Introduction
Despite the fact that a man and a woman, according to mythology, are created as two equal principles that make up a single whole, in practice the ancient woman was completely subordinate to a man. The male spirit of rivalry has pushed women out of public life, and in the private sphere, women’s freedom has been significantly restricted. Having no electoral and economic rights, a woman in ancient society acted only as a wife and mother.
Vision of Woman as an Underclass
In Mesopotamia, a contemptuous attitude towards a woman as a wild and inferior being has been established at the household level. It was believed that the best thing for an Egyptian woman is when nothing is said about her at all: neither bad nor good. In Ancient India, there was even a saying that the best wife is the one that no one notices. The poets of India created entire bestiaries of female types, deducing each under the guise of a certain animal, where a woman is declared to be not just an insidious and cruel being, but also soulless. Although the poets of Ancient China praised women, they argued that the only type of woman worthy of moderate praise is a woman who is hardworking, not voracious, and does not like to gossip (Ahmed 32).
In ancient Greece, the imperfection of female nature in general was emphasized. Greek philosophers argued that a girl is born from a union in which, due to youth or old age, there is a lack of masculine strength, and thus a girl is born, which is an undesirable outcome. In ancient Rome, even being free, a woman still did not have civil freedoms. She could not serve in the army, vote in assemblies, be elected to public office, and could not be a judge or prosecutor. The rise of Islam and Islamic civilization caused the deterioration of women’s rights: historians mention, among others, such facts as the killing of baby girls by their own parents, who wanted a son and heir to give birth to whom in Islamic culture is considered pride (Özbey and Bardakçi 1799). In Central America, women were also given the traditional role of the keeper of the family hearth. Although widowed women in South America were allowed some activities, such as fur trading, they were still largely dependent on men and marriage.
Role of Class in Women’s Status
In Mesopotamia and Egypt, the royal class of women was looked up to very highly, and people often thought of them as part of the divine. The priestesses were next in the social chain, many of whom were somehow connected with the rulers. Female representatives of the other social classes in Mesopotamia and Egypt had a legal status not much different from the status of a slave. In Ancient India, women belonging to the brahmin caste, or priestesses, also had more rights. At the same time, if an Indian girl married representatives of a lower caste, she lost her high status, acquiring a lower status of her husband. The highest stratum of the ruling class in Ancient China was the titled nobility, the women belonging to which had more rights. However, girls from the commoner class, called shuzhen, married to free peasants and artisans, had a legal status no better than slaves (Mitra 23).
For the Greek society of the ancient era, the division into three main classes was important only for men. Women in the slave class, small free producers and slave owners had the same social status. The influence of social status on women in Ancient Rome was similar. It was also quite weak: the wives of commoners, patricians and senators, did not have any legal power, even if they formally belonged to free citizens (Duiker and Spielvogel 90).
In the period of antiquity, there were several early class states in Central America. They were more developed in political and economic terms, so women were listened to somewhat more than in the rest of the ancient world. In South America, the position of women strongly depended on class – women belonging to the nobility occupied a dominant role in the family and society. The rest of the women had a subordinate position, so the scope of their rights depended on the status. In rising of Islam and Islamic civilization, the influence of a woman’s status was indirect. First of all, the mother of a person with a high social status had the right to give him advice and influence his choice, therefore, a high position in society allowed the women of rising Islamic civilizations to exercise their rights through their sons.
Contributions
The high priests of Mesopotamia, for example, Encheduanna, wrote really important texts for literature, borrowings from which can be found in Greek hymns, Homer and the Bible. Among the rulers of Ancient Egypt there were many strong and powerful women, for example, Queen Hatshepsut. They are known for the construction of many monuments; scholars consider many female rulers to be successful and effective pharaohs in the history of Egypt (Özbey and Bardakçi 1799).
Even the most talented and educated women of Ancient India considered subordination to men and being in the shadows to be the true sign of their mind. Therefore, their main contributions are considered to be the advice and support of outstanding Indian rulers. The only female emperor of China, the head of the country, Queen Zetian, although her figure is controversial, many scientists recognize the establishment of strict discipline that has had a beneficial effect on the further development of China. Women of antiquity in Greece had the opportunity to study in contemporary philosophical schools and could even be recognized for their work. The female representatives distinguished themselves not only in literature, but also in the natural sciences. For example, over the next 15 centuries, Hypatia is considered the only female scientist in the history of mankind (Duiker and Spielvogel 78).
The achievements of the women of ancient Rome are no longer connected with science, but with social activities. For example, Lucretia provoked a popular uprising, which resulted in the overthrow of the tsarist government and the establishment of a Republic (Ahmed 28). The women of the rising Islamic civilization who left their mark in history were the girls belonging to the nobility who opened hospitals and schools for the poor, for example, the founder of al-Karaouin University in Fez Fatima (Ahmed 32). Among the outstanding women of Central America there are many young and ambitious characters, famous primarily for recipes of natural beauty. The achievements of the women of South America are associated with the creation of cultural heritage monuments, for example, household items preserved for their descendants.
Conclusion
Despite the significant restriction in rights, the women of antiquity still made contributions to the world of politics, science and especially literature. First of all, it was possible for those who had a high social status and could directly or indirectly exert influence.
Works Cited
Ahmed, Arazoo. “Comparative Study of the Function of Goddesses in Mesopotamian Civilizations, Elam, Iran, India, Greece and Egypts.” Journal of Process Management, vol. 7, no. 2, 2019, pp. 24–34.
Duiker, William, and Jackson Spielvogel. World History, Volume I: To 1800. Cengage Learning, 2015.
Mitra, Durba. ““Surplus Woman”: Female Sexuality and the Concept of Endogamy.” The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 80, no. 1, 2021, pp. 3–26.
Özbey, Ali, and Ayşe Bardakçi. “‘Women’ in Public and Private Spheres in The Context of Modern Feminist Theories from Ancient Civilizations to the Present.” OPUS Journal of Society Research, vol. 14, no. 20, 2019, pp. 1789–1818.