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. custody controlled all aspects of their lives, outgrowth with their fathers and continuing with their saves once they married. Most girls were married in their very azoic teens to men that were usually much older (Xenophons Oeconomicus), sometimes as much as twice the age of their wives. The age difference was realiseed a moot point since women at that time often did not get the rigors of repeated pincerbirth and died early. 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 forefinger in Greek 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 necessity to produce children. Women existed for the sake of procreation, to bear sons in order to continue the family induce (Aristotle states that the piece supplies the substance, the soul, i.e. the form for children, the fair sex 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 awe and faithfulness to their husbands, (e.g., Penelope and Odysseus). A married woman caught in criminal conversation 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 all(prenominal) Western civilization) had altered views of women. They saw women as being weak and interdependent (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 fashioning clothes, cooking and supervising slaves and other domestic tasks, (Xenophon, On Household Management).