14 May 2023

This week we’re sort of putting the Greek and Roman worlds in perspective, looking at how the Hellenistic world, which the Romans absorbed, looked at gender and the responsibilities people had as men and women toward the strength and persistence of their society. What essential ideas stand out to you about the complementary roles of men and women in the Hellenistic world? How much of that carried over to the Greco-Roman world that came after?

Also this week you’re completing your position papers. What did you learn from your research and analysis that you’d like to share with the rest of us? How has your perspective on gender in the ancient world changed or been reaffirmed as you explored your topic?

Looking forward to an interesting discussion. Please make sure to attend and help bring our semester’s worth of explorations and insights together into focus. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

7 May 2023

This week we’re discussing the ways in which women were involved the Roman religion. The religious practices and superstitions of the Romans themselves are interestingly peculiar, and the special cult of priestesses known as the Vestal Virgins, who were entrusted with the guardianship of the eternal flame, is distinctive. What do you think the existence and importance of the Vestals tells us about how the Romans thought about gender and the gods? The Chief Vestal is an unusual figure, too, representing the pure separateness of the Vestals and the status and responsibilities of a Roman noble matron. What else strikes you as telling about the prominence of women in Roman religion?

Personal letters are a great resource for historians because they offer a subjective, unguarded, and first-hand view of cultural norms and idiosyncratic relations to them. What stands out to you from Pliny’s letters about how he talks about women he admires?

Finally, Cato’s speech on the Oppian Law is in defense of conservative values, but it has an impact on wealthy women in Rome, who had been agitating politically to wear ornamentations again, even appearing in mass demonstrations in the Forum. What’s Cato afraid of?

Looking forward to an interesting discussion. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

30 April 2023

Hi folks, this week we’re attempting to get at the Roman sense of gender division and gender norms below the upper classes. How do you think things are different for women below the nobility? What do documents like the Twelve Tables tell us about how genders and families related to each other? What’s your sense of what ideas the Romans in general shared when it came to the importance of women to the survival of Rome?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and reactions. See you Tuesday!

Note: Quiz #8, originally slated for this week with a due date of May 7, has been canceled. Please use the time to work on your Position Papers!

Link to Schedule page

23 April 2023

This week we’re starting with the Romans, whose approach to gender we’ll be discussing over the next three weeks.

The Roman perception of the maiden and the matron is very distinctive. What stands out to you about how the Romans understand the responsibilities of the maiden to Roman society? How does it fit in with ideas of gender we’ve studied so far? Also, the stories from Livy give women symbolic importance to the survival of Rome. What do you think these stories are telling us?

I’m looking forward to hearing your takes on the gender roles of men and of women in Roman society. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

15 April 2023

This week we’re talking about understanding gender in classical Athens through the mortal women presented in literature (as opposed to mythology), and toward that end we’re looking at two of the most potent female figures in all of Greek drama, Antigone and Medea. Both women are larger than life in very different ways. I really want to hear what you all thought while reading these plays.

What is it that Antigone is fighting for, do you think? What is Medea fighting for? What are the conflicts in these two plays really about, do you think? What insight can we derive from the memorable endings? Do Antigone and Medea have anything in common? What did you react to while you were reading these plays?

The play Medea is particularly shocking because of what she does and how it ends. Given what Pomeroy talks about and all our previous discussion, what do you think Euripides was trying to say to his fellow Athenians by telling this story? Let me know what you think about all of this.

Looking forward to discussing this with all of you. See you on Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

2 April 2023

This week we’re trying to take a closer look at the nonpublic side of gender in classical Athens. What role do you think the hetairai really played in Athenian society? Why do you think we focus on them when discussing Athens? What’s your sense of how the Athenians dealt with private sexual conflicts within and between families—what situations stand out to you?

We’re also looking this week at Bacchae, in which a group of women rip a man apart. Why is he, Pentheus, ripped apart in particular? What is this story showing us—empowerment? Retribution? Male pig-headedness (or lion-headedness)? The Bacchic craze was something the Greeks valued—what was its importance, do you think? Within the play, what do you think Dionysos was trying to accomplish? What do you think Euripides was trying to accomplish in telling this story?

We’ve also got a little scene from the Adonis Festival. Is this just a bit of frivolity involving women checking out hot guys (a bit of reversal in Greek literature, but not unheard-of—remember Nausicaa and the beauty-enhanced Odysseus); or is there something more to the telling of this story?

Looking forward to your discussions and reactions. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

30 March 2023

So, it was pointed out to me after class on Tuesday that I had accidentally set an extended deadline for Quiz #5 on the Schedule page. There, it said the quiz was due Tuesday, April 11. The quiz index page and the quiz itself, however, had the originally intended date of Sunday, April 2.

I was petitioned by the students who pointed this out to me to keep the later date, and because all professors want to be loved I’ve decided to go along with it. The deadline for Quiz #5 has been set to April 11 on all three pages. However, I urge you not to wait that long and to submit Quiz #5 sooner rather than later, while the readings and class discussion are still fresh.

Also: Remember that, as spring break does not begin until April 5, we’ll be meeting next week on Tuesday, April 4 as usual. See you then!

Link to Schedule page

25 March 2023

This week our main subject is to focus on women in classical Athens. This is a tough one, because the seclusion of women is a subject that draws a lot of emotional reaction and misunderstanding—and this is one of those topics where Pomeroy definitely has an axe to grind. The articles come into play here, too, especially the Walker article, which deals with some of the facts on the ground about seclusion. Where is Pomeroy coming from when it comes to women in Athens? Given our past discussions, what helps bring about this situation? And is it as bad as it seems to us, or is there more going on that what everybody traditionally says about it?

The most important thing about this week is that we’re looking at the Eumenides, part of the Oresteia trilogy by the tragedian Aeschylos. This is a great one for looking at gods and mortals and how they operate on their own planes. What do you think the play is saying about Orestes having killed his mom? How do the Furies come off, and how do they seem different from Apollo and Athena, who show up at the end? Why do you think the playwright has Athena say the things she does about her final decision? What do you think this play is really about?

Looking forward to discussing all this with you. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

19 March 2023

This week we’re talking about the period after the so-called Greek Dark Age, when from our perspective Hellas can be heard and seen again, with the foundations of Greek culture already laid down in the previous, unseen centuries.

This is the time of the polis—the distinctive, kingless Greek city-state; of colonization, with Greek cities sending their people out into the Aegean, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean; and of the hoplite warrior. Also during this time: the rise of lyric poetry, a sharp contrast to the epic poetry of earlier times; and pan-Hellenism, the curious sense of commonality that grows among all these city-states with defiantly distinct and competitive identities.

Two writers emerge during this period that are characteristic of the shifting Greek culture. One is Hesiod, who speaks from the point of view of the small landed farmer—unlike Homer, whose perspective was from the top of society down. What does Hesiod have to tell us about what it meant to be Greek, and is it different from the key values present in Homer’s work? His issues with women we’ve already discussed in terms of his complex depiction of Pandora and his admiration of Hekate above other divinities, but here we see a discussion of women in terms of the priorities of a landed farmer. Is Hesiod’s attitude simple misogyny, or can we go deeper? How does his discussion of gender fit in with his broader arguments about what it means to be a good Greek citizen?

The other author is Sappho, the most famous of the lyric poets. What does her poetry tell us about how Hellas is changing from the days of epic poetry told by rhapsodes? How does it fit with the rest of what Greek literature talks about? What is her poetry about, to you? What do you think we can take away from the fact that this towering figure of Greek literature is a woman?

Looking forward to discussing all of this with you. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

12 March 2023

This week we’re stepping away from the Greeks for a moment to talk about the story of the Hebrews.

This is one of those cases where the backstory goes a long way in shedding light on specific and distinctive cultural norms. We’ve already seen how the Sumerians, the Egyptians, and the Greeks had different norms and values about women, mortality, and so on. But they all had two things in common: a homeland, and pagan gods that were rooted in the natural forces of that homeland. With the Hebrew tribes, we see cultural norms defined by exile, war, oppression, and more exile, and an ethnic and religious identity reshaped around a monotheistic god, rejecting paganism and any commonality with pagan peoples.

What do you think most affects their ideas about the role of women? What strikes you about the story of Esther? What kinds of women stand out in the stories preserved in Hebrew and Jewish history?

Looking forward to hearing your reactions and insights. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

5 March 2023

This week we’re talking about Homer, whose works are the portal to understanding how the Greeks thought about everything, including gender, since Homer’s works became the baseline for all Greek culture and all study of the Greeks. We’re reading Pomeroy’s analysis of how the women of the Trojan epic were presenting in Homer and perceived by the Greeks, but we’re also reading a few short sections of Homer himself to get a feel for how he talked about the male and female figures who shaped the outcome of the Trojan War in his Epic.

Women are important to Homer—even the war itself is made to be about a woman in Homer. How does Helen come across in these stories? Why do you think she was depicted as the impetus for the war? Do you see the women on the Trojan side (like Andromache, Hektor’s wife, and Kassandra) as being presented differently from the Greek women (like Klytaemnestra)? In the excerpts, how do you see Briseis, Nausicaa, and Penelope? What do you think Homer wanted to say about the mutual responsibilities of men and women in Greek society?

Looking forward to discussing all of this with you. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

26 February 2023

This week we’ve got a big topic: How gender plays out among the stories of gods and goddesses in the ancient world.

Here we zoom in on a key theme in this course, and in Pomeroy’s text: how goddesses are portrayed, as contrasts to human behavior and in contrast to the male gods. What stands out to you as the most defining characteristics of goddesses in mythology? What goddesses stand out the most to you, and what about them stands out? Remember, we’re trying to view these ideas from the perspective of people of the time. How did the peoples of these societies see a goddess as being different from a god?

Certain goddesses really stand out, like Athena (corresponding to the Roman Minerva). Why is Athena so special and unlike anyone else in the pantheon? Pomeroy talks about an array of Greek goddesses, and many of them seem to be very potent and distinctive in terms of personality and behavior. Why do you think these goddesses were described that way? Who stands out to you as intriguing, or unfairly overlooked?

Also, I want to talk about specific male/female pairings. How do the myths contrast Zeus and Hera? Or, going even further back, Cronos and Rhea?

And: the earth is associated with female divinities (Gaia, Demeter, Kore). Is that just an analog with the production of life, or is there more to it than that?

Looking forward to your thoughts and insights. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

19 February 2023

Enjoy your week off (though consider thinking ahead to the Images essay and your paper topic).

I’ll see you next week on the 28th to talk about gods and goddesses!

12 February 2023

This week we’re talking about Egypt.

There’s a lot to discuss this week, especially about the famous female pharaoh Hatshepsut from the explosive 18th dynasty. Was Hatshepsut a fluke, or did she really represent something about women in Egypt? What do you think was most important in making Hatshepsut accepted as a ruler? Was her damnatio memoriae—her son’s destruction of her legacy—about female inheritance, or was something else going on? The articles give us a few more vantage points to talk about gender in Egypt. What do think we can say about how different things were for women in Egypt, and why?

This week’s preparation involves a couple of important videos about Egypt for context and a set of readings about Hatshepsut (Roehrig), as well as your choice of articles about the unique gender environment in Egypt. I really want to devote as much of the class as possible to discussion and insights from you folks, so come to class prepared and with opinions!

With regard to the reading from Roehrig, there’s a “Note” button that gives some advice about approaching this book. It’s long, but it’s mostly pictures, and the tl;dr is: read the six articles, which are shorter than they seem, and skim the rest, which is mainly inventory. Look out for pictures that strike your imagination. What images of Hatshepsut stand out for you the most?

There will also be a quiz this week, to be taken after the class meeting. The link is on the schedule page, and the submission deadline is the following Sunday (the 19th). Remember that the quizzes are based on the readings for the week and are timed, just as though they were done in class. You’ll have 16 minutes to do the quiz in one sitting before it automatically closes and submits.

Looking forward to discussing this with you. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

5 February 2023

This week we’re talking about one of the oldest civilizations of the ancient world, the harsh lands of Sumer, and their most famous bequest to later generations, The Epic of Gilgamesh. We’re reading a few chunks from it, and although the protagonists of this story are two very manly men, in these passages we get three very vividly drawn women: Shamhat the prostitute, Ishtar the bratty goddess, and Ninsun, Gilgamesh’s mother archetype.

As we talk about this, I’m interested in hearing what stands out to you about these passages. How does the people’s anger at Gilgamesh relate to gender? Why is Shamhat written as being so critical to the story of Enkidu? And why do you think it’s important she’s a prostitute rather than another kind of woman in society? What role does Ninsun play in Gilgamesh’s story? What is Ishtar all about? Given what we see of other women in the Epic, do you think she’s being painted by her actions as a woman, or as a god? And on the testosterone side, what do you think the dudebro attitudes and goals of Gilgamesh and Enkidu tell us about how the author saw the differences between men and women within a community?

We had a great discussion last time, and this time we have some really meaty (or juicy, if you want vegetarian metaphors) stuff to discuss. When we get together this week, I especially want us to talk a lot about Gilgamesh and what it tells us. Also, I want to hear your reactions to the article you read. The discussion on this is important, since only some of us will have read the one you chose. What was the author trying to convince you of? What did you think of his or her arguments, and the evidence used to support it? What insight does this give us into how the Sumerians thought about gender?

Remember, before each class you’ll watch video lecture to provide a foundation; read a handful of required readings; and then pick one of the scholarly articles on this week’s subject. This week you have (a) one short video about Gilgamesh; (b) two excerpts from the Epic (plus a bit of the introduction to set the stage); and (c) your choice of a few articles on specific subjects related to Gilgamesh and Sumer, all of which we’ll talk about in class.

Also: If you haven’t signed up for your presentations, please do so now! Go to the sign-up #1 page on the course website and claim one of the remaining readings, then do the same for sign-up #2. Email me with any questions.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and reactions. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

30 January 2023

This is a quick note to welcome you all to the beginning of Women in Antiquity. I’m looking forward to exploring gender in the ancient world with all of you, starting with our first meeting on Tuesday. The meeting is in-person, 6:00 – 7:15 p.m., in Carman 209.

Syllabus and video: As a reminder, the syllabus, assignments, and requirements are all on the course website, which is on my website, markbwilson dot com. Make sure you’ve looked through the site and that you’ve watched the welcome video, which talks about how the course works and answers some common questions.

Books: Also make sure you have the book. The Pomeroy will be getting regular use starting in a couple of weeks, and it shouldn't be hard to find. The reading assignments on the Schedule page of the website are what you need to have read (and thought about) before coming to class.

Email me: Most of you replied back to the welcome-to-the-course email I sent you after you enrolled, confirming that I have a good email address for you. If you didn’t, could you do me a favor and reply back to this one and let me know that I can use this address, or that that a different email is better for you? Thanks.

Sign ups: There are two sign-up pages on the course website, one for a primary source presentation and one for a secondary source presentation. Everyone needs to sign up for one of each for the semester. You can get that out of the way now and choose the ones that seem interesting to you. If you have questions, we’ll talk more about presentations and the rest of the course components on Tuesday.

That’s it for now. Let me know if you have any questions. I’ll see you all on Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

30 January 2023

For this class, you need to do two presentations: one on one of the primary sources we’ll be reading, and one on one of the scholarly articles that will be supplementing our discussions with. For each of these, you need to claim the one you want on the appropriate sign-up page.

Each presentation will give the class your perspective on (a) what this reading means, (b) the author’s perspective on the topics, and (c) how it relates to the material being discussed in the course. A write-up is posted to BlackBoard afterwards. Details are on the Essays page.

Please sign up for both presentations now before the start of classes. As always I am grateful to those who choose the earlier ones!

To sign up for your first presentation, go to the Signup #1 page. To sign up for your second presentation, go to the Signup #2 page.

11 January 2023

The sign-up pages for your in-class presentations are now available.

For this class, you need to do two presentations over the course of the semester: one on one of the primary sources we’ll be reading, and one on one of the scholarly articles assigned each week. For each of these, you need to claim the one you want on the appropriate sign-up page.

You should sign up for both of them now before the start of classes. As always I am grateful to those who choose the earlier ones!

To sign up for your first presentation, go to the Signup #1 page. To sign up for your second presentation, go to the Signup #2 page.