Women in Antiquity: New Assessments

292 Pages·1995·2.51 MB·English

by  Richard Hawley

Women in antiquity:
new assessments
The study of gender in classical antiquity has undergone rapid and
wide-ranging development in the past two decades. This collection
of new assessments has been written by some of the most influential
experts in this field from all over the world. The contributors reassess
the role of women in diverse contexts and areas, such as archaic and
classical Greek literature and cult, Roman imperial politics, ancient
medicine and early Christianity. Some offer original interpretations
of topics which have been widely discussed over the last twenty
years; others highlight new areas of research.
Women in Antiquity: New Assessments reflects and expands on existing
scholarly debates on the status and representation of women in the
ancient world. It focuses on methodology, and suggests areas for
research and improvement. It is invaluable and engaging reading
for all students and teachers of ancient history.
Richard Hawley is a Lecturer in Classics at Royal Holloway College,
University of London. Barbara Levick is a Fellow of St Hilda’s
College, Oxford.

Women in antiquity

New assessments
Edited by Richard Hawley and
Barbara Levick

London and New York
First published 1995
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

Selection and editorial matter © 1995 Richard Hawley and
Barbara Levick
Individual chapters © 1995 the contributors
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book has been requested

ISBN 0-203-42855-2 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-73679-6 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-11368-7 (Print Edition)
0-415-11369-5 (pbk)
Contents

List of plates vii
List of figures viii
List of tables ix
List of journal abbreviations x
Preface xiii
Notes on contributors xvi
1 From ‘daily life’ to ‘demography’ 1
Beryl Rawson
2 Ideology and ‘the status of women’ in ancient
Greece 21
Marilyn A.Katz
3 Approaching women through myth: vital tool
or self-delusion? 44
Ken Dowden
4 Signifying difference: the myth of Pandora 58
Froma I.Zeitlin
5 The cults of Demeter and Kore 75
Lucia Nixon
6 Women’s ritual and men’s work in ancient Athens 97
Lin Foxhall
7 Women’s identity and the family in the
classical polis 111
Sarah B.Pomeroy
8 Some Pythagorean female virtues 122
Voula Lambropoulou
vi Contents
9 Self-help, self-knowledge: in search of the
patient in Hippocratic gynaecology 135
Helen King
10 Women who suffer from a man’s disease:
the example of satyriasis and the debate on
affections specific to the sexes 149
Danielle Gourevitch
11 Re-reading (Vestal) virginity 166
Mary Beard
12 Male power and legitimacy through women:
the domus Augusta under the Julio-Claudians 178
Mireille Corbier
13 Women and elections in Pompeii 194
Liisa Savunen
14 A woman’s voice—Laronia’s role in Juvenal
Satire 2 207
S.H.Braund
15 Aemilia Pudentilla: or the wealthy widow’s
choice 220
Elaine Fantham
16 Female sanctity in the Greek calendar:
the Synaxarion of Constantinople 233
Anna Wilson
Select bibliography 248
Index 265
Plates

1.1 Stele of brother and sister Mnesagora and Nikochares,
c. 420–410 BC 5
1.2 Stele of grandmother Ampharete and infant, late fifth century
BC 6
1.3 Altar, Iunia Venusta and familia, late first-early second
century AD 7
1.4 Epigraph of a mother, Gauia Chrysis, first-second
century AD, from Rome 8
1.5a Cleopatra and son Caesarion as Isis and Hathor,
Temple of Hathor, Dendera, Upper Egypt,
first century BC 14
1.5b Cleopatra on Roman coin, Alexandria 32–31 BC,
as Queen of Kings 15
1.6 Roman coin of Sabina Augusta, wife of Emperor
Hadrian, AD 128–138; reverse has Pietas and children 15
1.7 Thomas Couture, Les romains et leur décadence, 1847 17
Figures

5.1 Eleusis, plan of the sanctuary and city 79
5.2 Bitalemi/Gela, plan of the sanctuary 80
5.3 Corinth, plan of the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore,
c. 400 BC 81
5.4 Priene, plan of the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore 83
12.1 The respective descendants of Augustus and Livia 180
12.2 Descendants of Octavia I, sister of Augustus 181
12.3 The agnatic descendants of Augustus by natural or
adoptive filiation 183
12.4 Kinship between Nero Caesar and his wife Julia 185
12.5 Kinship between Nero and his wife Octavia II 189
Tables

6.1 Agricultural jobs and festivals in Attica 98–9
16.1 Main entries by gender and type for September and
October 235
16.2 Number of women heading all-female main entries 237
16.3 Number of women jointly heading mixed entries 237
16.4 Categories of women mentioned in subordinate roles
in the summaries 238
16.5 Information on social status of women mentioned in
the Synaxarion 240