|
 CCIV 243:
WOMEN AND THE POLIS
SPRING
1998
BACKGROUND AND
STUDY NOTES
TOPIC:
TYRANNY
Image
credit
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.
Fine, The Ancient Greeks, Chapter 5: "Social, Economic,
and Political Developments in the Seventh and Six Centuries"
(Tuesday)
Start your
reading with an overview, using PHA 56-57 and
TRM
6.16-6.18.
Here is a rough outline of the topics covered in Fine's
chapter; in the section on tyrannies in the various poleis,
you should concentrate especially on the starred cities.
Make sure to
follow the indicated links, since they will take you to information
which fills in the picture of the age of tyrants especially
as it relates to women.
Introduction (94-104): the rise of trade and industry;
the "hoplite revolution" (cf. the material on the "origins"
page); codification of the laws and the lawgivers. For now,
read over this material and get a general sense of what the
major developments were: we'll discuss laws and lawgivers in
more detail when we get to Athens.
Tyranny (104-8): general characteristics of tyranny
and tyrants. As with the previous section, read this over
for a general sense of things, paying particular attention,
however, to what Fine says about the "dêmos". See also
Aristotle's remarks in Politics
1315b on the
three longest tyrannies: Sicyon, Corinth, and Athens.
Corinth* (108-14): displacement of Bacchiads by
Cypselids (655-555); Herodotus
5.92b-e; also
Pausanias
2.4.4 on
Bacchiads; note the continuation of colonization during this
period; note also the range of laws attributed to Periander;
marriage of Periander (Pausanias
1.28.8
[scroll down to section 8]); see also Herodotus
5.92g;
quarrel with his son and revenge upon Corcyreans
(Herodotus
3.48-53);
peacemaker between Athens and Mytilene (Herodotus
5.95).
Sicyon* (114-24): Orthagorids (655-555); First
Sacred War (590's); reorganization of Pythian games (582);
cf. Isthmian games in honor of Poseidon (582) and Nemean
games in honor of Zeus (573); marriage of Agariste (576?).
Read Herodotus's account of this courtship: 6.126-131.
Argos (120-21): Pheidon (660?)
Megara (124-25): Theagenes (c. 640); daughter
married to Cylon of Athens (632); poems of Theognis (fl.
550)
Mytilene* (125-27): oligarcy of Penthilids;
Melanchrus; Myrsilus; Pittacus (617-608 or 587-579); see
Aristotle, Politics
1311b23 on
Penthilids; Aristotle, Politics
1285a29;
1274b18 on Pittacus; Diodorus
9.11.1 and
9.12.1 on Pittacus; Strabo
13.1.38 on
Alcaeus; Strabo
13.2.3
on Alcaeus and
Sappho
Ephesus (127-28): tribal organization and
reorganization; intermarriage with Mermnadae
Samos (128-31): Polycrates (532-22); naval power;
building program
Conclusion (131-36): tyrants and aristocrats and
masses; tyrants and constitutional change; tyrants as
builders; tyranny as transitional; coinage.
Discussion questions
and issues for Tuesday:
I. Facts of the matter:
What were the general characteristics of tyranny and
tyrants?
Who and when were the tyrants at Corinth, Sicyon, and
Mytilene?
II. Questions for
discussion:
How do women figure in the accounts of tyranny at Corinth
and Sicyon? Pay attention to when women are and when they
are not mentioned in the sources. Why the inclusions? Why
the exclusions?
Think about how the role of women figures in the overall
exploits and achievements of the tyrants. How do you
evaluate the roles and status of women in this period and
under these political circumstances?
After you have read the material for Tuesday, refer back to
Blundell's chapter on "Women in an Age of Transition" and
see if you agree with everything she says there.
Blundell, "Women
as Poets: Sappho"
See below under Alcaeus and Sappho for the context in which
we'll be discussing this chapter.
Blundell, "Women
in Stone"
We won't treat this chapter in class unless students bring
up aspects of it which they would like to discuss. But,
among the questions you might want to think about are:
How do you interpret the representation of female nudity?
Do you agree or disagree with Blundell's assessment?
How do you interpret the discrepancy between male and female
nudity? How does your interpretation accord with hers?
For an interesting
discussion of ancient
Greek clothing (specifically, that of women) you might
want to check out this site. (It takes a while to load; be
patient!)
Alcaeus and
Sappho
Compare and contrast the following groups of poems. How do
Alcaeus and Sappho treat the themes in question? How do
their treatments of the same or analogous themes differ? Pay
attention in particular to features which you think might be
linked to or influenced by the gender of the poet. Also,
refer back to Blundell's brief chapter on "Women and the
Poets" and evaluate your views against what she says there.
And, for Sappho, consider what Blundell says on pages 86-91
and see if your view of Sappho overall corresponds with
hers. For the first three groups of poems, the designated
hitters should prepare to lead the discussion.
1. Alcaeus' Symposium and
Sappho's "Circle": (Bekkah, Rachel)
Alcaeus, poems 3, 13-17, 20-22
Sappho, poems 1, 6, 9-15, 24
2. Heroic Legend:
(Becky,
Jen)
Alcaeus, poems 4, 10
Sappho, poems 4, 8
3. Hymns to the gods:
(Tricia,
Andrea)
Alcaeus, poems 2, 12
Sappho, poems 2, 5
4. Brother:
Alcaeus, poem 19
Sappho, poem 3
5. Political Life
Alcaeus, poems 1, 5-9, 11, 18
6. Epithalamia
Sappho, poems 18-23
Parker on Sappho
(Sarah R, Sarah W, Mary
Liz)
1. Think about the readings for Alcaeus and Sappho: what
kinds of context do you think lie behind the poems? To whom
are the poets speaking, and why? What, overall, is the main
import of what they are saying?
2. Read through Parker's article, concentrating especially
on sections IX-XIII. Evaluate what he says against (a) what
you may already have learned about Sappho; (b) what Blundell
says about Sappho on pages 82-85. Are you convinced by
Parker's arguments? Why or why not?
Return
to Syllabus
Image credit: Cartledge, ed.,
Cambridge
Illustrated History of Ancient Greece (Cambridge, 1998) page 130.
London, British Museum E 190.
Last updated 16 February
1998
|