since women at that time often did not die hard the rigors of repeated clawbirth and died teenage. It was also generally believed that marrying a very young girl enabled the husbands to train her and mold her into a proper Athenian wife. Athenian women had almost no influence or provide in classical society and were not highly regarded until they could produce a male child (Socrates). The common belief at that time (in most Western societies) was that women were prerequisite to produce children. Women existed for the sake of procreation, to bear sons in order to continue the family micturate (Aristotle states that the musical composition supplies the substance, the soul, i.e. the form for children, the muliebrity provides only the nourishment), (Source Generation of Animals). In Athenian society, extramarital affairs by husbands with women (and men) was the norm, and it indeed contributed to the image of a mans prosperity if he had a mistress. Did the males in this society consider their wives praiseworthy? In my opinion the answer is no, since a wife who was the husbands property and could be disciplined if she did not conform to the Athenian standards of wife. Athenian wives were judged in society by their frugality, ability to raise sons, and their devotion and faithfulness to their husbands, (e.g., Penelope and Odysseus). A married woman caught in adultery would have been forced to abandon her home and children for the disgrace it would bring the family name, (Hunt, pg. 70). Men in ancient Athens (as in just about both Western civilization) had altered views of women. They saw women as being weak and dependant (Xenophon Oeconomicus), and because of the socioeconomic structure of the time, they were.Women in this society could, to some degree, assert power and influence in the home. The everyday life of the ideal Greek woman included child bearing and rearing, cleaning, both weaving cloth and devising clothes, cooking and supervising slaves and other domestic tasks, (Xenophon, On Household Management).