Summary Of Women And The City Of Athens By Sarah B. Pomeroy

Sarah B. Pomeroy introduces the chapter, “Women and the City of Athens”, by examining the true intentions of the Athenian lawmaker, Solon. Solon created multiple laws that regulated the lives of Athenian women. Pomeroy believes that Solon intended to protect not only the women of Athens, but the city itself. Many views on the status and treatment of Athenian women were analyzed. Some scholars contend that women were hated and kept in seclusion, while others claimed the opposite stating that the Athenian women were respected and not secluded. Pomeroy finds faults on both arguments asserting that scholars were subjected to their time period of social norms and also failed to examine all evidence as equal. Pomeroy argues that both sexes were held

Pomeroy gives an abundance of examples and evidence throughout the chapter. She defines unknown terms, such as, archon (chief magistrate), which readers are less likely to know. The chapter educates and reveal new information on topics some readers may have not previously known, such as divorce. Divorce was easily obtained in ancient Athens. In our modern society divorce is a long, drawn out procedure that ca take months or years depending upon the cooperation of both parties. Since marriage was crucial in ancient Athens, it is an assumption that divorce was frown on. Yet, this assumption was not the case. In the sections read in Women’s Life in Greece and Rome the topic of divorce was not explicitly broached. The research presented reinforces and expands upon material covered in class and the book Women’s Life in Greece and Rome. For example, Pomeroy discusses the topic of dowry. In Women’s Life in Greece and Rome, the topic of dowry seemed to be glossed over. The book did provided number figures for different positions, yet it was not explained in depth as in the chapter of “Women and the City of Athens”. The length of Pomeroy’s explanation of dowries shows the importance of dowries in ancient Athens. Dowries made women look attractive in the eyes of men. Without dowries some people in ancient Athens argued that the marriage between the man and woman was illegal. Pomeroy touches on the

She reinforces the social structural ideas that is presented in the text read in class. Women were not allowed to participate in public affairs. Only men can participate in the public arena. Their domain was the household. Women were in charge of the household. They took care of their children, their husbands, and supervised the slaves. Women worked as nurses, weavers, washers, mourners among other things. Men made life changing decisions for women. They decided who their daughters were to marry. Good wives were considered to be those who bore their husbands sons. Men held the power in ancient Greece. Women had to accept the rules set by men. The oppression of the women in Greece serves as a lesson. The oppression of women have slowly dissolved with triumphs such as the 19th amendment, yet it still throughout the world. Some women aren’t receiving the same pay as men for the same jobs while others are not allowed a formal education. The chapter, “Women and the City of Athens”, matters because it shows that women are still facing the same inequality as seen thousands of years ago in ancient