1. Dealing with AP Documents
Remember the question from yesterday’s documents? What is the question for todays?
Comparing the role of women in various societies from the ancient to the classical

3. Document # Comment Thesis Support Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Number
Doc 1- Male control, ritual purity
Doc 2- more laws
Doc 5- still more laws and responsibilities
Attitudes toward women from 1800 B.C.E to approximately 200 C.E definitely changed but men were still basically in control. Early times, females purity was emphasized and women were subordinate to men. Later, laws governing conduct of husbands that were slightly more fair to wives…
Support
Documents 1,2 and 5
Documents 3 softer yet holds women in the same position
Document 4 to show changes and difference in perspective
Group 1
1&3 versus 2 &5
Shows no laws versus more laws and judicial involvement. Could include others
Group 2
4 (and others) versus 1,2,3, & 5 (and others)
Written from the female perspective versus from the male perspective
Group 3
1,2,3,4, and 5 versus others
All define women only in terms of the role of wife. Other docs may not.
Number
1-7
Check off each as it is used to outline so that you know you have used them all (or at least 6)
Synthesis
Identify how these documents address another time, region, theme.
Women today, women in Classical Americas, economic role of women

4. Patriarchy in the Classical World
No division of human society has had greater significance for the lives of individuals than that between male and female
Patriarchal systems emerged, systems that favored the dominance of men over women
Men were regarded as superior to women and sons were preferred over daughters
Men had legal and property rights unknown to most women
Public life was a male domain while women’s roles took place in domestic settings

5. Sati, Child Brides and Dowry in Classical India
Only Brahmin males could achieve Moksa
Early Buddhism and Christianity appealed to women ( open to all)
Paterfamilias in Roman Twelve tables gave father right over families
Patriarchies fluctuated but remained strong
In Athens, women were excluded from public life and subordinate to men
Even in Sparta, patriarchy was strong with women serving as breeding machines for its military system and lacking any formal role in public life but it was a lighter patriarchy than Athens

6. Build a framework Similarities in attitudes toward women
Differences in attitudes toward women
Document one provides only the husband with the right to divorce his wife ( without any reference to her say). Her defilement makes reference to her coveted virginity illustrating the perception of a woman as procreative property. This work of the old Testament dates back to ancient civilizations.
Document two , also from the ancient world looks at Mesopotamian society and illustrates the rights of the husband with regard to divorce without providing much say of the wife however…
Document two also provides some opportunity to present grievances that if her husband is not congenial (just and kind), then she may possibly receive her dowry back and return to her father’s house. This suggests some level of women’s elevated status at least in compared to document #1

7. Work those documents Author Place and Time Prior knowledge Audience
Reason
The main idea
Significance

8. Role of women in Classical Greece
Status
Greek women did not have citizenship and had
no independent legal rights. A Greek woman was
considered to be the property and sole
responsibility of her husband or eldest male
relative. The highest status she could attain was
to be the wife of a citizen. Spartan women had
greater standing. They could own and inherit
property and were more highly respected,
especially if they were the mother of a son.
Spartan women did not, however, have
citizenship or political influence.

9. Source: Private letter, ca
Source: Private letter, ca CE, Coptos This letter is written by a Greek who resides in Egypt
Paniskos to Ploutogenia, his wife, greeting
Doc #6 Letter to wife
This document addresses a wife who has not returned her husband’s letters and did not listen to his requests. His tone is still respectful contrary to traditional Greek Patriarchy. Note his respect for sisters and mothers.

10. Role of Women in Classical Rome
Status
Roman women did not have citizenship and,
during the republic, they had virtually no legal
rights. They were the legal responsibility of their
fathers or husbands. If a woman’s father or
husband died, a guardian (usually the eldest
male relative) was appointed by the state to look
after the family’s affairs. During the empire (from
27 BCE), the guardian’s role became mostly
ceremonial and wealthy Roman women
controlled their own financial and legal affairs
later in life.

11. Doc #3 A Greek living in Rome
Source: Plutarch, excerpt from “Women’s Life in Greece and Rome,” Moralia, 242 B.C.E
Doc #3 A Greek living in Rome
Plutarch as a scholar identifies the relationship between a woman and man is harmonious but with man having the dominant role. Provides some understanding of a partnership but with man in the dominant role.

12. Role of Women in Classical China
Women’s Duties
according to Confucius  women did not participate in public life
duties
cook
look after her parents-in-law
make clothes
follow the “three submissions”: her parents, husband and son
Marriages arranged
She left her home to go to her future husband’s home  had to prove herself
Dissension common between wife and in-laws
Competed for influence and power in the family
During the Han Dynasty
Several authors began to write about the role of women
Ban Zhao, sister to a court historian, wrote Admonitions for Women  a text of advice on the appropriate virtues for aristocratic women
Humility
Resignation
Subservience
Self-abasement
Obedience
Cleanliness
Industry
Throughout Han times (but not after) women could:
inherit property
divorce
remarry after divorce or widowhood

13. Source: Ban Zhou, leading female Confucian and imperial historian under Emperor Han Hedi, from Lessons for Women, an instruction manual in feminine behavior, 100 C.E. Doc #4
As a female working for the emperor to ensure the roles of women are in compliance with the Confucian 5 relationships, Ban Zhou reinforces the submissive role of women in the family by rendering the primary domestic duties to women and their natural order to serve men

14. Role of Women in Classical India
Women in the Caste System
Dominance of Males
Dominance of husbands and fathers was very strong
One Indian code of law even recommended that a wife worship her husband as a god
Limits on Women
arranged marriages  contracted unions at a very early age
goal of arranged marriages  ensure solid economic links
result of these marriages  women came into a new family in which they had absolutely no voice
Husband and wife were to provide mutual emotional and loving support as the marriage developed
family  an important part of society
In the Gupta Empire, women’s status declined
Lost right to own or inherit property
Barred from studying sacred texts
Treated as the lowest class, the Shudras
Expected to obey their father, husband, and sons
Married at very early ages (6 or 7)  to be sure they were virgins
Sati  a ritual in which a woman was expected to cremate herself on her husband’s funeral pyre
If declined  she is forbidden to marry and is shunned

15. Source: Excerpt from “The Laws of Manu,” the Rig Vedas, 100 B. C
Source: Excerpt from “The Laws of Manu,” the Rig Vedas, 100 B.C.E- 200 C.E.  Doc #5
Laws to regulate Hindu society which clearly provides some responsibilities for men to care and provide for their wives but provides more rights for men to take away property, and spend as much time away with women having to remain loyal ( note: This does not apply to the male)

16. Role of Women in classical Maya
8th ruler of Palenque was a woman
Mostly weavers and harvesters
Arranged marriages
Separations of gender at young age (girls with mothers boys with fathers)
There existed many Mayan Goddesses

17. Breaking it down Grouping suggested two ways but here are some others:
Ancient Middle East, Mediterranean, Asia
Early, middle, later
Good,bad,neutral
Political, economic, cultural
Thesis: The rise of the earliest civilizations gave rise to patriarchal institutions where women were viewed as personal possessions and property limiting their rights. During the Greco-Roman reforms, however, women were viewed as important partners but still deferred to men while the patriarchy in Asia became increasingly codified through religious laws and bureaucratic decree. An additional document from a Spartan women would allow for a greater understanding of the elevated status of women and how this was a unique feature in an era dominated by men.
Politically, laws served to subjugate a women’s role in the ancient and classical world, economically, the wife was generally reliant upon her husband and mostly served him being denied property, however, women were looked as domestic partners in the Mediterranean world while in the Middle East and Asia, they maintained their obedience to their husbands. Although we hear from a woman like Ban Zhou, she is clearly writing for the Emperor, it would be important to hear from a Chinese mother to view her reaction to the three submissions first as daughter, then as wife and , finally as mother. While these were her duties she might have felt restricted in this submissive society