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A review by mirandaaaa
Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity by Sarah B. Pomeroy
4.0
“The reward of the ‘good’ woman in Rome was likely to be praise in stereotyped phrases; in Athens she won oblivion.”
I had frantically flicked through sections of this book previously for the many essays I’ve written (Individual assignment I’m looking at you- don’t take history a-level kids) but had yet to find the time to read through the whole of the book and I also needed recovery time from the hell that was an Individual assignment, but I’m incredibly glad I did! Not even my individual assignment could tar this book for me.
It is such an accessible book which covers a vast expanse of time, yet Pomeroy doesn’t simply skirt around these topics. You still get fairly detailed arguments and explanations. I particularly liked the part about Euripides’ portrayal of women in his plays but all other areas of the book were in no way slacking and highly informative and entertaining.
Also the idea that stereotypes of women today exist in part to Classical beliefs was quite honestly something I had never associated together:
“The rationalised confinement of women to the domestic sphere, as well as the systemisation of anti-female thought by poets and philosophers are two of the most devastating creations in the Classical legacy.”
I had frantically flicked through sections of this book previously for the many essays I’ve written (Individual assignment I’m looking at you- don’t take history a-level kids) but had yet to find the time to read through the whole of the book and I also needed recovery time from the hell that was an Individual assignment, but I’m incredibly glad I did! Not even my individual assignment could tar this book for me.
It is such an accessible book which covers a vast expanse of time, yet Pomeroy doesn’t simply skirt around these topics. You still get fairly detailed arguments and explanations. I particularly liked the part about Euripides’ portrayal of women in his plays but all other areas of the book were in no way slacking and highly informative and entertaining.
Also the idea that stereotypes of women today exist in part to Classical beliefs was quite honestly something I had never associated together:
“The rationalised confinement of women to the domestic sphere, as well as the systemisation of anti-female thought by poets and philosophers are two of the most devastating creations in the Classical legacy.”