Women in Classical Antiquity

Laura K. McClure, PhD, is Professor of Classics in the Department of Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in the College of Letters and Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her diverse research interests include Athenian drama, the study of women in the ancient world, and classical reception. Her publications include books on the representation of women in Athenian drama and the courtesan in the Greek literary tradition.

• List of Figures xiList of Charts xiiiList of Boxes xvPreface xviiAcknowledgments xixAbbreviations xxiTimeline of the Classical World xxvMaps xxixIntroduction 11 Approaches to Women and Gender in Classical Antiquity 31.1 Ancient Greek and Roman Sources 41.2 Gender in Context: Social Identity in the Ancient World 81.3 Critical Approaches 91.4 Structuralism 101.5 Psychoanalytic Criticism 111.6 Feminist Criticism 121.7 Cultural Criticism 131.8 Conclusion 14Questions for Review 14References 15Further Reading 15Greece 172 Introduction to Ancient Greece 192.1 Greece in the Bronze Age: Minoan and Mycenaean Civilizations 202.2 Iron Age 242.3 The Rise of the Polis in the Archaic Period 282.4 Athens and the Classical Period 312.5 Conclusion 35Questions for Review 35Reference 35Further Reading 363 The Greek Family and Household 373.1 Oikos: Family and Household 383.2 Greek Domestic Space 393.3 Textile Production: Women’s Work 423.4 Growing Up Female in the Greek Family 473.5 The Ritual Activities of Girls 513.6 The Family in Ancient Sparta 533.7 Conclusion 54Questions for Review 54Reference 54Further Reading 544 Female Adolescence in Greece 574.1 Medical Views of Female Adolescence 584.2 Aidos: Protecting Purity 594.3 Nausicaa: A Teenage Girl in a Heroic World 614.4 Choruses of Young Girls 614.5 Brides of Death 664.6 The Greek Wedding 694.7 Conclusion 73Questions for Review 74Further Reading 745 Greek Marriage and Motherhood 775.1 Pandora: The Ambiguity of Wives 775.2 Aphrodite: The Power of Female Sexuality 795.3 Virtuous Wives: Penelope and Alcestis 835.4 How to Train a Wife 865.5 The Legal Status of Athenian Women 875.6 Pregnancy and Childbirth 895.7 Mothers and Children 945.8 Conclusion 96Questions for Review 96Further Reading 976 Adultery and Prostitution in Greece 996.1 Eros Unbound 996.2 Helen: Archetype of Adultery 1006.3 Adultery and Athenian Law 1016.4 Desperate Housewives 1046.5 Courtesans and Prostitutes 1076.6 Conclusion 113Questions for Review 113Further Reading 1137 Women, Religion, and Authority in Greece 1157.1 Older Women 1157.2 Women as Ritual Agents 1187.3 Priestesses 1187.4 Women‐Only Religious Festivals 1217.5 Women and Funerary Ritual 1247.6 Conclusion 128Questions for Review 129Further Reading 129Interlude: Women in the Hellenistic World 1318 Women in the Hellenistic World 1338.1 The Rise of Macedon and Alexander the Great 1358.2 Olympias: Mother of Alexander 1368.3 The Spread of Hellenism 1378.4 Women and Hellenistic Literature 1388.5 Aphrodite and the Female Nude 1418.6 Traces of Women in Hellenistic Egypt 1438.7 Ptolemaic Queens: Arsinoe II 1448.8 Ptolemaic Queens: Berenice II 1468.9 Conclusion 149Questions for Review 150Reference 150Further Reading 150Rome 1539 An Introduction to Ancient Rome 1559.1 Roman Foundation Myth 1589.2 The Early Republic 1619.3 Expansion of Roman Rule 1639.4 Roman Spectacles 1649.5 The Collapse of the Republic 1679.6 Julius Caesar 1689.7 The Transition to Empire 1699.8 Augustus and Imperial Rome 1709.9 Conclusion 172Questions for Review 172Further Reading 17310 The Roman Family and Household 17510.1 Familia and Domus 17610.2 The Family of Augustus 17810.3 Roman Domestic Space 18010.4 Lanificium: Women’s Work 18210.5 Growing Up Female in the Roman Family 18310.6 Girls and Roman Religion 18810.7 Educating Girls 18910.8 Conclusion 190Questions for Review 191Reference 191Further Reading 19111 Female Adolescence in Rome 19311.1 Pudicitia: Protecting Purity 19411.2 Medical Views of Female Adolescence 19611.3 Age at First Marriage 19911.4 Adolescent Girls in Roman Religion 20011.5 Virgo Docta 20111.6 The Roman Wedding 20311.7 Conclusion 209Questions for Review 209Further Reading 20912 Roman Marriage and Motherhood 21112.1 Marriage and Property 21412.2 Divorce, Roman Style 21512.3 Cultus: The Art of Self‐Fashioning 21612.4 Managing the Household 21812.5 Roman Views of Contraception and Abortion 22012.6 Childbirth and Nursing 22112.7 Mothers and Children 22512.8 Conclusion 227Questions for Review 228Further Reading 22813 Adultery and Female Prostitution in Rome 23113.1 Clodia Metelli: A Woman of Pleasure 23413.2 Women in Latin Love Elegy 23613.3 The Augustan Law Against Adultery 23913.4 Concubines 24113.5 Female Prostitution 24313.6 Conclusion 247Questions for Review 247Further Reading 24714 Women and Public Life in Rome 24914.1 Benefactors and Businesswomen 25014.2 Female Political Protests 25514.3 Women and Roman Religion 25714.4 Priestesses 25814.5 Matronal Cults 26114.6 Women and Foreign Cults 26314.7 Conclusion 264Questions for Review 265Further Reading 265Glossary 267Index 273

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