Greek Ideas on Gender Roles Throughout history, the roles of women and men have always differed to some degree. In ancient Greece, the traditional roles were clear-cut and defined. Women stayed home to care for children and do housework while men left to work. This system of society was not too far off the hunter gatherer concept where women cared for the house and the men hunted. Intriguingly enough, despite the customary submissive role, women had a more multifaceted role and image in society as juxtaposed with the rather simple role men played. Morals for the two were also different. Men obviously had the upper hand with women being the traditional passive. For an example, it was quite acceptable for a man to commit adultery- however a woman was to remain chaste. The only exception to this was if the lover in question was a god. For some odd reason, it seemed that men were allowed to be philanderers while their wives stayed at home. This is evidenced in the Odyssey quite well- Odysseus the ‘hero’ is free to sample all the pretty ladies he cares to, whereareas Penelope his wife is expected to fend off all the suitors at home. Predictably, Penelope melts into his arms when she realizes it is her long lost husband without pausing to consider what he has done in his absence. This reaction portrays the unequal morals of Greek society regarding gender. Euripides’s Medea portrays women who are not quite as lucky as Penelope:“Oh, unfortunate one, Oh cruel! Where will you turn? Who will help you? What house or what land to preserve you from ill can you find? Medea, a god has thrown suffering upon you in waves of despair.” In this play, Medea’s husband Jason has left her and their children to fend for themselves while he cavorts with his new princess bride. Generally speaking, there is nothing Medea can do and the attitude conveyed by the Corinthian women thoroughly explains this.As shown, women were co...
