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nikkigee81's review against another edition
3.0
Details the lives of women in various classes from Greece, Rome, and Egypt. Spartans and Egyptians seem to have had the most freedom.
hramona's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
5.0
This! Was! Fantastic! I really loved the way that Pomeroy writes; it’s informative and interesting without it being exhaustively so. Sometimes I’ve found history books are deeply dense and really hard to get through but this was so wonderful and I learnt SO much. Definitely will be looking at other works by her and pounding that Bibliography for similar books
lydiaemilyy's review against another edition
2.0
I finally finished it!
I hit a wall because the second half of the book is about Roman women and my knowledge of Rome is minimal and I'm also not as interested. So I just didn't have any enthusiasm to pick it up once I got halfway through.
I remember enjoying the first half but also being put off by some of the sources Pomeroy uses as fact. Plutarch is notorious for not writing factual biographies, particularly when we're talking about the most-likely-fictional founder of Sparta. So weird to just see the odd comment that suggested Spartans did something because Plutarch says so. Or the paragraph in which she mentions Petronius' Satyricon and how it is fictional and the statistics often meant to be ludicrous, and then at the end of that same paragraph uses the Satyricon as evidence for girls being married at the age of 7. Just makes for an odd reading experience. And means that I was skeptical about a lot of the facts, especially when it came to the areas I knew less about, because i didn't know what was accurate and what might require further critique.
Anyway, it's been 6 months since I read the first half of the book, but I do remember enjoying that bit! Me not enjoying the Roman section is just a problem of myself and not of the book. I'm glad I have finally finished it though.
I hit a wall because the second half of the book is about Roman women and my knowledge of Rome is minimal and I'm also not as interested. So I just didn't have any enthusiasm to pick it up once I got halfway through.
I remember enjoying the first half but also being put off by some of the sources Pomeroy uses as fact. Plutarch is notorious for not writing factual biographies, particularly when we're talking about the most-likely-fictional founder of Sparta. So weird to just see the odd comment that suggested Spartans did something because Plutarch says so. Or the paragraph in which she mentions Petronius' Satyricon and how it is fictional and the statistics often meant to be ludicrous, and then at the end of that same paragraph uses the Satyricon as evidence for girls being married at the age of 7. Just makes for an odd reading experience. And means that I was skeptical about a lot of the facts, especially when it came to the areas I knew less about, because i didn't know what was accurate and what might require further critique.
Anyway, it's been 6 months since I read the first half of the book, but I do remember enjoying that bit! Me not enjoying the Roman section is just a problem of myself and not of the book. I'm glad I have finally finished it though.
bunnyreads2's review against another edition
3.0
A pretty interesting account of the lives of women in classical Greek and Roman societies. My main problem with it would be the form or pace of it which made it longer to read than I expected. I enjoyed the material and the way the author made good efforts to take a look at all women, not just the upper class ones, but I did not always have the motivation for this kind of scholar writting; so I often picked up another read instead of continuing this one when the motivation wasn't there.
rita42's review against another edition
4.0
In this book, Pomeroy examines classical art and literature in order bring Greek and Roman women out of obscurity and fill the gaps left by historians who have been largely silent on women and have almost exclusively reported on activities that were dominated by men throughout antiquity.
I found the subject fascinating but the book was not really uniformly engaging to me: the chapters on goddesses, on heroines and on Spartan women were especially exciting and I wished they were much longer, while I had to force myself to finish the chapters that dealt with the legal statuses of wives and slave girls because they were so dull.
Another difficulty for me was the fact that the art and archeology of the classical world were not as thoroughly discussed as the literary references. I am not familiar with classical literature beyond the most well know mythological texts and epics and could not easily keep up with all the ancient authors, poets and character names scattered across chapters. I could've benefitted comprehensive list of all the ancient literary references used.
Overall this book was informative and at times very engaging, any problems I had with it are down to the limitations of my knowledge and my personal tastes and not with it's content. I am also very glad Pomeroy limited her book to objectively describing the lives of women in the classical world and didn't try to include her own theories on why history has overlooked them.
I found the subject fascinating but the book was not really uniformly engaging to me: the chapters on goddesses, on heroines and on Spartan women were especially exciting and I wished they were much longer, while I had to force myself to finish the chapters that dealt with the legal statuses of wives and slave girls because they were so dull.
Another difficulty for me was the fact that the art and archeology of the classical world were not as thoroughly discussed as the literary references. I am not familiar with classical literature beyond the most well know mythological texts and epics and could not easily keep up with all the ancient authors, poets and character names scattered across chapters. I could've benefitted comprehensive list of all the ancient literary references used.
Overall this book was informative and at times very engaging, any problems I had with it are down to the limitations of my knowledge and my personal tastes and not with it's content. I am also very glad Pomeroy limited her book to objectively describing the lives of women in the classical world and didn't try to include her own theories on why history has overlooked them.
bunnyreads's review against another edition
3.0
A pretty interesting account of the lives of women in classical Greek and Roman societies. My main problem with it would be the form or pace of it which made it longer to read than I expected. I enjoyed the material and the way the author made good efforts to take a look at all women, not just the upper class ones, but I did not always have the motivation for this kind of scholar writting; so I often picked up another read instead of continuing this one when the motivation wasn't there.
ellanarose's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not convinced by all the arguments raised in this, but as a groundbreaking book it is exceptional.
This is a thorough look at a subject that has only recently been a part of Classical Studies, and often discusses the lack of evidence as well as the evidence itself.
This is a thorough look at a subject that has only recently been a part of Classical Studies, and often discusses the lack of evidence as well as the evidence itself.
orlathewitch's review against another edition
4.0
Pomperoy is one of my favourite academics when it comes to Gender in the ancient world, I enjoyed her contribution to 'Ancient Greece: A Political, Social and Cultural History' and her work in 'Spartan Women'.
This book really brings together a lot of her work really highlights both the difficulty and the importance of examining the lives of women in ancient Greece and Rome. She crosses class boundaries, a rare thing for a classicist and talks about the use of goddesses in patriarchal societies, a pet interest of mine.
But vitally she also has an accessible style. This is not a book that only Classicist, ancient historians or gender specialists can read. Anyone with an interest in the topic will get something out of this book.
This book really brings together a lot of her work really highlights both the difficulty and the importance of examining the lives of women in ancient Greece and Rome. She crosses class boundaries, a rare thing for a classicist and talks about the use of goddesses in patriarchal societies, a pet interest of mine.
But vitally she also has an accessible style. This is not a book that only Classicist, ancient historians or gender specialists can read. Anyone with an interest in the topic will get something out of this book.
depleti's review against another edition
3.0
I had no idea Athenian women had it so bad! It was kind of depressing to read. Even Roman women didn't have it easy. Thanks, Patriarchy! Still this was a good book, and felt like a solid overview of the culture and time period, though it's not one I'm familiar with.
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