Appalachian State University
Department of Theatre & Dance presents
Women in Ancient Athens
In her article “Designing Women: Aristophanes’ Lysistrata and the ‘Hetairization’ of the Greek Wife,”* Sarah Culpepper Stroup discusses Aristophanes’ use of imagery to equate the citizen wives in Lysistrata with the hetairai, or courtesans, of the time. She argues that, because proper Greek wives would never engage in a public display of sexuality, Aristophanes uses the image of the hetairai to help bring the private sexual negotiations of the wives into the public sphere.
In “The Women of Greece in Wartime,”* David Schaps cites instances of Greek women helping to defend their cities against attack (194-196). He also talks about what happened to women when their cities were defeated (202-206).
In his article, "The Female Intruder: Women in Fifth-Century Drama,"* Michael Shaw discusses the deconstruction of masculine and feminine qualities in Lysistrata on pp. 264-65. Note: Shaw repeatedly uses the work oikos, which means household or family.
In response to the Shaw article referenced immediately above, in “The ‘Female Intruder’ Reconsidered: Women in Aristophanes’ Lysistrata and Ecclesiazusae,”* Helene P. Foley discusses the domestication of public space by the women in Lysistrata (7-8). She also notes that Lysistrata may have been seen as a personification of the goddess Athena and outlines some of their similarities (9-10).
In his 1955 article, "The Status of Women in Athens,"* Charles Seltman argues that women had a higher status in Athenian society than many researchers suggest.
“Salvation and Female Heroics in the Parados of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata"* by Christopher A. Faraone compares aspects of Greek salvation stories with aspects of the first entrance of the semi-chorus of old women. These similarities may have signified to Greek audiences that the women were acting as saviors of Athens.
One book that offers a wealth of information on Athenian women is Women in Ancient Greece by Sue Blundell (available at Belk Library). The chapters entitled “Women’s bodies” (98), “Women in Athenian law and society” (113), and “The lives of women in Classical Athens” (130) provide a detailed look at many aspects of the lives of Athenian women including marriage, sex, childbirth, their roles and responsibilities both within the domestic sphere and as citizens, and how they were viewed by men. The chapter “Women and the philosophers” (181) summarizes the differing ideas held by Plato and Aristotle about the role of women in an ideal society. Plato’s philosophy advocates equal participation of women in high political offices within an elite ruling class (though, at the same time, it devalues women’s traditional roles and emphasizes the natural superiority of men). Aristotle’s philosophy discusses the belief that women are fundamentally different from (and, in many ways, inferior to) men in their physiological, psychological, and social characteristics and the need for these separate contributions to build an ideal community.
The book Women in the Classical World: Image and Text (available at Belk Library), has chapters entitled, "Spartan women : women in a warrior society" and "Women in classical Athens : heroines and housewives."
In the book Hippocrates' Woman: Reading the Female Body in Ancient Greece* (available in ebook form by clicking on the title), Helen King sets out to address Hippocratic medicine, specifically gynaecology, in the cultural context in which it was performed, and how later writers and practitioners of medicine used this gynaecology as a springboard for their own ideas and actions. One important thing that she bases a lot of her argument on is how gender inequality affects gender inequality in medicine and vice versa. Through this book, one can gain insight into not only how a woman was seen from a cultural and medical standpoint in Ancient Greece, but also how some of these ideas have created and inspired a legacy that still exists with us today. (Annotation courtesy of Callie Rawlins)
Pierre Brule’s book Women of Ancient Greece (available at Belk Library) has a section called “Women and men: genders or sexes?” (96) containing information about the belief that a woman’s uterus was actually an animal that could become restless and move around her body causing a number of ailments including hysteria and suffocation. Women, therefore, were not only less capable of restraint than men, they actually needed sexual intercourse to remain healthy.
*Note that, except on a campus computer, you may have to enter your Banner ID to access some resources
