 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 10: "The Development of Athenian Democracy," pp. 429-441 (Tuesday) Population:
Peasants Aristocrats Prosperous to poor: similarity to metics (artisans, traders, laborers) Ergasteria: wife and children worked alongside man Pericles' building program; fleet; dockyards Polis Economy: Outflow: magistrates, administrative boards, council, dikasts, assembly members (from early 4th century), police force, public slaves, public buildings, war, celebration of religious festivals Sources of income: silver mines, indirect taxes (import and export), fines and fees, taxes on metics, liturgies Liturgies: trierarchy, choregia; eisphora (direct tax) Metics: note remarks on Pasion and Phormion at the bottom of page 435 Anaxagoras, Hippodamus, Protagoras, Polygnotus, Aristotle, Theophrastus, Zeno Slaves: war; barbarians and also Hellenes; slave-farming; slaves "living apart"; quarries, city maintenance, police force, governmental clerks (civil service) See Thucydides 7.27.5 (flight of 20,000 slaves after Decelean War in 413) [Demosthenes], Against Neara Review the Neaera speech along with the notes posted on the web site,and think in particular about the following: Section
One: Section
Two: 40. Phrynion and
Stephanus For these sections, I'm interested in having us consider how the facts on the ground relate to the laws on the books, in particular as they pertain to the lives of women and their status (legal and otherwise) in Athens.
Blundell, "The Lives of Women in Classical Athens" (Tuesday/Thursday) Think about the following questions as you read over this chapter: Exposure: Is there a difference between exposure and infanticide? Girlhood: Do you think girls had opportunities to play games with other little girls? Consider the implications of the panel on this vase. Education: What difference do you think class made to the education received by girls and boys? Religious Roles: How do you think the rituals at Brauron would have "helped to prepare a girl for the trauma of marriage"? Sexual Segregation: What is the difference between seclusion and segregation? What are the implications of the difference? Houses: How does what Blundell says about houses and women's space within them compare with the picture you derive from Xenophon? Women in the Home: What activities preoccupied women in the home? Do you agree that there was "a pervasive downgrading of the mother's role"? (Consult the passage in Xenophon [Mem. 2.2] that Blundell references.) What do you make of scenes on vases which represent: women conversing; three women conversing; woman at her toilet with four women? Athenian Women Workers: What do you make of the story about women working within the home reported by Xenophon [Mem. 2.7]? Resident Aliens: Compare what Blundell says about metic women with what is reported in Against Neaera concerning the wife and mother of the orator Lysias (section 22). What conclusions do you draw from this comparison? Slaves: Do you agree with Blundell's suggestion that "a sense of their common exclusion from the masculine world of public affairs would have produced a degree of identificaion between Athenian women and their slaves? Why or why not? Prostitutes: How does Blundell's general picture square with your impressions from your reading of Against Neaera? Older Women: How do you assess the allegedly greater freedom allowed to older women? Compare this with the statement about non-fertile females on page 112 (under Menopause). Blundell, "Women's Bodies" (Thursday) Think about the following questions as you read over this chapter: Puberty and Menstruation: Why do you think the medical writers developed their reported theories about menstruation? What views of the female were being encoded in them? Sex and Reproduction: What do you think of Blundell's interpretation of hysteria on page 101? How do you think the institution of homosexuality affected relations between men and women, if it did?
Xenophon, The Estate-Manager (Thursday) When you read this assignment, focus your attention around your reading in Blundell for Tuesday and Thursday. Ask yourself how what she reports about the character and quality of women's lives and the discourses on women's bodies are borne out by this text. Pay attention also to what is said about the life of Ischomachus: how does it differ from that of his wife? What are his duties, characteristics, responsibilities, aspirations, etc.? What is the character of the interaction between Ischomachus and his wife? What does this tell you about women's lives in a wealthy household?
Image credit: Cartledge, ed., Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece (Cambridge, 1998) page 130. London, British Museum E 190. Last updated 14 April 1998 |