The Role of Women in Hesiods Theogony and Works and Days...

The role of women in Hesiods Theogony and Works and Days is outstandingly subordinate. There are a number of times in Hesiods text that despises women, being mortal, immortal, or flesh-eating monsters. The overall impression of women from Theogony and Works and Days, leads one to believe that Hesiod is a misogynist. The very creation of women was set as a punishment to man because Prometheus, son of Iapetos, tried to trick Zeus into eating bones and then, with the tube of a fennel, steals fire to give to mankind. Zeus then proclaimed, To set against the fire I shall give them an affliction in which they will all delight as they embrace their own misfortune. Out of Zeus anger came Pandora, the first woman. Zeus ordered Hephaestus†¦show more content†¦Another subject that Hesiod touches is marriage. In Works and Days, Hesiod provides narrative for an ideal marriage. He states thirty as the perfect age for men to wed, which might seem about right in present day but in Hesiods time, the life expectancy was around fifty. He then writes, Women should have four years of ripeness and be married in the fifth. He stresses to marry a virgin so she can be taught good ways. He explains, For a man acquires nothing better than the good wife. Just when it seems as if Hesiod reveals his sensitive side he continues, and nothing worse than the bad one, the foodskulk, who singes a man without a brand, strong though he be, and consigns him to premature old age. Foodskulk, which generally means one who hovers around looking for opportunities to get more food than her husband allows her, is Hesiods description of a bad wife. Referring to Theogony, he states that the man who avoids marriage arrives at an old age with no one to look after him and distant relatives share out his living. The man who finds a good wife spends his life, with bad competing against good. While the man who gets an awful wife lives with, unrelenting pain in the heart and spirit, and is ill without a cure. Hesiod idea of marriage is more of a teaching process with the man assuming the dominant role and controlling his woman. Hesiod also found ways of incorporating his misogyny into female monsters and goddesses that useShow MoreRelatedRole of Women in Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days736 Words   |  3 Pages14040833 Price Mythology 1060 17 February 2013 Role of Women in Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days In most Greek mythology there is a general hostility towards the female sex, which relays that most poets and writers themselves were sexist. Throughout Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days, women are portrayed in a very subservient manner, placing them far below men and are almost despised. However, in more than one instance, manipulation, women’s true power, is shown. They are constantlyRead MoreEssay about Similarities in the Mythologies of Creation1301 Words   |  6 PagesHesiod in his Theogony and Works and Days and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, when compared to the creation myths as seen in the Old Testament’s book of Genesis they may not be as different as one would think. Taking a more in-depth look at both Genesis and Hesiod’s and Ovid’s work more closely, the reader can see that on multiple occasions the myths have almost identical similarities which reflect their views in society. The similarities in particular are the myths of the cr eation of man, women with their subsequentRead MoreThemes Of The Greek Literature1409 Words   |  6 Pagesthrough the descriptions of the treatment of women and how they exercise power. According to Hesiod s Theogony and Works and Days, the beautiful Pandora was the very first mortal woman to be created by the gods and goddesses of Olympus. She is named â€Å"Pandora† because each divine entity had a role in her creation. 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