Men and Women Relationship in Ancient Greek and Roman Literature - Essay Example

? Number] Men and Women Relationship in Ancient Greek and Roman Literature The ancient Greek and Roman literature is among the most significance sources of getting insight to the relationship of men and women and their place in the society. Several classic ancient texts reflect the gender roles and relationships from different perspectives. Euripides’ Bacchae, Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, and Livy’s Early History of Rome are among the most significant survived ancient Greek and Roman literary works that talk in detailed about the relationship of men and women in the Greek society and also describe their respective roles in the society. The essay analyses these texts to find out how the issues of men-women relationship and their roles in society have been discussed by the ancient Greek historians and writers in their works. The Greek play Lysistrata written by Asistophanes is one of the few survived Greek plays. It tells the tale of a woman who decided to carry on extraordinary mission to end the Peloponnesian war. The play has been written in a comical style and impressively depicts the status of men and women and their relationship in the Greek society. The play focuses upon the war between Athens and Sparta and the quest of a woman to stop the war. The play shows that the men used to enjoy all the powers and authorities in the Greek society but they took the state towards the state of war because most of them lack wisdom, common sense and peaceful nature. The Greek women however have been portrayed with her love for peace and love. The play shows the women generally have a weak place in the Greek society however, their just desires, unity and courage made them stronger and influential in the society. The position of women in Greek society and the perception of men about them and their relationship are clearly depicted in the dialogues spoken by the main character Lysistrata . She arranged a meeting for the women of the community but when they failed to reach within time she was disappointed that the women are burdened by men with lots of responsibilities that that their freedom is badly affected. She said with her neighbour Calonice. My heart's on fire, Calonice—I'm so angry At married women, at us, because, Although men say we're devious characters (Asistophanes , line10-11) The play shows that the men in Greek society commonly view women as a source of sexual relations. They limit them to their domestic lives and home routines and never bothered to give them any active role in the society. But the women still worked to teach lesson of peace to the men. The men were not only attracted to the wisdom of the women words but they also feel attractive towards their message due to their beautiful body. The play shows the power of sexuality, beauty and strong thoughts that enabled women to play important role in the society during the war time. Another important text that tells about men and women relationship and their role in the Greek society is the ancient Greek tragedy The Bacchae written by Euripides. It is the story of a young Greek god compelling others to accept and worship him as God. The play talks about the dominating role of men in the Greek society. The men are depicted having the power to take command over the women. The King Dionysus gathered cult of female worshipers and drive them to sing and dance in his praise. He also prepared them to fight against the men however when the King Pentheus was returned to his city he strictly dead with the madness of the fighting women and jailed many of the women. The play shows that the women were widely used by men as a mean of gaining different type of benefits and favours. They are oppressed to act in certain manner and the men having power influence their acts towards certain direction. The play shows weak position of women in the society having lack of authority and decision making power to direct their lives and actions. The play starts with the dialogues of the Dionysus depicting his proud and authority over his life and society. He says I, Dionysus, son of Zeus, born to him from Semele, Cadmus' daughter, delivered by a fiery midwife—Zeus' lightning flash. Yes, I've changed my form from god to human, appearing here at these streams of Dirce (Euripides , line 1-5) As he directed the women to dance and worship him as a god, he proved the dominance of men in the Greek society and their capabilities to compel women towards their desired direction. The women of the society also realize their helplessness and weak position. The dialogues of a woman in the play show how the women were compelled to accept Dionysus as god and dance to worship him. I've come to dance, to move swiftly in my dance— for Bromius— sweet and easy task, to cry out in celebration, hailing great god Bacchus (Euripides , line 85-90) The play shows that the women have no powers in the society and the powerful men always tend to turn them towards their desired directions without giving them the chance to decide and act at their own. The similar theme has been presented in the historical account of Roman society, The Early history of Rome written by a roman historian Titus Livy. He wrote monumental history of Rome and roman society in which he also deeply reflects the social status of men and women and their relationships. In different parts of this historic account Livy talks about different types of men and women role in the society. He describes the time when women were poured in to the assembly where they tried to convince their male relatives to vote for the repeal but the opponent of repeal opposed their action and insisted them not to play any role in the situation. He writes about the words of Marcus Porcius Cato, what kind of behaviour is this, running around in public and blocking streets and talking to other women's husbands? ... It is not right, even in your own homes for you to concern yourselves about which laws are passed or repealed here (Livy, line 34.2.2.) It reflects the general perception of men about the women and shows that the men were not ready to give complete freedom to women and women have to try hard to raise their voice regarding any issue in the society. The above analysis of some Greek and roman texts allow understanding how the issues of men and women relationship and role have been addressed in the roman and ancient Greek literature. It is unveiled from the reading of these texts that women were widely viewed as source of sexual relations and men tend to attract towards them seeing their beauty and sexuality. The women had little power and authority in the ancient Greek and roman society however, some courageous women worked to make difference in the situation and the used the beauty of their body and wisdom of their words to convince male behave in certain manner. The women were not granted the power by the men and they were mostly limited to their domestic responsibilities however, the women always seek for getting chance to play active role in bringing peace and love to the society. Work Cited Aristophanes. Lysistrata. 413 BC. Retrieved online from http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/aristophanes/lysistrata.htm Euripide. Bacchae, 404BC. Retrieved online from http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/euripides/euripides.htm Titus Livy. The Early history of Rome, Volume I, Electronic Text Centre, University of Virginia Library. Retrieved online from http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Liv1His.html Read More