| CODE | CLA3024 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Women in the Classical World | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 6 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Classics and Archaeology | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The aim of this study-unit is to bring the student into contact with the recent scholarship about various aspects of the lives of women in the classical world. The credit shall focus primarily on 5th – 4th Century Athens and 1st century B.C. and A.D. Rome. The study shall be focused thematically, analyzing major areas of interest such as women and citizenship, marriage, women in state religions, women as divinities, women in the public sphere and women in literature. A comparative approach, contrasting Greek and Roman women with respect to each major theme, shall be adopted. Lectures shall be divided as indicated below. Each lecture shall also present a closer analysis of a key primary text in translation. This portion of the lecture shall be student-led. The theme of women in literature shall be developed with a detailed analysis of portions from two major literary works, one by a Greek author and the other by a Roman author. Students shall also be presented, and invited to comment upon, a feminist reading of these works. LECTURES – Skeleton Plan 1. INTRODUCTION a. 1st Hour: The Sources; The problem of ‘women’ in sources; The value of literature and myth as source b. 2nd Hour: Women in Linear B tablets (esp. PY Ep 704); Women in Minoan civilization; the hypothesis of the matriarchal civilization, Women in Homer (briefly) 2. WOMEN as Daughters/Wives in Greece a. The classification of Women; The laws on Citizenship in Periclean Athens b. The institution of the Kyrios; Father Daughter Relationship (Od. Book 6; +/- Menander Epitrepontes) 3. Women as Wives in Greece – concluded; Rome a. The legal terminology; wedding contracts; papyrological evidence of marriage contracts in Egypt; Legal Weddings and Illegal Unions; Dowry; The marraige ceremony b. Roman Institutions and differences; Epitaphs for dead wives 4. DEVIANCE – Divorce; Adultery and Prostitution a. The laws concerning divorce and adultery; Rape and Seduction – the laws b. TEXT – On the Murder of Eratosthenes 5. Women as Citizens a. Women as Wives continued (I suspect that the issues raised in 2-4 shall need further treatment because they are contentious and complex) b. CITIZENSHIP – political and religious connotations of citizenship; the legal rights of women re-examined. Where women citizens? Arguments 6. Women in Religion a. Women Goddesses – the trinity of Hera, Athena, Aphrodite; Women in Mythology b. Women in Religious Ritual – public (e.g. Thesmophoria) and private oikos cults c. Vestal Virgins 7. Women in Literature a. Women in Epic, Tragedy and Comedy b. Sappho and Feminist Literary Theory Introduced 8. Women in Literature a. Sample Text – Euripides’ Hippolytus; Aristophanes; Women at the Thesmophoria; Euripides Medea; Virgil Aeneid Selections from Books 2-4; Catullus The Lesbia Cycle b. Discussion and Gender Theory continued. 9. Women in the public sphere a. Women in the court rooms? Women at the theatre? The segregation of citizen-women indoors; flute girls and slave women b. The occupations of women; women craftsmen 10. Conclusion a. Famous Women in Imperial Rome b. Summing up Study-unit Aims - At the end of the study-unit the student will be in a position to analyze and discuss more fully the place of women in classical culture and literature. This shall enhance the student's overall engagement with the classical world. - By focusing thematically on various social issues which are often neglected elsewhere, this course shall endeavor to enhance the student's views of classical history. - By focusing on the subject thematically, a comparative approach shall be adopted throughout the study-unit. This shall enable the differences between Greek and Roman social norms regarding women, and the influences of one culture on another, to be made more evident. - The study-unit includes an introduction into feminist literary theory and seeks to apply this branch of scholarship to the reading of various ancient texts. Learning Outcomes 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Locate the place of women in classical civilization, particularly within the private contexts of marriage, interpersonal relationships and family religious practices, and within the larger public sphere of politics, law and state religion; - Locate the place of women in archaic and classical Greek in literature; - Locate the place of women in golden age of Roman literature (particularly verse); - Evaluate a classical text from a feminist perspective. To see the advantages and shortcomings of this approach; - Recognize and value the credibility of primary and secondary sources for the study of the ancient world. 2. Skills: By the end of the study unit the student shall be able to critically analyze literary and historical texts and determine their value as historical sources. Since women in antiquity is well established branch of classical scholarship this unit, focusing on a group with relatively little historical self-representation, can act as a paradigm for other such groups in history. The engagement with literary theory can be applied to other, non-classical, text. The student shall also be engaged with thinking of the historical development of social mores and customs, particularly dealing with the roles of women. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings Women in Athenian Law and Life: Routledge Classical Studies by Roger Just (1991) Women in Roman Law and Society by Jane F. Gardner (1991) Pandora’s daughters : the role and status of Women in Greek and Roman Antiquity by Eva Cantarella (1987) (Various Texts in translation to be announced year by year) |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Jurgen R. Gatt |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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