Roles of Women in Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt

Roles of Women’s in Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt.

In most ancient societies, women were completely dependent on men. The role of woman in ancient civilizations has long since fascinated historians, both ancient and modern alike; the contrasting and contradicting roles of women in Egypt, Greece and Rome are therefore universally acknowledged as forming a central component of the study of ancient civilizations. Women in ancient Egypt were more highly regarded than their Greek and Roman counter parts. Ancient Egyptian women enjoyed social, legal and matrimonial freedoms that were not present in ancient Greece or Rome where women were gender based apar-tyed.  This will be examined through the deconstruction and analysis of the role of women through the aforementioned civilizations through the use of primary and secondary sources.

The legal system in ancient Egypt allowed women almost an equal amount of freedom and entitlement that was awarded to Egyptian men. In comparison to those in Greece and Rome, Egyptian women enjoyed a position of privilege and independence. Peter A. Piccione, a Historian at the Cambridge University, supports this in his book “The Status of Women in Ancient Egyptian Society” as he explains, ‘unlike the position of women in most other civilizations, including that of Greece, the Egyptian women sees to have enjoyed the same legal and economic rights as the Egyptian man’. (Source 4) The disparities between societies' legal rights were based on differences in social class rather than gender, affording legal rights to both men and women, and as such, allowed women to participate in court from all aspects. They were able to bring their own cases to court, own or manage their own property and sign and conclude legal transactions. Women were allowed to go through legal precessions without the necessity of being represented by a male relative or spouse, as was the case in many other governments at that time. The translated inscription of a marriage contact between the priest Pagosh and Teteimhotep support this assessment as it explains that women were awarded many privileges in relation to marriage and further exemplifies the rights and ancient Egyptian women had during the Ptolemaic Period. (Source 5) Women in ancient Greece were not afforded the same legal rights and privileges as their contemporary Egyptian counter parts. The disparity between the legal rights of women in Egypt and Greece was most evident during the Polemic Period. During the Polemic period both Greece and Egyptian women resided in Egypt, however in spite of this they were not subjected to the same legal rights and responsibilities. Greek women were given the privilege of owning jewelry, slaves, clothing and inexpensive items; however, women were generally at the mercy of their husband. Although they were able to own such things and were quite free to use them on a daily basis, they lacked the authority to sell or bequeath them. According to Aristotle, an ancient bibliographer contemporary with this period, he believed that women were subject to men, who held no power within their live, only their to serve their male guardian. This is evident when he stated in his text ‘On a Good Wife’, “ It is fitting that a women of a well ordered life should consider that her husband’s wishes are as laws appointed for her by divine will”. This further asserts that women in ancient Greece were considered subservient and as such, possessed no legal rights. An opinion that is also felt by ancient Greek historian and philosopher Xenophon whose numerous surviving works have been highly valuable for their depiction of late Classical Greece. (Source 9) Although Egyptian women maintained the same legal rights and privilege’s that they had enjoyed prior to the Greek conquest of Egypt; Greek women, however, were not afforded the same privileges and were subjected to the far more oppressive Greek legal system. Modern historians assert that much of the political and legal system in the early Roman republic was derived from the ancient Greeks, it is therefore logical to conclude that during this time ancient Roman women were subjected to a similar level of legal oppression as their Greek counterparts. Under Roman law, ancient Roman women were regarded as a possession together with home, slaves, and fields. They did not have a first name, could not vote, were not emancipated and were considered dependent on a father, brother, husband or tutor. Aristotle is a Greek Macedonian philosopher who is very highly regarded in the ancient world; this is exemplified by his tutelage of alexander the great. He is credited with the created of 150 philosophical treatises, which detail his perspectives on legal, moral and social issues. He believes that ‘the male is by nature superior and the female inferior…the one rules and the other is ruled.’ This statement by Aristotle further exemplifies the rights that women held within ancient Roman society. This lack of legal rights is most evident in the Roman Vestal Virgins who were perhaps one of the most enduring images of ancient Roman women. While the Vestals held a well-respected and powerful position within the Roman hierarchical social, their position was also a precarious one. Should a vestal be deemed to have failed in her duties she, according to Plutarch, a Greek and Roman Historian, biographer and essayists, was punished by the Pontifex Maximus who would whip her and in some cases escort the offender to a cell then place ‘a quantity of earth…over the entrance to the cell, so as to prevent it from bing distinguished from the rest of the mound’. (Source 13) The Vestal was then left to starve to death in punishment for her crime, a crime that did not encompass a trial that would have been awarded to Roman men. The decline of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire, however, precipitated numerous political and legal changes, one of which was the legal rights of women. The women in ancient Egypt were afforded far greater legal rights and privileges than those in Greece who were essentially entirely subservient to men and Roman women who, in spite of passing some minimal legal rights were still considered to be the responsibility of men.