The great regard extended to women by the Egyptians could not fail to
influence to some extent those nations, with whom they came in contact,
especially the =Greeks= and the =Romans=.
Ancient Greece, or to be more correct, Hellas, was occupied by the
=Hellenes=, belonging to the Aryan or Indo-Germanic race, who had
immigrated from Central Asia in prehistoric times. A pastoral rather
than an agricultural people, they were divided into several branches, of
which the Dorians, Ionians, Aeolians, and Pelasgians were the most
prominent.
No people has ever recognized the charm of women with greater enthusiasm
than the Greeks. To them the fair sex was the embodiment of cheerful
life, of the joy of being. To this conception we owe many of the most
excellent works of art, among them several unsurpassed statues of Venus,
the goddess of beauty and love.
In the treatment of their women the various branches of the Hellenes
were not alike. But all took deep interest in the harmonious development
of the body, of beauty and art. Gymnastic games and prize-fights were
the favorite entertainments, especially among the Dorians, one branch of
whom, the Spartans, became famous for their strict methods in rearing
and educating boys as well as girls.
To secure to the state a race of strong and healthy citizens, the
Spartans allowed no sickly infant to live, and girls were required to
take part in all gymnastic exercises of the young men. Women were even
admitted to co-operate in all public affairs. As great attention was
given also to their education, the women of Sparta gained in time such
great influence over their men, that the other Hellenes jokingly spoke
of “Sparta’s female government,” a remark, which was promptly answered
with the reply, that the women of Sparta were also the only ones, who
gave birth to real men.
That the Hellenic women were treated with great dignity during the
so-called “heroic age,” and that they enjoyed far greater liberty than
in later periods, is evident from the poems of Homer. In the Iliad
Achilles says: “Every true and sensible man will treat his wife
respectfully and take proper care of her.” And in another place Homer
declares that “besides beauty good judgment, intellect and skill in all
female works are the merits, by which a wife will become a respected
consort to her husband.”
In the “Odyssey” Homer gives in Penelope a very attractive example of
female faithfulness and dignity. He also makes Odysseus say to Nausikaa:
“There is nothing so elevating and beautiful, as when husband and wife
live in harmony in their home, to the annoyance of their adversaries, to
the rejoicing of their friends, and to their own honor!”
Among the many deities, worshiped by the Greeks, one of the most
attractive figures was Hestia, the goddess of the home or hearth fire.
As explained in a former chapter, the constant fire, kept by aboriginal
bands in the centre of their villages, became in time a sacred symbol of
home and family life, and by degrees grew into a religious cult of great
sanctity and importance. As women in ancient Hellas too were the
guardians of this tribal fire, so its deity was believed to be a
goddess, Hestia, whose name means “home—or hearth-fire.” As the tribal
fire was always kept burning so the fire in the Pytaneion, the temples
of Hestia, was to remain alive. If by any mischance it became
extinguished, only sacred fire made by friction, or got directly from
the Sun, might be used to rekindle it. The Pytaneion was always in the
center of the villages and cities. Around its fire the magistrates met,
and received foreign guests. From this fire, representing the life of
the city, was taken the fire wherewith that on the hearth of new
colonies was kindled.
In later times, however, the high conceptions the Greeks had of
womanhood underwent considerable change, and the close intimacy between
husband and wife, which had hitherto distinguished married life,
vanished. When with the extension of navigation and commerce the Greeks
came into closer touch with the luxurious life of Asiatic nations, they
adopted many of their manners and thoughts. Suspicion and jealousy,
conspicuous traits in the character of southern races, now made
themselves felt. Besides misogynists like Hipponax, Antiphanes, Eubulos
and others began to poison the minds of the people with degrading,
insulting remarks about women and matrimony. As did for instance
Hipponax by saying: “There are only two pleasant days in married life,
the first, when you take your bride in your home, and the second, when
you bury her.”—
And Eubulos is responsible for the sentence: “Deuce may take him, who
marries a second time! I shall not scold him, that he took his first
wife, as he did not know what was in store for him. But later on he
knows that this evil is woman.”—
Euripides is responsible for the most degrading comment. He wrote the
following lines:
“Dire is the violence of ocean waves,
And dire the blast of rivers and hot fires,
And dire is want, and dire are countless things,
But nothing is so dire and dread as woman.
No painting could express her dreadfulness,
No words describe it. If a god made woman
And fashioned her, he was for man the artist
Of woes unnumbered, and his deadly foe!”
The undermining effect of such remarks was increased by numerous
comedies in which married life was turned to ridicule, and husbands were
depicted as despicable slaves to women. So bye and bye the high
position, formerly held by the female sex, sank to a much lower level.
Their liberty was greatly curtailed, and daughters as well as wifes were
confined to the strict seclusion of the “Gynäkonitis” or women’s
quarters at the back of the house. Here they spent their time with
spinning, weaving, sewing and other female work, not seeing or hearing
much of the outside world. For this reason they were often nicknamed
“the locked up,” or “those reared in the shadow.” As they rarely got out
into the fresh air, they relied greatly on rouge and cosmetics, to hide
their faded complexion. The only interruption in this monotonous life
were the festivals of the various deities, during which they joined the
solemn processions and carried the ceremonial implements and vessels on
their heads.
As the education of the girls was greatly neglected, and as they
generally married very early, they had no influence whatever on the male
members of the family. They even didn’t appear at table with men, even
with their husbands’ guests in their own homes. But the principal cause
for the decline of woman’s, position and of family life in Hellas was
the rise and growing prevalence of the “heteræ” or courtesans, many of
whom became famous for their fascinating beauty and accomplishments.
Clever in graceful dances, well educated in song, music and in the art
of entertaining, these women, many of whom were natives of foreign
countries, in time became constant guests of the symposiums of prominent
citizens. Far outshining the housewives and their daughters in
gracefulness and wit, they soon won a domineering influence over the all
too susceptible men, many of whom became lost to their own neglected
families.
The most striking illustration of this is offered by the life of the
famous Athenian statesman Pericles, who fell victim to the charms of
Aspasia, a courtesan born in Miletus, Asia Minor. Her extraordinary
beauty and still more remarkable mental gifts had gained her a wide
reputation, which increased after her association with Pericles. Having
divorced his wife, with whom he had been unhappy, Pericles attached
himself to Aspasia as closely as was possible under the Athenian law,
according to which marriage with a “barbarian” or foreigner was illegal
and impossible. And after the death of his two sons by his lawful wife
he secured the passage of a law, by which the children of irregular
marriages might be rendered legitimate. His son by Aspasia was thus
allowed to assume his father’s name.
Aspasia enjoyed a high reputation as a teacher of rhetoric. It is said
that she instructed Pericles in this art, and that even Socrates
admitted to have learned very much from her. The house of Aspasia became
the center of the most brilliant intellectual society. Men who were in
the advance guard of Hellenic thought, Socrates and his friends
included, gathered here.
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