Women of ancient Greece
By: Pierre Brulé ; translated by Antonia Nevill.
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Edinburgh
Language: eng
Number of pages: 240
Subjects: Women -- Greece -- Social conditions.; Women -- Greece -- History.; Mulher (condicões sociais) -- Grécia antiga.; Mulher (história) -- Grécia antiga.; Greece -- History -- To 146 B.C.; Greece -- Civilization -- To 146 B.C.; GrÉcia Antiga (CivilizaÇÃo)
Description: "Pierre Brule's brilliant evocation of how women lived in ancient Greece describes every aspect of their lives, including their religious, familial and domestic duties, their economic importance, and their social, moral and legal status as wives, cohabitees or slaves. He examines their sexual roles, what the status of a woman's body was and what her own and others' attitudes were likely to be towards it. Professor Brule does all this in the context of the development and achievements of Greek civilisation." "Women appear not to have been highly regarded in ancient Greece, with female infanticide a common practice. Strains of misogyny can be heard in Greek literature, drama and philosophy. 'The most unintelligent people in the world' is how one character refers to women in Plato's Symposium (which also features Diotima, his best-known female sage). Women had few duties beyond the home, and the evidence that they existed at all is tantalisingly small. Yet by piecing together fragments and clues, the author gives us a vivid account of women's lives in Greece 2,500 years ago."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [225]-228) and indexes.
"First published in France as Les femmes grecques à l'époque classique"--T.p. verso.
Table of contents: title: Prologue : which paths will lead us to them?; title: The feminine and the sacred; title: Women of the epics; title: On the body and sexuality; title: Joys and miseries of married life; title: The woman in the "house"; title: The women on the outside; title: Epilogue : how shall we take our leave of them?