Egyptian Women's Role In Greek Culture

Egyptian women seemed to have many roles in Egyptian society outside the family. They seemed to have a more relaxed attitude towards women than the Greeks did. In Pomeroy’s article, she explains that “in the Classical democratic polis all male citizens were equal, but within the family—which was the basic unit of the polis—the husband ruled the wife and children.” (Pomeroy: 1984, 41). Whereas, in Egypt it seemed a little more relaxed therefore having more freedom to take part in roles outside the family, as I will discuss further into the essay. Women in Egypt tended to have more roles outside the family than in Greek culture. Greek culture was very much associated with having a Kyrios and performing household duties and child rearing. Whereas, Egyptian women were more legally free, so to speak. Although marriage, child rearing and household duties still remained massively important, thus suggesting they never had full independence.
Firstly, you could argue that Egyptian women didn’t have roles outside the

These take place outside the home and are commonly just for women “Women participated in all normal forms of religious activity” (Rowlandson: 1998, 62). This is an invitation to attend a festival p.Oxy. I 112. (Oxyrhynchos, 3/4th Cent. BC). Serenia an important landowner gets an invitation to the 20th birthday of the god. Interestingly, this women is a landowner, which suggests she isn’t just a stay at home wife that depends on her husband, clearly she was quite sufficient. Montserrat goes into great detail about women and festivals. She explains that nearly all festivals are driven by sexual themes. She states “all the evidence shows that festivals were an important ingredient of the emotional lives of Egyptians in the Graeco-Roman period” (Montserrat: 1996, 179). Again reemphasising that it was widely popular for women to attend such festivals, thus showing they had roles outside the