| Tango01 | 21 Apr 2014 9:57 p.m. PST |
"Did women in Greece and Rome speak? Stupid question; of course they did. They must have chattered and joked together, laughed at the silliness of their menfolk, advised (or chatted up) their husbands, given lessons to their children… and much, much more. But nowhere in the ancient world did they ever have a recognised voice in public – beyond, occasionally, complaining about the abuse they must often have suffered. Those who did speak out got ridiculed as being androgynes (‘men-women'). The basic motto (as for Victorian children) was that women should be seen and not heard, and best of all not seen either. This streak of misogyny made a big impression on me when I first started learning ancient Greek about 45 years ago. One of the first things I read in Greek back then was part of Homer's Odyssey – one of that pair of great epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey that stand at the very beginning of the whole tradition of western literature…"
Full article here.
link Hope you enjoy!. Amicalement
Armand |
| genew49 | 21 Apr 2014 10:07 p.m. PST |
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| sneakgun | 21 Apr 2014 10:16 p.m. PST |
Read Lysistrata by Aristophanes…. |
| CPBelt | 22 Apr 2014 3:51 a.m. PST |
None of my ancient miniatures speak, so I don't see the big deal. ;-) |
| RavenscraftCybernetics | 22 Apr 2014 6:01 a.m. PST |
Lysistrata came to mind as soon as I read the title. Antigone certainly had a voice as well. |
| John the OFM | 22 Apr 2014 7:31 a.m. PST |
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| nazrat | 22 Apr 2014 8:10 a.m. PST |
"Lysistrata came to mind as soon as I read the title. Antigone certainly had a voice as well." I wouldn't say they had a voice. We only remember them because a man wrote them into a play, right? So it was a man's voice, not a woman's. |
| Zargon | 22 Apr 2014 11:22 a.m. PST |
"Costa the food is ready, come eat! Costa? Costa can you 'nag nag nag'
"Eh? You say something woman? I'm busy" Sure they spoke 8_D just like today's women. Cheers all (said in jest otherwise I'd be in deep poo) |
79thPA  | 22 Apr 2014 12:19 p.m. PST |
Watch what you say about Alexander's mother. |
| jowady | 22 Apr 2014 7:06 p.m. PST |
Mary Mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and many other women of the early church certainly did. Livia, Augustus's wife did as well. Boadicea certainly did as well. Constantine's Mother Helena did as well. One would assume that Cleopatra had a few words to say here and there. Agrippina the a Elder and the Younger weren't exactly silent either. |
| Socalwarhammer | 27 Apr 2014 8:02 a.m. PST |
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| spontoon | 03 May 2014 11:38 a.m. PST |
Perhaps Medea? Cassandra spoke, but no-one believed her. |
| jaxenro | 07 May 2014 11:59 a.m. PST |
There are exceptions but for the most part public life was for men and private life was for women. Could you imagine a female Roman Senator? |
ponders nirvana.
