 CCIV 243:WOMEN AND THE POLIS Suggestions for
Study For each Thursday class, I suggest that you first read through the assigned primary material, to get an overall sense of what it is about. Second, reread the material with the notes and questions below in mind. These are designed to help you focus your attention on historical and sociological, rather than literary, issues. Third, reread the material in Blundell, Women in Ancient Greece which was assigned for Tuesday. Evaluate your own interpretation of the implications for women of the material against hers. Make notes on your observations and bring them to class.
Fine, The Ancient Greeks, Chapter 7: "Early Athens" pp. 176-208 (Tuesday) Start your reading with an overview, using PHA 58-59 and TRM 6.19-27. Here is a rough outline of the topics covered in the section of Fine's chapter assigned for today, together with some questions for you to think about as you read, and an indication of the points on which you should concentrate. Attica in the Dark Age: (176-81) What is the difference between Attica and Athens? Geometric pottery: Dates? Link here to a geometric amphora from Athens (c. 720-700) on whose neck there are representations of women mourning and men mourning. See any differences between them? The mid-body of the vase shows a frieze of chariots; the lower body has a frieze of warriors. See also the vase depicted in Fantham, etc., Women in the Classical World (WCW), page 47 (similar vase here), and compare Blundell, illustration 12 and WCW page 51. Take a look, too, at this Boeotian geometric vase (730-720) on which, at the left, a man grasps the hand of a woman and proceeds towards a two-tiered boat. And see Fine's remarks about geometric pottery on page 188. Finally, for a quick fix on geometric pottery, follow this link. Synoecism of Theseus and comparison with Boeotia: what is synoecism and what was its importance for Athens? Athens in the Dark Age: (181-88) What were the major features of the transition from monarchy to aristocracy in Athens? Who were the three archons and what were the areas under their control? Compare what Fine says about the council on pages 182-3 with what Martin says about the assembly in 6.20-22. Compare also Aristotle's description of the constitution of Athens before the time of Draco. Athens in the 7th century: (188-97) The Cylon affair (188-90): consult two of the main sources for this, Herodotus 5.71 and Thucydides 1.126. Consider what implications for the character of the period Fine draws about this episode, and see if yours correspond. As you will discover when you read Plutarch's Life of Solon for next time (cf. Fine, p. 189), the accursed family was that of the Alcmaeonidae. Herodotus tells the story of the conspiracy in the context of a discussion of Cleisthenes of Athens, a descendant of Cleisthenes, the tyrant of Sicyon. Cleisthenes of Athens was an Alcmaeonid through the maternal line. Thucydides tells the story in the context of a discussion of Pericles, who was also an Alcmaeonid, and also through his maternal line. And there is a reference to aspects of the affair in a speech of Isocrates in the early 4th century, delivered by Alcibiades the son of the famous Alcibiades, who was also an Alcmaeonid. Use this episode and these references to get a handle on this important Athenian family. Laws of Draco: reform of homicide laws. Compare Aristotle's description of Draco's constitutional reforms. Social Revolution and Economic Crisis (190-97): Compare Fine 190-97 with TRM 6.24-25 on this subject (the problem of the hektemoroi). Consider especially TRM 6.24 and Fine, page 195. And see also the alternative theory proposed by Fine on page 196. Solon and Solon's reforms (197-208): Compare TRM 6.26-27. Compare also Aristotle, Constitution of Athens 2 and Aristotle's summary of Solon's reforms. Use your reading of this section to acquire a good overall sense of the ways in which Solon's reforms altered the character of the politeia ("constitution") of Athens (pp. 203-208). Then we can talk more generally about the meaning of the reforms and the character of the Athenian polis when we read Plutarch's Life of Solon on Thursday. What were the four census classes created by Solon? How were they defined? What did membership in them entail? Compare Aristotle's description of these reforms. How was the council of the Areopagus reformed by Solon? What did this council do? How was the Council (boulê) reformed under Solon? How was it different from what it had been before his reforms? How did Solon alter the composition and functions of the assembly? Compare Aristotle's description of the officials, council of the Areopagus, and council of 400.
Blundell, Chapter 14: "Women and Religion" pp. 160-69 (Tuesday) Funerary Ritual: Pay attention especially to what Blundell says about women's participation in funerary ritual on pages 162-63. And refer back to her remarks about women and funerary ritual on pp. 72-73. How does she evaluate the importance of this activity? How does she explain its incorporation within the polis? Do you agree with her assessment? What do you think is the significance of women's role in funerary ritual? And why do you think aspects of this role were restricted through the reforms of Solon? Sacrificial
Ritual:
Plutarch, Life of Solon (Thursday) Life and works of Plutarch: Link here to Perseus's Biography of Plutarch Life of Solon: Read and review Plutarch's Life of Solon; pay particular attention to those sections in which women appear or are discussed. What do these various sections tell us about women in the archaic period? Don't just summarize what Plutarch says; try to draw some conclusions from the various bits of information about the character and quality of women's lives and of their participation in communal life in the archaic period. (Bekkah, Becky) Women in the Archaic Period: Review Blundell's chapter on "Women in age of transition." How does what she says about marriage and dowry (pp. 68-9), sexual morality (70), and women's status (74-77, esp. 76-77) accord with the impressions you have gained from your own readings in primary sources (especially Plutarch) up to this point? (Tricia, Jen) Everyone: In the Politics (1313a25ff.), Aristotle in discussing tyranny says that it shares some of the features characteristic of extreme democracy (of which Athens in the fourth century bce would be an example)--namely:
What do you think of Aristotle's claim? How does it fit in with what you have learned about tyranny and forms of government in the archaic state, and with what you can infer about women in the archaic city-state?
Image credit: Cartledge, ed., Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece (Cambridge, 1998) page 130. London, British Museum E 190. Last updated 24 February 1998 |