Rome

In Rome, as well as Greece, women were secondary to men. Women were worse off during the republican period, where they were always subordinate to the men of the household. They could not represent their interests in court or hold public positions in office. Things got a little better for women during the imperial period in Rome, after the patriarchal system of the republican period was broken down. In literature of this period, women are praised for their whit, their beauty, their knowledge, and their accomplishments.

The selected text is from the imperial age, and is entitled An Admirable Bride, written by Pliny the Younger. They are selections from a series of books known as the Letters. In this selection, Pliny writes a letter to his aunt which is full of praise about his wife and how wonderful she is. He credits his aunt for how well she raised his wife, and tells his aunt that she may as well have been his wife's father. This shows how the imperial age influenced the written word with regards to women, and gives an example of some of the things that were being written about women in this time period.

"You show us all how we should love our own family. Your brother was a fine man. You loved him as much as he loved you. You now love his daughter as if she were your own. You are not only an aunt to her but also a father."

"She is sharp and very careful. I am the only man she loves and that shows you what sort of girl she is. She also likes reading literature. She has got that from me. She has all my books which she reads. She has also learnt them by heart."

"You should see her when I am about to go to court. How worried she is! When I have finished speaking there, how pleased she is."

"This is why I am sure our happiness will grow as the days go by and last for ever. She is not in love with me as I am nor with my body. This will grow old and weak as time goes by. She loves me for what I stand for. This is just what I would expect from someone who has been educated by your hands. She has been trained in your camp and she sees only what is holy and honest."

"So each of us must fall over each other to thank you. I, because you gave her to me, and she because you gave me to her. You would think we had chosen each other."

Classical Greece

Aphrodite of Cyrene was sculpted by Praxiteles in the Classical Greek period, around 100 BCE. Praxiteles was a sculpture who dominated greek art from the fourth century, and he had great influence on artists of his day. Aphrodite of Cyrene represents the beginning of the depiction of the female human body as an object of beauty, and this sculpture was one of the first in Western art to combine the concept of sensuality with the nude female form. Sculptures of the human form during this time were influenced by the Greek concept of the canon of ideal human form or proportions, which was the belief that the perfect human body followed a special mathematical harmony, and this harmony made the human body truly beautiful. Figures of this time period were also very anatomically correct, as the Aphrodite shows. I think that this sculpture perfectly balances realism with idealism. The Aphrodite looks real, but she is also created beautifully and idealized to give a sort of real ideal.

Early Greece

Around this time period, Egypt still had some influence on Greek art, especially sculpture. Still, Greek art was also starting to display its own unique artistic concepts and designs. Pictured to the left is Peplos Kore, which was created around 530 B.C.E. Earlier kouroi had heavy Egyptian influence, with rigid postures that resembled Egyptian cult statues. They were also placed in large temples, another aspect of Egyptian statues. When this Peplos Kore was made, however, Greek art was starting to form its own niche. The figure is more rounded and a bit more relaxed, which shows a gradual development from earlier, similar statues. One significant detail is that male kouroi from this same time period were nude, while the females were clothed. Although today Peplos Kore looks white and faded, this sculpture was originally painted in vibrant colors, which added to the richness and importance of the piece.

Egypt

The work for Egypt that I have chosen is a poem from the New Kingdom. It is entitled "The Songs of the City of Memphis". This is a significant work because it actually consists of two poems, and the first one is recited by a woman. This shows the relative importance and significance of women in ancient Egypt. The poem also gives insight into the culture and values of ancient Egypt as the poetry centers around love, the human body, and pleasure.

The Songs of the City of Memphis

If I am not with you, where will you set your heart?

If you do not embrace me, where will you go?

If good fortune comes your way, you still cannot find happiness.

But if you try to touch my thighs and breasts,

Then you'll be satisfied.

Because you remember you are hungry

would you then leave?

Are you a man

thinking only of his stomach?

Would you walk off from me

concerned with your stylish clothes

and leave me the sheet?

Because of hunger

would you then leave me?

or because you are thirsty?

Take then my breast:

for you its gift overflows

Better indeed is one day in your arms...

than a hundred thousand anywhere on earth.

Distracting is the foliage of my pasture

the mouth of my girl is a lotus bud,

her breasts are mandrake apples,

her arms are vines,

her eyes are fixed like berries,

her brow a snare of willow,

and I the wild goose!

My beak snips her hair for bait,

as worms for bait in the trap.

Ancient Near East

The first piece of art to be examined is from the Paleolithic period, which was roughly 2,000,000 to 8,000 BCE. Pictured to the left is the Venus of Willendorf, one of the earliest sculptures in the world. The Venus is a sculpture of a woman, more specifically a very large, curvaceous woman with a large belly and breasts. She is disproportionate and does not look natural, with a featureless face and all the emphasis placed on her curves. This sculpture suggests the importance of the woman's role in the Paleolithic world. People in this time period viewed women as the source of birth and life, and the aspects of the Venus exhibit their preoccupation with this role. This also suggests their underlaying belief of a more feminine power or force, which is also known to have served as a central religious belief in later periods.

About

This is a journal project for Humanities 201. On this blog I will focus on the topic of women and their portrayal in art, text, and/or sculpture from the Ancient Near East up until the Renaissance era.