Women in Classical Greece and Women in Ancient China Classical Greece (2100 BC – AD 500) and Ancient China (350 BC – AD 600) were two of the most influential and important civilizations of all time. However, the topic of how these two societies treated women is often disregarded in favor of talking about things like their many technological advancements and cultural achievements. While the great accomplishments of these civilizations should of course not be overlooked, it is also necessary to discuss how women were terribly oppressed in both cultures.
Women were horribly mistreated in both civilizations, but they may have had it worse in China than in Greece as they were much likelier to be abandoned at birth and while in Greece women were treated like second-class citizens, in China they were often treated like servants. In both civilizations, women were treated awfully and cast aside from birth. The role women played in society is an important thing to consider when trying to get insight into the innerworkings of an ancient civilization’s society.
And another thing to look at is how the religion and philosophy of the time could have influenced the people’s perceptions of women so that we can perhaps get an idea of why women were treated the way that they were. In both Ancient Greek and Ancient Chinese cultures, women were treated unfavorably from the very beginning of their lives. While poor Greek families were more likely to abandon a female baby than a male one, it was still uncommon to do so. In China, on the other hand, poor families were likely to leave their female babies out in the cold or sell them as servants to rich families rather than have another unnecessary mouth to feed.
Also, in China, education was off bounds for young girls. They were kept in the home and taught women’s duties such as sewing, spinning, and weaving. On the other hand, in Greece, the daughters of citizens were allowed to attend schools with boys. However, boys and girls did not receive the same education because the ultimate goal of a girl’s education was still to prepare her for her role in taking care of a family. “The goal of a girl’s education was to prepare her for her for her role in rearing a family & not to stimulate intellectual development” (Cartwright).
From a very young age, girls in both societies were taught that they were inferior to boys, that their only purpose was to serve their father and later their husband, and their ultimate goal would be to bare a son. Throughout their whole childhood they were groomed for this lifestyle of staying in the house and caring for their children. In Greece, girls were married off very young at age 13 or 14 to a man their father had chosen. All women were expected to marry and once they were married, they were under the complete authority of their husbands.
Similarly, in China, women were married off at a young age and their fathers had final say on the marriage. Their loyalties would then lie with the families of their husbands instead of their fathers. Also, in China, if a woman failed to give birth to a son, her husband might take other wives (Ancient China). And after her husband died, a widow could never remarry. Furthermore, in both civilizations, women could not divorce their husbands without a mutual agreement. Women’s role in both of these societies was focused on the home and the children.
In Greece, women took care of their children and passed the time by doing wool-work, weaving, or gardening. They were discouraged from communicating with men outside their family and they mainly stayed in the home most of the day. Chinese women’s lives were also focused on the raising of their children, but they were permitted to get simple jobs such as spinning, weaving, or sewing. While there were women who worked in Ancient Greece, such as shopkeepers, weavers, or prostitutes, for the most part female members of citizen families did not have paying jobs. Women in China could not enter into government service or own land.
Likewise, women in Greece could not own or inherit land and they could not vote either. Unlike in Greece, in China there was one way a woman could become an important figure and that was when she became the oldest member of the household. It was very important to respect your elders in China and after a woman’s husband had died and before her sons came of age, she could become the head of the household. We know how women were treated in these two civilizations, but there are many possible reasons why they were treated this way. One thing that could have influenced women’s roles in society is the philosophy and the religion of the time.
The religion of a society can dictate everything about people’s everyday lives, from what they wear, to what food they eat. Moreover, religion can especially influence how people treat and perceive others. The main religion of Ancient Greece at the time was the polytheistic Greek mythology that revolved around the twelve major Olympian gods and goddesses. While women did have a strong presence in the mythology with some of the most prominent gods being goddesses, such as Athena, the goddess of wisdom and the patron of Athens, the women in Greek myths were often very archaic stereotypes.
They were usually either trying to stir up trouble for the male heroes or they were undyingly loyal to their husbands. “Myths and literature abound with female characters trying their best to derail the plans of male heroes, from the supreme witch Medea to the deadly, if lovely, Sirens. They can also be represented as ruled only by wild passion and ecstatic emotion such as the Maenads. In contrast, the ideal chaste woman loyal to her absent husband is epitomized by Penelope in Homer’s Odyssey” (Cartwright). Besides religion, another thing that greatly influenced society’s thinking was the philosophy of the time.
In Greece, the most notable philosophers were Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle and Plato were so influential that we still learn some of their philosophy today, but some of their teachings were not only incorrect, but also harmful to society. They taught that women were incomplete versions of men, males were the ultimate realizations of humanity, and females were completely inferior, lesser beings than males. The belief that women were inherently inferior to men created a sort of vicious cycle within Greek society. This belief means that women are denied access to certain areas of life (such as politics). Denying them access to these spheres means that they fail to develop the knowledge and skills to become proficient in them. This lack of knowledge and skills then becomes evidence to reinforce the original belief that they are inferior” (Clayton). Similarly, in China, philosophy was also very influential, probably even more influential, because the most prominent religion of the time, Confucianism, followed the teachings of the philosopher, Confucius.
The entire Ancient Chinese society was structured after Confucianism. In the Confucian society, “women at every level were to occupy a role lower than men” (Reese). By today’s standards, Confucius’s teachings were extremely sexist. He taught that women’s roles were to look after men and a common Confucius saying was, “a woman’s greatest duty is to produce a son. ” Confucianism embraced patriarchal values, patrilineal customs, and enforced male authority over women.
During the Han Dynasty, philosopher, Dong Zhongshu helped fuse Taoist ideology, such as the symbol of yin and yang, with Confucianism. Dong’s teachings compared women and men to yin and yang. Dong said, “The husband is yang and the wife is yin. ” (Richey). Dong helped spread the gender dichotomy of men as yang (active, powerful, accentuated) and women as yin (passive, weak, diminished). The Chinese also associated things like day and night, winter and summer, and good and evil with yin and yang, but applying this concept to men and women was harmful. Conceptualizing the differences between men and women in terms of yin and yang stresses that these differences are part of the natural order of the universe, not part of the social institutions artificially created by human beings” (Ebrey). This dichotomy became very influential and was used to keep order and further subdue women’s roles in society, “If yin unnaturally gains the upper hand, order at both the cosmic and social level are endangered” (Ebrey). In conclusion, women in both of these great civilizations were forced to live difficult and challenging lives.
From the day they were born until the day they died, women were treated very unfavorably in both societies, but even more so in China where they were often treated like servants. Classical Greece and Ancient China were culturally rich, innovative, and important civilizations, but we would be doing a great disservice to the women of these two civilizations if we praised their many achievements without also stopping to acknowledge their faults too. Women were horribly mistreated and disrespected in both of these very influential societies and it’s important not to forget that.
