CCIV 243:
WOMEN AND THE POLIS

Suggestions for Study
For each Tuesday class, I suggest that you first read through the assigned material, to get an overview of the period covered, the major issues and events in it, and the aspects relating to women. Second, reread the material from Fine, The Ancient Greeks with the notes and questions below in mind: these are designed to help you organize the material for yourself and to alert you to what the major issues are. Also, consult the indicated pages in the Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece (PHA), and follow the links to the supplementary material from Thomas Martin's on-line Overview of Archaic and Classical Greek History (TRM). This will give you a slightly different perspective on the material and will help you to see how historical information can be understood and presented differently. Third, reread the material in Blundell, Women in Ancient Greece and think about the historical period covered in relation to women: what questions occur to you that are not answered by the readings in either Fine or Blundell? Make a list of these and bring them to class. For Tuesday's class, ignore the questions posted for Blundell: in most cases we will discuss these in connection with Thursday's readings. Your reading in Blundell for Tuesday can be more or less casual, and should be used to help you get started in thinking about women in relation to the historical period under discussion. For Thursday's class, read the Blundell chapter more carefully and think about it in more detail (see next paragraph).

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.

Note: This chapter has a great number of dates and places. As you read, concentrate on the following topics (in green), and within the four areas of colonization (Sicily, Southern Italy, Thrace and Black Sea, and Africa) focus on the particular colonies specified in the outline. Also, use the Penguin Historical Atlas to locate the colonies and the mother-cities.

1. Overview
Fine, p. 62; PHA 50-51; Link here to Interactive Sumary of Colonization (requires Shockwave Plug-in; you can download if it is not installed: follow instructions on screen).

2. Dates and Causes
Fine, pp. 62-66; PHA 50-51; TRM 5.5; TRM 5.6; TRM 5.8; follow link to Herodotus 1.146 either here or on TRM page; cf. the maintenance of dietary traditions by the women of Cyrene (Herodotus 4.186).

3. Near East
TRM 5.10; Fine, pp. 66-68: Lydians; Syrians; Phoenicians; Assyrians; Egypt
Link here to Interactive Map showing Assyrian Empire (requires Shockwave Plug-in)

4. First Colonies
Pithecusae; Cumae; PHA 54-55
Link here to see Nestor's Cup
Who were the colonists? Where were the colonies located?

5. Sicily
Fine, pp. 70-76; PHA 54-55; Thucydides on Sicily (see esp. 6.3)
pay attention esp. to Syracuse; see the story of the foundation of Syracuse in Pausanias; this map showing the location of Sicily relative to Olympia; this map of Sicily showing the location of Syracuse; this detail of Syracuse showing the relation between Ortygia and mainland (don't use links to return to this page); a brief description of Syracuse; and Syracusan coins on which Arethusa is represented (don't use link to return)
Morgantina: locate this on the map in Fine; note what he says about it (p. 73)

6. Southern Italy
Fine, pp. 76-79; PHA 54-55; pay attention esp. to Tarentum; Strabo on the founding of Tarentum (Taras)

7. Thrace and Black Sea
Fine, pp. 79-83; PHA 54-55; pay attention esp. to Phasis and Dioscurias (p. 83)

[8. Africa
Fine, pp. 83-90; PHA 52-53; pay attention exp. to Cyrene; TRM 5.9; Herodotus 4.150-67; 200-204 (pay attention esp. to fortunes of Pheretima); to be discussed in more detail in class on Thursday: read and study this section last. To see a representation of the difference between a round-bellied merchant vessel and a more streamlined warship (a penteconter, of the kind that the colonists from Cyrene used), link here to the ships on an Attic black-figure vase of the sixth century.]

9. Colonization Pattern
Fine, pp. 90-93; TRM 5.7;

10. Phocaea and Alalia
For an example of the foundation of a colony where women and children are brought along, see Herodotus' story about the Phocaean reaction to the attack on their city by the Persian general, Harpagus, in 540 bce (1.164-67).

Discussion questions for Tuesday:
I. Get the facts of the matter straight first; review the chapter and make sure you know the answers to the following questions:
What were the principal causes of colonization?
During what time period did the colonizing movement take place?
What was the influence of events in the Near East on the Greek pattern of colonization?
Where were the first Greek colonies; when were they established, and by whom?
Who were the most active early colonizers of Sicily and when?
Who were the most active colonizers of Southern Italy and when?
Who were the most active colonizers of Thrace and the Black Sea area and when?
What were the two major colonies in Africa; when were they founded and by whom?

II. Now we can take up some issues for discussion:
1. Review what Fine and TRM say about the "colonization pattern": how does this jibe with what you know or can infer about colonization or similar kinds of settlements in the contemporary period? What do you think about what Herodotus says in 1.146 about native women? What do you know about women in new settlements in this country and about relations with the "old country"? Do you think any of it might apply to the Greek experience?
2. Syracuse: Review Pausanias' account of its foundation and compare it with what Thucydides says, and with what is said on Perseus (see esp. the first paragraph under "Physical Description" and the first paragraph under "Description"). How do you interpret the story of Arethusa in relation to the founding of Syracuse? Is it just an incidental or aetiological myth, or does it have something more to say about the colonization process?
3. Tarentum: Review what Strabo says about the founding of this colony. What does this story have to say about the role and function of women in the colonization process?
4. Cyrene: Review what Fine, TRM and PHA have to say about the foundation of Cyrene. Compare this with Herodotus' narrative in 4.150-67; 200-204, paying attention especially to the fortunes of Phronima and Pheretime. What do you think is the function of Phronima in the foundation story? Evaluate this with reference to the three versions of the foundation (the Theran, Cyrenaean, and inscriptional versions).

Women in an Age of Transition
In this chapter Blundell discusses many of the issues which we have raised in class, and to which we have given some attention. Use your reading of this chapter to review these matters and to identify issues which you would like to see discussed futher. For the most part, we'll bring these up when we talk about the period of tyranny (next week), when you will have read some stories in Herodotus about archaic marriage patterns. But start thinking now especially about what Blundell says about marriage and the dowry system on pages 68-69, and about sexual morality in the Archaic Age on page 70. And insofar as we've already begun discussion about the status of women, it will now be interesting for you to evaluate what Blundell has to say about it on pp. 74-77, esp. 76-77.

Women and the Poets
Your reading of this short chapter can serve as an introduction to the topic of women in archaic poetry: for now, you can evaluate what Blundell says against what you can infer about the representation of women from your reading of Pindar.

Review material on colonization in Africa with reference to Cyrene (above); review also the material relating to Jason and Medea with reference to colonization in the Black Sea area (above). In reviewing the material on Cyrene, pay particular attention to the three versions of the foundation story (Theraean; Cyrenaean; Founder's Pact) and the differences among them.

See also Herodotus 4.145-6, where the descendants of the Argo crew return to Sparta. This story will figure in Pythian 4. The background to it is related by Herodotus at 6.137-38, where there is also an interesting story about captured women (in this case, Athenian women) maintaining cultural integrity and separateness.

Pythian 4
This is a long ode, which is also convoluted in terms of its central myth, which is what concerns us. Here is how to read it:

1. Read the Introduction, and continue on to read through the whole ode. Then read the ode over in the following steps, which will help you put its events in chronological sequence.

The basic chronological sequence of events is: 1. return of Jason to Iolcus; 2. reunion with family and dispute with Pelias; 3. proposition of voyage to recover the golden fleece; 4. departure of Argo; 5. landing of Argo in Colchis; 6. episode with Medea; 7. departure of Argo and sojurn on the island of Lemnos; 8. sojurn in Libya, where Euphemus is given the clod of earth; 9. sojurn on Thera, where Medea delivers the prophecy about the foundation of Cyrene; 10. the foundation of Cyrene by Battus, descendant of Euphemus, in the seventeenth generation after the voyage of the Argo.

2. Reread the mythological background paragraph (use back button to return) and start the story from that point:

3. Back in Iolcus, Pelias usurped the throne from his elder brother,Aeson. When Jason was born, Aeson had him smuggled out of the way to the centaur Cheiron; when Jason grew up he returned to Iolcus to claim the throne. This part of the myth is related in Pythian 4, beginning with strophe 4 (below), which sets out to explain why the voyage of the Argo was undertaken.

You can see the location of Iolcus (in Thessaly) on the map in PHA 47; it was a major Mycenean site.

In strophes 4-7, Jason returns to Iolcus. Read these, noting the references to parentage and genealogy: Jason claims the right to the throne (in antistrophe 5) by virtue of his descent from Aeolus. Pelias (the usurper and the half-brother of Jason's father Aeolus), by contrast, was descended from Poseidon rather than Aeolus. Link here to see an outline of the genealogy.

4. Pelias is no dummy, however, and in epode 7-strophe 8 he reminds Jason that his grandfather's brother (Athamas) had committed a crime against his son Phrixus which still requires expiation--namely, a voyage to retrieve the golden fleece. If Jason accomplishes that, Pelias promises, he will yield the throne to him.

5. In antistrophe 8-antistrophe 9 Jason assembles the crew of the Argo: note the inclusion of Euphamus, identified as being from Tainaros in the Peloponnese. He is the link to Cyrene, and he is the son of Poseidon and Europa (see epode 2).

6. In epode 9-strophe 10 the Argo sets out, reaches the mouth of the Black Sea (the Euxine), and goes on to land at the banks of the river Phasis in Colchis. See PHA 51 for the location.

7. The story of Medea and Jason is related in strophe 10-antistophe 11. In epode 11, Pindar indicates he will "make a long story short," and he goes on there and in strophe 12 to relate aspects of the return journey of the Argo and to rejoin the myth to the main body of the poem.

8. The main points of the juncture are:
A. the sojourn with the Lemnian women (epode 11 and strophe 12). (For the island of Lemnos in relation to Iolcus, see PHA p. 47.) There Euphemus engenders a race of descendants. Pindar doesn't say so, but the ancient commentators add the following explanation: Euphemus had intercourse with the Lemnian woman Lamache and Leucophanes was born from the union; Aristotle, the ancestor of Arcesilas, king of Cyrene, was a descendant of this line.
B. the return of Euphemus' descendants to Sparta (strophe 12). At some later point, the family was driven out of Lemnos and went to Sparta. Pindar just barely references this event, but Herodotus, in the passage mentioned earlier (4.145-6), fills in the blanks.
C. the colonization of Thera (= Kallista) from Sparta (strophe 12). This story is related more fully in Herodotus, in the section assigned for reading under 8.Africa.
D. the colonization of Cyrene (=Kyrana) from Thera, which takes us to the next main section of the ode from the chronological point of view:

9. On the voyage home, the Argo and its crew reach the future site of Cyrene. There, the sea-god Triton, in the guise of Eurypylos, son of Poseidon, welcomes the crew, offers them hospitality, and, when they politely decline, gives Euphemus a portent in the form of a clod of earth. This segment is related in epode 1-antistrophe 2.

(Note: in case you were wondering how come the crew was carrying the ship over the desert for twelve days, you can link here to the answer.)

10. In antistrophe 2, Medea, who is speaking, reports that the clod of earth fell overboard as the Argo journeyed home, and that it washed up on the shores of Thera. At this point in the poem, the Argo has landed at Thera, and Medea's speech, delivered on Thera, is part of a prophecy which links Euphemus with Thera.

11. As Medea reports it in antistrophe 1, Libya will eventually be colonized from Thera--i.e., through the foundation of Cyrene.

12. At the end of the prophecy, in epode 2, Medea reports that, if the clod had not been washed overboard, Cyrene would have been colonized from Tainaros, in the fourth generation.

13. Instead, as Medea goes on to explain in strophe 3-epode 3, Cyrene was colonized from Thera by Battus, in the seventeenth generation (see strophe 1; the seventeenth generation from the time of the Argo = eight generations back from the time of Arcesilas, 462 bce).

Discussion questions and issues (Thursday):
Differences and similarities between Herodotus's and Pindar's accounts of the founding of Cyrene
The role of Phronima in Herodotus
The role of Pheretima in Herodotus
The role of Medea in Pythian 4
Comparison of the mythological (Pindar and Herodotus) with the historical account of the foundation of Cyrene

Pythian 9
This ode is a lot shorter than Pythian 4. Read through the whole ode and the accompanying notes, but concentrate on lines 1-75 (the story of Cyrene) and lines 103-26 (the story of Alexidamus' marriage).

Note that your links to both the ode and commentary take you to pages which were part of a particularly fine student web project for the course mentioned on the CCIV 243 homepage. You can see the contents of the whole "page" on "The Poetry of Praise: Pindar's Epinician Odes" by going to the Main Menu at the bottom of the pages on Pythian 9. Let it be an inspiration for you!

Discussion questions and issues (Thursday):
Compare the "maturation process" for Cyrene and Apollo: both of them start out, in the ode, as youthful virgins. What does maturation mean for Apollo? How does this differ from or compare to what maturation is for Cyrene? What is Cyrene's life like after she is married?
Consider the implications of lines 90-100, and the reactions of the girls and women who watch Telesicrates's victories in his competitions. Why do you think Pindar uses this device to praise Telesicrates?
What do you make of the story of Alexidamus' marriage, and the bride-contest leading up to it? What is the relationship between this story and that of Cyrene?

Last updated 10 February 1998