Women of Greece, Rome, and Medieval Times

Overview 

Women have advanced in their position and role and status in the community. The history of the women does not show the kind of freedom which women are currently enjoying. Instead, it mirrors a struggle of independence with the status quo, where they found themselves after being made submissive by men in the society, and their role as mothers and wives were nurtured and nursed by the same ancient men ( Alesina et al., 2013). The role of women in today’s society is considered limitless, compared to those of our ancestors. It is clear that woman and men have had distinct yet separate roles amongst society. Dating back to the Greek, Roman, and Medieval time, we take for granted as women are everyday rights, but only because we have never experienced the roles given to our ancestors ( Leyser, 2013). Women in this countries was restricted by three factors which made them very submissive, weak and inferior before men, and the result is the total submission which has been witnessed even today in many countries in the globe. These factors are marriage, their social life, and inheritance. Most of their issues during this time hachured on these three pillars, and it was these three pillars which were used to make them submissive. There are many differences in the role of women and status perception from one country to another as many scholars have noted in their work. The rationale is that some had mythology which created a distinction between men and women, and this created a different perception from one country to another. However, based on the scholars' ideas and the history o women in these countries, there are more similarities than difference with regards to their roles and status in the community ( Alesina et al., 2013). The author of this article has an interest in exploring this topic extensively with the aim of discussing and revealing the status and the role the women in Greece, Rome and Medieval Europe played during these centuries. Throughout this paper, the everyday roles and status of Greek, Roman, and Medieval women will be discussed. The discussion will be broadly based on the daily lives, expectations, and rights amongst society. At the end of the debate, the reader should have a brief overview of the topics above. 

Central argument 

Based on many articles reviewed and the history of women as documented in many articles which have been reviewed, the role of women and their status, as well as their rights, were confined on the three major factors. The first factor was their social life. In Most articles, women are defined with regards to their social role in the society. In the three Nations, women played distinctive but almost similar roles ( Ward, 2016). They were confined mostly in the kitchen, took care of their husbands and children and give birth. They were inferior socially and had no say in matters pertaining social life in the community. The second argument is that women were defined based on their marriage life. Marriage life defined their right, role, and status. They had no power in their marriage, with no right to make decisions on whom to marry, when to marry and how to live a married life ( Alesina et al., 2013). All these were decided by men. Men had all the authorities to make a decision which women took with no objections. Lastly is the issue of the inheritance of properties. This too defined the role of women and made them different in the three nations that in the Greece, Roman, and Midvale with regards to their role, status and rights. 

Women status, rights, and role in the ancient Greece 

When we think of ancient Greece, we think of the great philosophers known to history. How many of the philosophers that come to your mind are men? It is safe to say that most if not all, are men? But why is that? Why does history only hold importance, and value to the words of men? The answer is not so perplexing; it is quite simple actually. Just like a mother nurses her child from childhood to adulthood, the demeaning role of women in the Greece was natured and cultivated by the ancient Greece. The women in this land had to bear three main challenges during their life. The problem which women encountered at this time was anchored on the marriage, their social life and inheritance according to ( Ward, 2016). These three elements formed and also shaped the modal of a kind of women who is very submissive which has been witnessed for most of the centuries. 

Marriage is very critical in human life; it is a romanticized idea of being together with an individual whom one feels affections for. However, this was one of the furthest thought of women in the ancient Greece. In this community, Marriage was given a vital consideration and women had to marry, however, they had no power, voice or control over or any decision related to it. Generally, in Greece, women had no decision on whom to marry when to marry and the kind of marriage life she wants. Most of the decision was given to men. When young women wanted to have a married life, they had to consult and be given permission by a male relative, and there was no legal bearing or contract on the marriage. "Woman was not allowed to decide whom she wanted to wed, whether she loved her proposed spouse or not." The fact that they were not given freedom to choose a husband for themselves means that women in Greece were not being married, but they were given in marriage ( Hufton, 2011). Even on the eve of the marriage, women were not allowed to take an active decision with regards to the marriage arrangements, plans, and the entire process; these were all arranged by either her father or any male relative. The Greece culture saw women as an object whose duty was to be submissive and give birth to children without questioning whether or not the children are enough or less. In fact, the current definition of the term marriage doesn’t fit what was prevailing during that time in Greece. 

In this time, marriage was more of exchange between men and thus was referred to as the Ekdosis. Though the ancient Greece was very small and most of the subgroups have different culture pertaining inheritance and marriage, women properties or wealth were separates from those of her husband. The husbands, who were the chief owner of the properties, controlled them all and passed them to their male children's in case they die. A woman in Greece was only allowed to gain inheritance if she was married but did not give birth to any child; however, they had no moral authority to have any transaction on the properties she had acquired. This prevented them from gaining any influence or power which they could use to ensure that they get equity in the society. This limitation on the access to things such as the currency ensured that women had no power and their position and state in the community remained to be very weak. 

The social status of women in this society was that of submissive women. They could not participate in the outside events where men involved. They were seduced into believing that they were vulnerable to rapists and the seducers. Their social status was confined only within the boundaries of their house where their role was to take care of children, cook for their husbands give birth and make love with their husbands. The points above and issues were general to all the women in the entire Ancient Greece. However, within the community lies some subgroups e women differently and had given them some different kind of role and statue. Because Greece was not as big as other nations by that time such as Rome, we can consider looking at some of the subgroups in this nation and how women status and role in the society was perceived . Let us review the daily lives of women in Athens and those in Sparta. In the city of Athens, a respectable woman’s role was to stay home, and bear children. Although her role was to stay home with her child, it was slightly different. The difference being she was not obligated to maintain or upkeep the house. Like most Greek women the Athenian woman was not allowed to vote nor own land. During this time most citizen wives (men able to vote, and able to attend matters of state) owned their slaves. Therefore the cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping was done by her slave. Once she was married off and gave birth, her father could no longer take her back. 

As men and favorable created the laws for men, it was no wonder a man could divorce his wife easily. However, the rules were not in favor of the wife. If a woman divorced in Athens the property given to her marriage was returned to her father or a male guardian, and she would lose all rights to her children. Can you imagine losing all rights to the very thing you live for? After all that was a woman’s duty and bearing children was not so easy. The birth of children was conducted within the home, and usually without the assistance of a housewife. This caused high death rates for Athenian babies and mothers together. As a mother you were not always able to keep your baby. The father decided if your newborn was to be kept or dispose of like trash. When a child was born deformed or unusual he/she was disposed of. The method for disposal, pots, and the child was placed in the pot and put outside to die. 

The life of a woman was not easy in Athens. A woman’s duties in her home included watching over the tasks of her slaves, making clothing and other items her house needed within her capability. With Athens there was also another class of women. Those that were not citizen wives, this class were considered less respectable by society. This is a group of women hetaera (courtesan/mistress), pronoun (prostitutes), poor women, and slaves. The hetaera woman was usually educated in the following conversation, singing, music, dancing, and other ways of satisfying men. She had more rights than most women; they could go where they wanted whenever they pleased. Because these women were intelligent, they could intellectually entertain others. The tradeoff for such a right was the loss of respect from the citizens of Athens. The pornoi as one can imagine were less respected, they committed their jobs on the streets or in a brothel. Is it much of a surprise that most brothels were owned by the state. Of course the state, all of the occupations of the state were filled by men. Sadly the poor women who had to hold jobs were viewed lower than the prostitutes. They held jobs in the marketplace selling common goods, in the fields collecting harvest, or in an “inn” of some sort. Slaves were amongst the lowest class of women, while priestesses had the complete opposite. The priestesses were held at a high status with a good amount of freedom, and remained unmarried. The job of the priestess was to organize several religious events that took place in Athens throughout the year. Unlike the Athenian woman the Spartan woman was held to different standards. The Spartan woman had more rights over her neighbors in Athens. 

Women status and role in Ancient Rome 

The perception of women among the Romans based on their roles and status in the society is little different from that of Greece since the two nations had different mythology on the creation of the man and women. In Rome the approach towards humanity was that both man and woman were created by gods from earth and water (Cartwright 2). Some Roman writing such as Ovid’s Metamorphosis does not specify whether the first human was man or woman. This sets a difference between Greek thinkers versus Roman, and how they viewed woman. Although Rome and Greece were complete opposite, women’s role in Rome were similar to that of a Greek woman. The perceived part of women in Rome was to look after her home and family. The marriage of a woman involved similar characteristics the held in modern day society. The couple had an engagement, this showed good faith, and intentions towards the future wife to be. A ring was also involved, not for aesthetics or fashion. The rings showed ownership over the bride to be and were called betrothal rings. The material of the ring showed the strength and permanence of the future marriage. A woman was expected to be married by the age of 20 usually promised off by the age 14, in some cases they were married before puberty. Similar to Greek culture a “dowry” sum of money was offered by the bride’s family. This was the socially acceptable thing to do at the time, a bride entered marriage with value. Although the assets came from the bride’s family, after marriage they belonged to her husband and the marriage. Once married her job was to bear legitimate children. A woman with many children was given more freedom and rights. 

According to Emperor Augustus a freeborn woman that beard at least three children did not need a guardian. A woman who lived through that many births was to be taken seriously, and seen as a strong character. The act of getting married was not by choice. In order to deliver a suitable bride with no sexual history Roman families were dominated by the men. The head of household was known as (paterfamilias) (Cartwright 3) “most senior male figure”. A bride went from the supervision and authority of her father to that of her husband under Roman law. When married the woman could choose to keep her maiden name or be referred to by her husband’s name. Unfortunately betrayal and affairs are not just a modern day occurrence. Many Roman husbands carried out affairs with their slave girls. If a wife were ever to find out about her husband’s acts outside the marriage, she was expected to look the other way. Similar to Greek culture Roman women were responsible for watching over their home, and the slaves. Some had the luxury of creating handicrafts. The upper class women also had academics studies available to them, subjects such as philosophy and literature; these are some of the most common studies available to the Roman population aside from religion. 

A suitable woman a Roman man to marry would be, one that was loving and respectable to her husband. This meant she followed his every order without confrontation or opinion. During the evolvement of Rome from a republic to an empire, women gained more freedom and respect (Ellis and Eisler). With this change came more rights towards women. You began to see women in public at places such as live theatre, dinners, and even the famous Roman bathhouses. Bathing played a significant role in Roman society and culture. Being able to participate in these public events gave woman in Rome experiences Greek women could never be a part of. As Rome evolved the male view developed with it. Men began to be more interested in educated wives. Amongst the social classes in Rome, working was considered something for the poor, therefore only very low social class women worked. The act of working was considered something for the slaves. 

The Roman society was firm on believing in the gods, who were both man and woman. The idea that a god could be woman represented the gain of respect within the Roman culture that a woman had achieved. However religion was an area not taken lightly by the Roma’s. Women could not play leadership roles in the church therefore the only available role within the church was nun, who was secondary to the priest, and any male church leaders. A woman in politics was still nonexistent during this time. Although women involvement was not part of the culture, men commonly asked their wives advice in matters pertaining to the Empire. Aside from privately giving advice to their husband women played little to no role in politics within Rome. As history states, the Roman Empire was always at war, which left the wives if the soldiers in control of the home, and assets of the family. In some occasions the entire male portion of the family was eliminated at war. This left all assets of the family to the woman as an inheritance, complete opposite to Greece. 

Women status and role in Ancient Medieval Europe 

Women of Medieval Europe were similar to the women reviewed throughout this paper. Medieval law held women to attract set of standards. A woman could not marry without the consent of her parents and could not divorce their husbands. The only way a woman could own land as if she was widowed, however, if she had brothers then they would inherit her. The wealthy families were too able to marry off their daughter sooner than those of less wealth. This was due to the need for the help with work amongst poorer households. Those that were able to marry had no choice of whom they married (Trueman). Amongst the expectations for a bride was childbirth. This was the leading cause of death for young women during this time. The inadequate medical care available during birth led to a high mortality rate. 

The common lifespan of a poor woman was 40 (Trueman). Caesarians better known as C-sections today were performed on women who had already died or were in the process of dying during childbirth. Unlike women of Greece the Medical woman had what is known as a midwife, to help with the delivery of the child. A midwife was not trained or attended school for her position. She became knowledge and skilled in the act of childbirth through previous experiences. A midwife could also baptist a child considerable ill or dying. Woman’s fashion was important for determining their marital status ( Clogg, 2013). A single young woman was allowed to parade around with her hair down. On the other hand a woman who was married wore a linen hair wrap, covering her hair completely. It was a sign of modesty, and informed others she had a husband. Other items that were common amongst women fashion included prayer beads, pins, leather shoes, and knee stockings (Hull). 

Women typically had issues in careers that consisted of trade due to the lack of knowledge and ban from entering guilds of trade. So they usually worked on fields, served rich, took care of their families, or they crafted items such as clothes. Like modern day society women were paid less for their work compared to men. The common jobs attainable by women were shopkeepers, bakers, farmers, silk weavers, and spinners. The most popular was spinning; this consisted of spinning wool into thread, and later turning it into cloth for garments (Hull). The only education available at this time was for noble women. They were taught in another nobleman home, and the lessons were to keep a household and keep a husband. The medieval church had complete control over peasants, and women. Peasants were obligated to pay 10% of their earnings. 

Conclusion 

The article has reviewed and discussed the role women played, their status and their rights in the community in the ancient Rome, Greece and Medieval Europe. Based on the facts presented in the article, there are significant similarities in these roles and their differences; however, there are more similarities in their roles, status, and rights than differences. The difference is tied to believe and mythology which differs from one community to another, however, it is apparent that the submissive nature of women during this century was created and natured by men ( Alesina et al., 2013). 

References 

Alesina, A., Giuliano, P., & Nunn, N. (2013). On the origins of gender roles: Women and the plow. The Quarterly Journal of Economics , 128 (2), 469-530. 

Clogg, R. (2013). A concise history of Greece . Cambridge University Press. 

Hufton, O. (2011). The prospect before her: A history of women in Western Europe, 1500-1800 . Vintage. 

Leyser, H. (2013). Medieval Women: Social History Of Women In England 450-1500 . Hachette UK. 

Ward, J. (2016). Women in medieval Europe: 1200-1500 . Routledge.