ULT #15

Article: "The Rise of Women in Ancient Greece"
Author: Michael Scott

The article focuses on the history and roles of women in Ancient Greece during the 4th century B.C.E. He first notes that history, especially ancient history, is often times written for men. Ancient Greece was a "man's state," glorifying men, their fighting/wars, their conquests, their triumphs, etc. However, Scott turns it around and puts the focus on women in a positive light. He says that just as women have advanced within the past 50 years, historians have studied their roles throughout history more extensively. He gives details about inventions that are credited to women of the time, such as curse tablets, before mentioning Cynisca, a Greek woman who "would be worshipped as a hero in Sparta: the ultimate female sporting pin-up." Despite the fact that women in Ancient Greece "had no independent existence in the eyes of the law," they were able to bring an issue up in court as long a they were under a male guardian speaking for them, and cases were able to be brought up against them. (However, this was usually used to condemn them.) Scott then goes into further descriptions of women's roles, such as their strong influence/ability to affect society through mothering, and their eventual drifting away from being stuck to solely managing the home. I, personally, was unaware of the role of women and assumed that many of them just stayed home, taking care of the home and kids, drastically below men. However, this has given me a deeper understanding of the influence that they DID have on society, and the progress they made in their roles, which allows me to better understand their current position in Europe/the world.