The differences between the Greek and Roman models for women of legend, Essays (high school) of History

Download The differences between the Greek and Roman models for women of legend and more Essays (high school) History in PDF only on Docsity! Explain the differences between the Greek and Roman models for women of legend Both Greek and Roman standards and expectations of women in general are both very different with a few similarities however, and both have positive and negative aspects to their views on women. The Greeks tend to see women as a positive influence, but can sometimes be quick to blame women for things that they cannot explain, e.g., Pandora. The whole point of the “Pandora’s box “was to make a point that women were a ‘gift and a curse’. Pandora was a unique mortal, the first mortal woman in fact to be created by the gods themselves. (Created by Hephaestus and Athena out of a lump of clay). Pandora was inevitably created to punish mankind (and was seen as the ‘eve’ of the Greek world). It was Pandora’s fate to bring misery to mankind, and therefore it was her innocence that was her downfall. However, there is ambiguity as to how much she is to blame; as the gods were a major contributing factor to her actions. When Pandora opened the box and released evil and introduced it to the world; the message was that the curiosity of people (and women in particular) is disastrous if there is too much of it. The message is that women are essentially innocent, and it is their innocence that is their downfall (and therefore the cause of problems for others) Helen, on the other hand, was seen as the direct cause of the Trojan war, and Euripides was exceptionally clear in how much the Greeks blamed Helen for the death, destruction and aftermath of the war. Helen, similarly to Pandora was meant to be gift, a prize. Resources and LIVES were wasted on bringing her back home after her abduction. The Greeks seem to see beautiful women as gifts and are treasured and valued, however they are quick to blame women for the downfall of men, and take advantage of the women’s innocence and dismiss the god’s involvement in their actions. The Romans however, appear to see women in a positive light. They see the Sabine women incredibly positively; praising their self-sacrifice and loyalty to save their fathers and brothers and put their lives on the line for them. However, the Romans can tend to see women as weak as the Sabine women got abducted, and they see the women as selfless and impossible to believe (‘fake’) when they were abducted and ‘grew to love their captors’. However, they did help to produce Rome’s offspring and Rome wouldn’t have been what it was if it was not for the Sabine women. Lucrecia upheld virtue and chastity at the consequence of her own life, and was thus seen as a positive role model for all Roman women. She was willing to preserve her virtue at the loss of her life, and saw her virtue as even more important than her life. She was so brave; but Romulus saw her as masculine as she was brave – so completely discounted her sacrifice. In conclusion, Greek and Roman women are presented positively, but are quickly blamed for their actions despite the God’s involvement (Which usually drastically changes the outcome of the situation). In both, the portrayal of female virtue and societies attitude is clearly shown, yet in both societies the ‘blame’ is without a doubt always put on the woman. There