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The Status of Women in Greek, Roman and Jewish Society by Elisabeth M Tetlow from 'Women and Ministry in the New Testament'
The Status of Women in Greek, Roman and Jewish Society
by Elisabeth M Tetlow
from Women and Ministry in the New
Testament,Paulist Press, 1980 pp 5 - 29.Republised on our website with
the necessary permissions
Introduction
social world of the Mediterranean in the time of Jesus had a long and complex
history. Israel was not the only great civilization in ancient times. In the
East there had been Akkadians, Hittites, Assyrians and Persians among others,
and in Palestine itself there had been Canaanite city-states. These societies
had been for the most part patriarchal, relegating women to an inferior and
subordinate position.
societies in the ancient world were patriarchal. There were, however, a few
exceptions. In the third millennium B.C. the Sumerians accorded women a
position which was almost equal to that of men. Women were, for example, able
to own and control the use of property. They were educated and legally able to
take more than one husband. In the second millennium, however, Sumerian men
achieved supremacy and reduced the rights and status of women from that time
West, Egypt was another exception. The status of Egyptian women was high and
their legal rights approached equality with men throughout the last three
millennia B.C.(2) Marriages were monogamous and commonly by mutual consent.
Women had equal rights in inheritance.(3) Because of these rights many women
were able to become wealthy and through their wealth acquire political power. A
few women even ruled as pharaohs.(4)
civilization of Sumer died out and its place in the East was taken by
patriarchal societies. The civilization of Egypt on the other hand survived. By
the time of the hellenistic period, the continuous tradition of freedom,
education and equality of women in Egyptian society was beginning to have an
influence on the position of women in Greek society in other parts of the
hellenic empire. The Romans also encountered the influence of Egypt as Julius
Caesar and later Mark Antony mingled their destinies with its queen, Cleopatra
VII. By the first century the eastern part of the empire was firmly committed
to patriarchy and the subordination of women. In the West, at least in Egypt,
women were educated, free and almost equal in status to men. Greek and Roman
societies were between the two extremes. In both there was a tension of
opposites: a patriarchal ideal of the silent and obedient wife, working in
seclusion within the home, and the reality of historical women who owned wealth
and property and exercised a role in political society. The real women of
history were constantly challenging the patriarchal ideal of male dominance and
superiority.
Judaism in the first century had emerged from the oriental patriarchal
tradition in which women were considered the property of men with no rights, no
role in society except childbearing, and no education. In the intertestamental
period Judaism was, however, affected by its encounter with hellenism. This
produced a double effect. Some schools within Judaism reacted negatively,
attempting to reinforce the subordination and seclusion of women in order to
safeguard the purity of Judaism against the influence of hellenism. In the
diaspora this was often impossible. The Jewish people were living within
hellenistic society. There were Jewish women who had acquired wealth and
education within that society.(5) Such women were beginning to have a voice in
business and politics. Many Jews lived their everyday lives more according to
the mores of hellenistic society than those of Torah and Talmud. Greek
philosophical and theological ideas began to be taken up by Jewish philosophers
and theologians.(6)
into this complex world that Christianity was born. Christianity originated in
the Judaism of Palestine, which was itself partially hellenized. It soon spread
to Greece, Egypt and Rome. It was within the experience of its encounter with
these cultures that
Christian faith was formulated and its scripture composed. In these lands of
the first-century Mediterranean world, the earliest Church made decisions about
the position and role of women within the Christian community. Such decisions
were inevitably affected by the context of Jewish, Hellenistic or Roman culture
in which they were made. This chapter will examine the question of the status
and religious role of women in Greek, Roman and Jewish societies in the
centuries that preceded the birth of Christ.
WOMEN IN ANCIENT GREECE
quest for historical information about the status of women in ancient Greek
society is a lively issue among scholars today.(7) There are a variety of
available sources into which the historian may delve for information about
women: ancient historians, biographers, orators, philosophers, poets and
playwrights, as well as data found in the fine arts, in inscriptions and
papyri, and in urban and religious archaeology.
Scholars have long debated whether the earliest social and religious
structures were matriarchal. Matriarchy has many shades of meaning, from a
society in which the roles of men and women are equal to one in which women
rule and men are subordinate. At least among the heavenly hierarchy of ancient
Greece goddesses at first predominated. Hesiod’s Theogony, which was
composed around 700 B.C., described the shift in power from the earlier
goddesses, whom he associated with passions and evil forces, to the rational
heroic male god, Zeus. Once he had gained power, Zeus established a patriarchal
order among the gods. Thenceforth male gods were free to exploit goddesses and
earthly women at their pleasure.
The Late Bronze Age
eighth century B.C. the blind poet Homer described the period of the Trojan War
which had taken place near the end of the Bronze Age, four centuries
earlier.(8) Many powerful and influential women appeared in the Homeric epics,
among them the Greek queens Helen, Clytemnestra and Penelope. Marriage was
frequently matrilineal, that is, the inheritance passed from mother to
daughter. The right of Helen to leave her husband and enter into a new marriage
with Paris was not challenged. The probable reason why Menelaus and his allies
went to war over the issue was that Menelaus’ own right to the throne of
Sparta lay in his status as Helen’s husband. If she married another, he
would lose his right to political and economic power in the city-state.
Likewise after Agamemnon had departed, Clytemnestra herself held the rule of
Mycenae. She proceeded to take a new husband and together they continued to
rule, finally killing Agamemnon upon his return. During Odysseus’ absence,
Penelope was besieged by suitors, probably not so much because she was
personally attractive, but rather because she ruled the wealthy and politically
important city-state of Ithaca.
general, Homer portrayed these ancient women within the framework of his own
patriarchal values. Sons were valued more than daughters. Wifely fidelity was
praised, while the double standard was taken for granted. Men could be
polygamous and most had slave concubines. Women generally stayed indoors and
performed domestic tasks. Upper-class women had slaves to do the more menial
jobs. It is quite possible, though, that this portrait of women reflected not
only Homer’s own experience in the eighth century, but the actual practice
in the twelfth century. Mycenian tablets reported that the food allotment for
men at the time was two and a half times that of women.(9) Such would tend to
indicate that the position of women was inferior to that of men.
Archaic Greece (800-500 B. C.)
records of the archaic period are very sparse. The law codes of two city-states
do give some information on the status of women there in the latter half of the
period. The law code of Sparta was composed in the seventh century and was
attributed to Lycurgus. The most important role of women in archaic Sparta was
the bearing of children. For this reason women were to be fed equal rations,
educated and trained in athletics. Women were able to marry at a later age than
in other city-states and therefore faced less danger of death in pregnancy and
childbirth. Toward the end of the period many women in Sparta had become quite
wealthy and reduced the population by refusing to bear many children.(10)
Spartan women were portrayed by Plutarch as heroic and proud.(11)
law code of Gortyna on Crete dates from about the sam(12) There women had the
right to own, control and inherit property. A certain percentage of what a
woman produced through her work belonged to her. In divorce a woman retained
half her property.
known that there were at least nine women poets during this period. A few are
known by name, such as Corinna and Sappho, but little of their poetry has been
preserved. These women were educated and belonged to the upper class of
society. Thus they enjoyed the freedom and the leisure to be able to write.
None of them lived in Athens.(13)
Athens in the Clasical Period
situation of women in archaic and classical Athens was far more restricted than
in other Greek city-states. Women were generally excluded from education and
political life. The sixth-century law code of Solon legalized prostitution,
reflecting social acceptance of the double standard.
has been some debate among scholars whether women were totally secluded in
Athens or whether they enjoyed some measure of freedom.(14) The truth probably
lies in between the two extremes. There is evidence that there were very
definite expectations for the different sex roles. These did, however, vary
somewhat among different socio-economic classes.(15) Women were not completely
secluded in ancient Athens, although many men would have liked to see them so.
Women did, to some extent, seek a role and a voice in their society. Yet they
did not enjoy full social or political freedom as such.
primary duty of women in ancient Athens was to marry and to bear legitimate
children so that their family unit might continue. If there was no son, a
daughter might inherit, but was obligated to marry her next of kin. A dowry was
given at marriage for the support of the wife. It was to remain intact during
the marriage while she received eighteen percent interest on it annually.(16)
Divorce might be initiated by either partner, but there are few records of
divorces initiated by the wife, who had to be aided in the procedure by her
father. In divorce, the children were considered the property of the husband
and remained with him.
Marriages were arranged by parents. A girl was expected tomarry by the
time she was fourteen. This left few years for her education, which was
confined to the home and concerned primarily with domestic affairs. Women were
expected to work, but within the home. They spun and wove and managed their
slaves. The homes had separate women’s quarters.(17) When their husbands
entertained guests, women were not permitted to be present. Yet women did go
out of the home to attend festivals and funerals. It is probable, but not
certain, that they were able to go to the theater.
literature of the period generally portrayed women as inferior and of dull and
unpleasant character.(18) It was thought that women should not be educated
since that would make them more dangerous to men.(19) One of the least
misogynistic writers in classical Greek literature was Euripides. He portrayed
many of his women characters as strong and noble self-sacrificing heroines.
Such women were frequently depicted as stronger and nobler than their male
counterparts.(20) He also pictured women as victims of patriarchal
exploitation.
greatest proximity to a concept of equality for women in the classical period
is in the Utopian literature. In the ideal society there would be no private
property and therefore no need for legitimate heirs. Women were allowed far
greater freedom and the right to participate in politics. Plato described his
view of the ideal society in the Republic.(21) There women were to be educated
for the good of the state. Competent women would be able to become guardians
and in that position they would rule over both men and women. Women were also
to be trained to fight to defend the state. In the Laws Plato presented
another, less idealistic sort of Utopia. There he retreated to limiting women
to the traditional sex roles of classical Athens, although he did still affirm
education of women,(22) In general women were expected to obey men. Even in the
Republic Plato noted that the place of woman was within the confines of her
Aristotle had an even lower view of women than his teacher. He
believed that inequality between men and women was based upon the law of
nature. Man is superior, woman inferior. Husbands and fathers should rule over
their wives and daughters.(24) Only men were thought capable of philosophy and
the virtues. The role of women was obedience and silence. It has benn suggested
(25) that the writings of Aristotle codified the general social practice and
mores of Athens during the classical period.
B.C. Pericles proclaimed that “the best reputation a woman can have is not
to be spoken of among men for good or evil.”(26) Women were kept in the
shadow in classical Athens. Yet they were permitted to testify in court, were
generally literate and had some understanding of economics and politics.(27)
The seclusion and silence of women was the cultural ideal. It is not certain
that all women were willing to comply with such an ideal in actual historical
Plutarch: A later View of Classical Greece
first century A.D., Plutarch wrote his Moralia explaining the customs and mores
of the ancient Greeks. His works reflect the same ambivalence found in Plato.
He described the ideal woman, employing the example of an heroic woman who had
helped to liberate her city-state. Even such a woman, after her heroic deed,
then withdrew into seclusion in the women’s quarters, never again meddling
in politics, and spending the rest of her days quietly weaving among her
family.(28)
marriage, even if the wife contributed the larger part of the estate, it was
more fitting that the entire estate be said to belong to the husband.(29) Wives
were to be seen only in the company of their husbands. Otherwise, they were to
remain secluded and silent.(30)
other hand Plutarch did express his disagreement with Thucydides that women
should always be silent.(31) He admitted that women should be educated in
philosophy, literature, geometry and astronomy.(32) The husband might serve as
the teacher of his wife. Then husband and wife could share in the fruits of
education by having a more stimulating life together.(33) In case of
disagreement, husbands ought to persuade their wives through the use of reason,
not force.(34) Plutarch also thought that they should eat meals
Plutarch made reference to women prophets and poets.(35) He noted the
general literacy of married women and praised women who possessed political
wisdom.(36) He gave examples of women who exercised a political role. One such
woman in Phrygia administered the government of her city-state and did so
“excellently.”(37) The women portrayed in Plutarch’s Moralia
come from all areas of Greece. This may account for the greater freedom and
education of women than was common in classical Athens. It is also possible
that Plutarch reflected some of the mores of Roman and Hellenistic society in
his own times.
in classical Greece did have some education and some role in society. Both were
likely to be greater if they did not live in Athens. However, neither their
education nor their social role was equal to that of men of the same
socio-economic class. Women did not have the freedom to determine their own
lives. There was a saying in ancient Greece, at various times attributed to
Thales, Socrates and Plato, in which man thanked the gods that he was not
uncivilized, a slave, or a woman.(38)
hellenistic period extended from the time of Alexander the Great in the late
fourth century until the Roman conquests in the first century B.C. Culturally
Hellenism continued to exercise an important influence in the Roman empire in
the first centuries A.D.
Alexander the Great brought the era of the Greek city-states to an
end. They were replaced by a vast cosmopolitan empire. This fact had a great
impact on all aspects of social life and culture. As society changed, so the
position and role of women within society also changed
hellenistic queens in Greece, Syria and Egypt held real political power. The
mother of Alexander, the Macedonian queen Olympias, ruled Greece when her son
was away on his conquests. In Egypt, Arsinoe II co-ruled with her husband,
Ptolemy II. The images of both appeared on contemporary coins. Cleopatra VII
ruled in her own right at the end of the hellenistic period.(39)
the situation of women at this time was far from ideal. Their marriages were
arranged. Even the marriages of queens were political alliances. In hellenistic
Egypt, brother-sister marriages were common in ruling families, in order to
preserve economic power within the family unit. Kings practiced polygamy. The
wife who was most adept at political intrigue and even murder was the one who
survived and gained power in the hellenistic courts
in the colonies lacked the forms of male protection which they had known in
Greece. Consequently they had to learn to protect themselves. Marriage and
family life were weakened as the empire expanded. One of the most effective
resources of women in this period was economic power. Through their personal
wealth women were able to gain legal rights and a voice in public affairs. Many
women were honored for their generosity toward the state. In the first century
B.C. a woman magistrate was honored for building a reservoir and an
aqueduct.(40) Both the accomplishments and the political office of the woman
may have been a function of her own personal wealth. In Sparta at this time
women owned forty percent of the land and exercised great political and
economic power.(41)
varied in different regions of the empire. In Egypt women had the right to make
contracts and wills and the obligation of taxation. Distinctions were made
between Greek and Egyptian women. The former required a male guardian in order
to m the latter did not. In Greece women had the right to
conduct business, make loans and manumit slaves with the approval of their
guardians.(42)
Hellenistic marriage contracts stated rights and obligations for both
spouses, although these were different for husband and wife. In the case of
divorce the dowry was returned to the wife and the husband had to continue to
support the children. The communal property, however, was retained by the
husband.(43) The double standard prevailed and was recognized. Husbands could
take concubines and prostitution was legal.
Upper-class women received some degree of education and many were
literate. In hellenistic Egypt there was greater literacy among women than
among men.(44) There were hellenistic women poets, such as Erinna, some of
whose verses are extant.(45) In 218 B.C. Aristodama, a woman poet of Smyrna,
was granted honorary citizenship by the Aetolians.(46)
dominant philosophical schools of the Stoics and Neopyth-agoreans excluded
women and emphasized traditional sex roles.(47) They were challenged by the
Epicureans and the Cynics. The Epicureans admitted women on an equal level to
their school. There was a woman philosopher among the Cynics named Hipparchia
who taught in public with her husband.(48)
the parochial Greek city-states became a worldwide empire great changes
occurred in society and mores. Women exercised political power with skill.
Political and economic power made some women equal in status to men. Other
women became competent professionals in athletics, music, poetry, literature,
philosophy, oratory, medicine and various crafts.(49) Class barriers were
breaking down and the institution of the family was weakened. Traditional
social roles of the sexes were challenged and this resulted in controversy and
conflict.(50) A man could no longer presume his wife’s compliance with a
role of seclusion, passivity and silence. The challenge had come, not from a
change in philosophic or social ideals, but from the concrete fact of
historical women who possessed real economic power and who used it to struggle
for freedom and equality.
The Religious Role of Women in Ancient and Hellenistic
Frescoes of the ancient Minoan civilization on Crete portray many
women priestesses. They wore special ornate dress and danced in the sacred
olive grove as part of the religious cult. Goddesses were pictured surrounded
by female dancers. Male priests were fewer in number and dressed in the same
style of clothes as the women priests.(51)
the time of the installation of Zeus at the pinnacle of the hierarchy of the
gods, the role of women in traditional Greek religion became subordinate to
that of men. Even the rites of the goddesses were dominated by male
priests.(52) Some cults excluded women from any form of
participation.(53)
was a woman “priest” of Apollo at Delphi who was called a Pythia. She
was usually a middle-aged, celibate, uneducated woman who was chosen and then
trained by the male priest. Her role was to go into a trance, possibly under
the influence of drugs, during which she would utter gibberish. This was then
interpreted by the male priests according to their own political research and
an oracle was given by them to the petitioner,
woman priest of Athena Polias, the patron goddess of Athens, was important and
influential in the political life of the city in the classical and hellenistic
periods. The office was hereditary in a prominent noble family. On the annual
feast of the Panathenaea, women and men participated in the processions and
young virgins carried baskets.(54)
Plutarch made reference to women priests of Dionysius who were
involved in a political demonstration, using their office to influence the
political authority at Elis.(55) He also mentioned a woman priest of Demeter
who performed marriage ceremonies.(56)
role of women in traditional Greek religion was generally more restricted than
it was in the syncretistic mystery cults which came to prominence in the empire
during the hellenistic period. Many women converted to the mystery religions.
It is possible that some of these conversions were motivated by the greater
role women were permitted to play in the mystery cults. Some of the cults
disregarded social and sexual roles completely. The cult of Agdistis in
Philadelphia admitted men and women, free persons and slaves. The Eleusian
mysteries from the fourth century B.C. on admitted women, slaves and
Greek-speaking foreigners.(57)
Eleusian mysteries the highest office was held by a male chief priest. The
lower ranking priests were both men and women. The woman priest of Demeter and
the male chief priest were each paid a small coin by every initiate. Events at
Eleusis were dated according to the name and year in office of this priestess.
Some women priests were married, others lived in celibate
communities.(58)
were able to exercise a leadership role in the mystery religions.(59) Women
priests and religious functionaries were publicly honored in hellenistic
society.(60) The mystery religions did not, however, proclaim the social
equality of women. In general they held a negative view of sex and demanded
continence before and during their rites. Asexual spiritual marriage was
practiced. Although such a view to some extent freed women from being regarded
and treated merely as sex objects, it ultimately reinforced the theory of their
inferiority. If sexual relations were considered evil, it was because contact
with women was believed contaminating, not contact with men,
WOMEN IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE
status of women in the Roman empire was influenced by the position of women in
hellenistic society and also in the earlier Italian civilization of Etruria.
The Etruscans had accorded women great freedom and respect. Women were allowed
to participate independently in society and business.(61)
Roman empire many women possessed great wealth. Influenced by the example of
hellenistic queens who had also lived in an empire where their husbands were
frequently absent on campaigns for long periods of time, Roman women began to
exercise political power. Yet they rarely actually held political office. They
sometimes ruled in the name of their absent husband or son who held the title
of the office. In other parts of the empire women fared better in attaining
political office, although it is possible that their titles were merely
honorific.(62) Women also influenced the men who held office through their
economic power.
theory, traditional sex roles were still accepted by Roman society. This fact
created tension between the theoretical ideal of the woman staying at home and
weaving, and the reality of historical women moving with relative freedom in
the political arena and marketplace.
According to Roman law women were under the complete control of the
pater familias, the male head of the extended family unit. This power extended
to life and death. A death penalty could be imposed upon a woman for adultery
or drinking alcohol.(63) The pater familias arranged marriages and appointed
guardians for the women of his family. A woman could not legally transact
business, make a contract or a will, or manumit a slave without the approval of
her guardian.(64) However, a woman might request a new guardian or a reversal
of a decision by a guardian by submitting her case to a magistrate. By the time
of Augustus a free woman was exempt from the control of a guardian after she
a freed woman after the birth of four.(65) The law of
guardians was not rigidly enforced and women frequently did transact business
independently of them.
were different types of marriage in Roman society. In manus marriage the woman
left the control of the pater familias and came under the jurisdiction of her
husband. This type of marriage tended to be more stable. In non-manus marriage
the woman remained under the authority of her pater familias, which tended to
give her more freedom.(66) Some women actually chose their own spouses.(67)
Most women married between the ages of twelve and fifteen. Widowhood and
divorce were common. Divorce could be initiated by either spouse or by the
wife’s father. Few divorces at the request of the wife are recorded. The
husband retained custody of the children. In subsequent marriages at a later
age, women had greater choice in the selection of a spouse
Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, was an influential Roman woman
who was honored because, as a widow with twelve children, she refused an offer
of marriage from a hellenistic prince in fidelity to the memory of her late
husband.(68) Well educated, Cornelia wrote letters which were later published.
She had great political influence during the reigns of her sons. She continued
to entertain learned guests in her home after her sons had been
assassinated.(69) Widows with few children were, however, exhorted to remarry.
Widows who committed suicide upon the death of their husbands were greatly
honored.(70)
double standard was upheld by law. Only the adultery of a woman was a crime
which required punishment. Prostitution was legal. Marriages and divorces were
arranged on the basis of political and economic reasons. Daughters were not
given individual names. They were called by the feminine form of the name of
their father. If there were more than one daughter, they were numbered.(71)
Infanticide, especially of girl babies, was practiced.
Roman women had a legal right to inherit. They amassed great fortunes. The role
of a wife was to manage the household. All chores were done by slaves, although
the ideal wife was still expected to spin and weave like her ancient ancestors.
The women of the upper classes were in reality free from work. They were able
to go out: to market, to festivals, to attend banquets in mixed company. Status
in Roman society was sought through public display of wealth. Some women in the
imperial court were actually proclaimed gods in the state cult of emperor
worship.(72) Shrines were erected to them in the provinces and their images
were found on coins. Statues and buildings were erected in Rome to honor
important men and women. Women were able to petition the Senate and even held
protest demonstrations against oppressive laws.(73)
were expected to supervise the education of their children. The education of
women was valued in Roman society. It was possible for girls to attend school.
Women studied music, philosophy, literature, grammar and geometry. In the first
century A.D. the Roman Stoic Musonius Rufus urged that women receive the same
education as men.(74) Roman women wrote letters, memoirs and poetry. They
presided over literary salons.(75) There were women painters and women
physicians.(76)
the lower classes in Roman society women received a smaller allotment of grain
than did men and boys. Freedwomen sold merchandise in the markets, formed trade
guilds, lent money, did laundry and served as waitresses. Men and women slaves
could take paying jobs and save their money to buy their freedom.(77) In some
ways lower-class Roman women enjoyed greater freedom than women of the
aristocracy. There were fewer restrictions on morality and marriage and less
supervision.(78)
women in Roman society did exercise a public role. They held real political and
economic power. Yet they were restricted for the most part from holding
political offices. Women were always legally and theoretically subordinate to
men. Women of the upper classes were able to become well educated. This
increased the possibility of their being respected by men. The status of women
in Roman society was never in fact, however, equal to that of men.
The Role of Women in Roman Religion
Romans had an official state cult of Vesta, goddess of the hearth, of
domesticity and continuity of family and state. The head of this cult was the
pontifex maximus. Under him there was a college of pontiffs. There is no
feminine form of the word pontifex. Women were excluded from the highest office
in Roman religion.
the authority of the pontiffs were the vestal virgins, who had the task of
tending the sacred hearth-fire of the state. The Romans considered this
function so important that the welfare of the state was thought to depend upon
it. A virgin who let the fire go out was publicly flogged. One who was involved
in sexual immorality, which was thought to pollute the cult, was buried
alive.(79)
vestal virgins were all daughters of patrician families until the time of
Augustus.(80) There were six altogether. The eldest had authority over the
others. When a position fell open, twenty candidates were selected from among
whom one virgin was chosen by lot. The service began between the ages of six
and ten and lasted for thirty years. After having completed thirty years of
service a virgin was free to retire and to marry. But most were by that time
rather old to find a suitable marriage partner and preferred to continue in
office where they enjoyed power and authority that increased with age and
seniority.
vestal virgins were the only Roman women who were legally independent of the
authority of the pater familias. When they entered the service they were given
a share of property over which they retained ownership. They played an official
role in some festivals. Their position was highly visible as they rode through
the streets in special chariots and were given the best seats at banquets,
spectacles and the theater. Important political documents and wills were
entrusted to their care. They sometimes even influenced emperors.(81) The
vestals were, however, always under the authority of the pontiffs.
wives of priests were sometimes priestesses. The flaminica was the wife of the
flamen dialis and a priestess of Juno. When she died her husband’s
priesthood was terminated.(82) In the cults of the imperial family in the
provinces, there were women priests serving the divinized
empresses.(83)
cults, such as those of Hercules and Mithra, admitted only men. Others, such as
the cult of the Bona Dea, admitted only women. A woman magistrate presided over
this cult and the vestal virgins also played a role in it. Some of the
women’s cults admitted only those of a certain social or marital class.
The cults of Patrician Chastity and Womanly Fortune admitted only patrician
women of no more than one husband (univiri). The cult of Plebian Chastity
admitted plebian univiri. The cult of Virile Fortune was especially for
prostitutes. These cults of Fortune and Chastity tended to reinforce
traditional sex roles and mores for women.(84)
Romans imported Greek priestesses for the hellenistic mystery cult of Ceres and
granted them Roman citizenship(85). This was a women’s cult comprised of
matrons and virgins. It excluded men and persons of the lower classes. The
Egyptian mystery cult of Isis was also popular in the Roman empire. In Roman
inscriptions naming twenty-six priests (sacerdotes) of Isis in Italy, six of
these priests were women. They were women of both the upper and lower
classes.(86) Frescoes in Pompeii and Herculaneum depict women participating in
the rites of Isis. This cult was considered revolutionary by the Roman
authorities and it was suppressed several times.
in the Roman empire women did exercise an official role in religion, although
they were not admitted to the highest religious offices. Religion was
ultimately controlled by men. Even cults admitting only women were frequently
used by the male authorities to reinforce the subordinate role of women. Roman
men and women were permitted to convert to new religions as long as these were
not seen as threatening to the well-being of the state.
WOMEN IN JUDAISM
Women in the Old Testament
opening chapters of the Old Testament present two very different stories about
creation and attitudes toward woman. The older yahwistic account in Genesis 2
describes the creation of man, Adam, from the dust of the earth. Woman is
created only later and out of the body of the man. The narrative continues in
Chapter 3 with the story of the fall. Later tradition interpreted these
passages to mean that woman from the first moment of her existence was by
nature subordinate to man and the source of all sin and evil.
creation story does not fully represent the thought of Israel on the subject
either of creation or of woman. Several centuries later another account of
creation was composed by priestly editors. Such was its importance in their
eyes that it was set as an introduction to the entire Pentateuch. In this story
in Genesis 1, man and woman are created at the same time. Both are fashioned in
the image of their creator (1:27). Both are blessed and commissioned by God to
fill the earth and rule over it (1:28). It is significant that woman as well as
man was said to image God and to receive God’s blessing and
commission.
general women in the Old Testament were legally the property of men.(87) This
condition is characteristic of patriarchal societies. Before marriage the girl
was the property of her father. After marriage a woman became the property of
her husband.(88) Widows were placed under the authority of their fathers, sons
or brothers-in-law.(89) polygamy was common. Women were considered objects of
property among the spoils of war.(90)
ten commandments are an example of early, yet continuous, legal tradition of
Israel. Stylistically they are addressed to men. The last commandment lists a
wife among objects of property which are not to be coveted. Yet men are also
exhorted to honor mothers as well as fathers, and to allow both women and men
to rest on the sabbath.
woman achieved some measure of social status by becoming the mother of a son.
Conversely, a sterile woman was divorced. Sarah and Rebecca were especially
revered as the mothers of Israel. The narratives about the patriarchal period,
although written much later, mention some freedom of women to appear in
public.(91) Later Hebrew women generally led a harem-like existence, confined
within the home. As time went on, the restrictions gradually became more
elaborate and were combined with formal penalties for their transgression. The
patriarch ruled family and clan in Hebrew society. Inheritance passed from
father to son. Men could initiate divorce at will. Women were bound in marital
Somehow a few Hebrew women did manage to exercise a leadership role in
public life. In the period of the settlement, Deborah led the people Israel as
judge and as military commander in battle against the Canaanites. Queen
Athaliah ruled the southern kingdom for six years after the death of her son,
Ahaziah.(92) A late hellenistic book presents a literary portrait of another
Hebrew queen, Esther, in legendary Persia.
number of women are named in the Old Testament as functioning in the important
religious office of prophet: Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, the wife of Isaiah, and
Noadiah.(93) Hymns whose composition was attributed to women stand among the
oldest religious literature of Israel.(94) There is also mention in the Old
Testament of women sages.(95) Women were, however, totally excluded from the
religious office of priest in Israel.
According to the Torah, women were impure during times of menstruation
and childbirth. They were impure twice as long after the birth of a daughter as
after the birth of a son. Any contact with women at such times rendered a man
ritually unclean. Women also were thought to contaminate any object they
touched. Ritual purity was of primary importance in the Jewish tradition of
priesthood and temple cult. A major reason why women were excluded from the
priesthood and from full participation in the temple cult was their frequent
ritual impurity. Even within the synagogue women were kept at a distance and
seated in an area segregated from the men.
Post-Biblical Judaism
intertestamental and early rabbinic periods Judaism stood in constant struggle
to preserve its identity against the influences of secular hellenistic culture.
As a result, in many areas it reacted against the social advances which were
taking place in the empire. Judaism frequently adopted the strictest, most
literal interpretations of the Torah, and encased these within elaborate
rubrics and further regulations.
apocrypha and pseudepigrapha of the intertestamental period women were
generally portrayed as temptresses and evil sex objects. Men were strongly
advised to avoid all possible contact with women except what was necessary for
the procreation of children. Foreign women were thought to be especially
dangerous. One book went so far as to state that women as such were
Rabbinic literature expressed an even more stridently misogy-nistic
attitude toward women. Women were described not only as evil temptresses, but
also as witches and nymphomaniacs.(97) They were further caricatured as greedy,
vain, lazy and frivolous.(98) Rabbinic society was for the most part
monagamous, but polygamy was still permitted to men. Divorce was compulsory if
a wife was childless for ten years. Male children were viewed as preferable to
female children. Every morning each Jewish man prayed in thanksgiving to God
that he had been created a man and not a woman.(99)
were generally to be confined to the home. In the presence of others their
heads had to be covered and faces veiled. When male guests were invited women
were not allowed to eat meals with their families. All conversation between men
and women was discouraged.(100) Women were not permitted to receive any
education. Legally they were still considered the property of men. Their
testimony was not accepted as evidence in court.
Jewish religion women were also kept subordinate and silent. Women were more
restricted in Judaism than they had been in the Old Testament.(101) They could
not recite the prayers at meals. They were not obligated as men were to go up
to Jerusalem to participate in the major pilgrim festivals. Women were barred
from studying the Torah.(102) They could not be counted among the minyan, the
quorum of men who had to be present for worship to take place. Theoretically
any adult person had the right to read and to preach in the synagogue.(103) But
in practice women were kept physically separate from men in the synagogue and
were not allowed to read at all. Furthermore, women were denied the education
which would have enabled them to preach.
Sectarian Judaism
were different opinions concerning the position of women among the various
Jewish sects. The Essene literature of Qumran is quite negative both toward
women and sex. It was a celibate community which was dominated by priests.
There was no real place for women either theologically or in the reality of its
existence in the desert wilderness of Judaea.
diaspora, on the other hand, Jewish sects were more greatly affected by the
experience of hellenism and foreign cultures. In the Jewish colony at
Elephantine in Upper Egypt women could own property and transact business, take
oaths and initiate divorce. They were also taxed and called up for military
service.(104) The Therapeutae, an Essene-like sect living in Egypt, were also
much more positive in their attitude toward women than the Essenes of
Palestine. The Therapeutae admitted women to full membership in the community.
Women were, however, still segregated and silent during worship. Both the
Elephantine colony and the Therapeutae may have been influenced by the freedom
and high position of women in Egyptian society.
Philo and Jesephus
was a hellenistic Jewish philosopher living in first century Alexandria. He
resisted the influence of his Egyptian environment and viewed women as inferior
and evil creatures.(105) Their proper place was in seclusion and in
subordination to men, ruled by father or husband.(106) He believed that man was
led by reason and woman by sensuality.(107) Influenced by the spirit-matter
dichotomy of neo-platonism, he viewed sex, which involved contact with matter,
as evil.(108) Spiritual man, according to Philo, did well to avoid contact with
sensual woman. On the other hand, he did advocate some, but not equal,
education for women.
Palestinian Jewish historian Josephus spent part of his later life in Rome. As
a Jew he accepted the theoretical inferiority of women. As an historian living
within the Roman empire he described a number of influential women in his
historical works.(109) He made note of the quite normal resentment of
Alexandra, the mother of Mariamne, at Herod’s restriction of her freedom.
On the other hand he reiterated that women could not be witnesses and were
segregated during worship.(110) It is the Jewish view of woman that emerges as
dominant in the thought of Josephus:
woman, says the Law, is in all things inferior to the man. Let her accordingly
be submissive, not for her humiliation, but that for the
authority has been given by God to the man.(111)
Conclusion
position of women in the Mediterranean world of the first century differed from
culture to culture. In general it is possible to say that women were nowhere
totally free or equal. Yet Hellenistic, Roman and Egyptian women did enjoy some
degree of freedom and exercised a real political, economic, and religious role
in their societies. First century Judaism lived in the Roman empire and in the
cultural milieu of Hellenism. It was unable to ignore secular culture, but had
to react to it positively or negatively.
Christianity was born into this complex and syncretistic world. The
societies of this world still by and large advocated the traditional role of
subordination and silence of women as the ideal. Yet in real life the women of
history were neither subordinate nor silent. The ideal was challenged in the
forum of real life. The tension and conflict generated by this challenge were
the social milieu in which New Testament Christianity was
formulated.
Samuel Noah Kramer, “The Goddesses and the Theologians: Reflections on
Women’s Rights in Ancient Sumer,” unpublished address to the
Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale XII (Rome, July, 1974). Cited by
Leonard Swidler, Women in Judaism (Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow, 1976), pp.
From 2778 B.C. until 30 B.C., with the exception of a few brief periods of
feudalism. Cf. Swidler, Women in Judaism, pp. 5-6.
Swidler, Women in Judaism, pp. 5-7.
Queen Hatshepsut (eighteenth dynasty) reigned from 1503 to 1482 B.C.
13:50. Lydia, in Ac 16:14-15, was a “Godfearer.”
Philo, Wisdom.
Marylin B. Arthur, “Classics,” Signs 2(1976), pp. 382-403 for a
review of the literature and the state of the debate.
1184 B.C. is the traditional date of the fall of Troy.
Sarah B. Pomeroy, Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves (New York: Schocken,
1975), p. 30.
Plutarch, “Life of Lycurgus,” 14-16. Cited in Mary Lefkowitz and
Maureen B. Fant, Women in Greece and Rome (Toronto: Samuel Stevens, 1977), pp.
52-54. Cf. Pomeroy, op. cit., p. 38.
Cf. Plutarch, Lacaenarum Apophthegmata II, 240c ff. Cited by A. Oepke,
“Gyne,” in Gerhard Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964-74), I, 777. Henceforth this work will
be abbreviated TDNT.
7th/6th century B.C. It is preserved in a 5th century inscription.
Pomeroy, op. cit., p. 56.
Cf. Arthur, art. cit., p. 389, and H. D. F. Kitto, The Greeks (Baltimore:
Penguin, 1951), pp. 219-220. The strongest position on the freedom of Greek
women was taken by Arthur W. Gomme, “The Position of Women in Athens in
the Fifth and Fourth Centuries B.C.,” Essays in Greek History and
Literature (Oxford: Blackwell, 1937), pp. 89-115, although few scholars have
agreed with him.
Pomeroy, op. cit., p. 60.
Ibid., p. 63.
Aristophanes, Thes. 414 ff., 790 ff., noted that women were kept in the
women’s quarters where they were guarded by dogs. Cf. Oepke, TDNT I,
Oepke, TDNT I, 777, cites examples from Sophocles and Menander.
Menander, Fr. 702. Cited by Oepke, TDNT I, 777.
For example, Alcestis and Polyxena in Euripides, and also Antigone, Ismene and
Deianira in Sophocles.
Plato, Republic V, 453e-457e.
Plato, Laws VII, 802e, 814, VIII, 833d, 834d.
Plato, Republic IX, 579b.
Aristotle, Politics I, 12.
Arthur, art. cit., p. 394.
Pericles, “Funeral Oration,” trans. in Kitto, op. cit., p.
Arthur, art. cit., p. 393.
Plutarch, “Bravery of Women,” Moralia III, 257e.
Plutarch, “Advice to Bride and Groom,” Moralia II, 140ff.
Ibid., 139c, 142d.
Plutarch, “Bravery,” 242e.
Plutarch, “Advice,” 138c.
Ibid., 146a.
Ibid., 139e.
Plutarch, “Bravery,” 243a.
Ibid., 252a, 255e.
Ibid. 263c. Cf. 257e.
Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers I, 33. Cf. Oepke, TDNT l, 777,
According to Plutarch, “Life of Mark Antony,” 25-27, Cleopatra VII
spoke at least nine languages. Cited in Lefkowitz-Fant, op. cit., p.
Cf. Pomeroy, op. cit., pp. 125-126.
Pomeroy, op. cit., p. 38.
Ibid., pp. 127, 130.
Ibid., pp. 128-129.
Swidler, Women in Judaism, pp. 18, 179, n. 68.
Pomeroy, op. cit., p. 137.
Ibid., p. 126.
For example, in the Pythagorean community in Italy in the 3rd/2nd century B.C.,
men were to be politicians and philosophers, while women were to keep house and
care for their husbands. Courage and intellect were considered male qualities,
chastity the quality of a woman. Cf. Lefkowitz-Fant, op. cit., p. 85 for
Cf. Abraham Malherbe (ed.), The Cynic Epistles (Missoula, Montana: Scholars
Press, 1977), pp. 54-55, 78-83, 94-95, 172-175, 282-285.
Swidler, Women in Judaism, pp. 14-15. Lefkowitz-Fant, op. cit., cites
inscription about Polygnota of Thebes, a woman harpist, p. 13, and Diogenes
Laertius on the woman philosopher Hipparchia, p. 12. Cf. n. 48
Wayne A. Meeks, “The Image of Androgyne: Some Uses of a Symbol in Earliest
Christianity,” History of Religions 13(1974), p. 206.
Alexiou, Minoan Civilization (Heraklion: Alexiou, 1969), pp. 41, 44,
Mary Rose D’Angelo, “Women and the Early Church: Reflecting on the
Problematique of Christ and Culture," L. and A. Swidler, Women Priests, pp.
196, 201, n. 38.
example, the cults of Delphi, Hercules and Aphrodite Acraia on Cyprus. Cf.
Swidler, Women in Judaism, p. 21; Oepke, TDNT 1, 786.
Pomeroy, op. cit., p. 75.
Plutarch, “Bravery,” 251e.
Plutarch, “Advice,” 138b. In the fourth century B.C. Demosthenes
referred to a woman, Phano, who, as wife of the archon, performed sacrifices
for the state (Contra Naera, cited in Lefkowitz-Fant, op. cit., p. 37). There
is also mention of a woman priest of Demeter and Kore in the 2nd/3rd century
A.D. (inscription cited in Lefkowitz-Fant, op. cit., p. 194).
Meeks, art. cit., p. 169.
Pomeroy, op. cit., pp. 76-77.
Swidler, Women in Judaism, p. 21. The role of women in the Isis cult is
debated. Cf. D’Angelo, art. cit., p. 201, n. 38.
Pomeroy, op. cit., p. 125.
Swidler, Women in Judaism, p. 22, cites evidence of paintings, epitaphs and
According to some inscriptions, wealthy Greek women held offices and Roman
citizenship in the provinces, although the offices may have been honorific. Cf.
Arthur, art. cit, p. 401. Swidler, Women in Judaism, p. 24, notes that in
Pompeii there were inscriptions of names of women candidates for office. Dio
Cassius, History of Rome, 78-79 (cited in Lefkowitz-Fant, op. cit., p. 122)
mentioned that the mother of Caracalla had been appointed “to receive
petitions and to have charge of his correspondence in both languages.”
However, according to Livy, History of Rome 34, 1-8, (cited in Lefkowitz-Fant,
op. cit., p. 138) Roman women could not hold “magistracies, priesthoods,
triumphs, badges of office, gifts or spoils of war.”
Gellius, Attic Nights X, 23, citing Cato. Cited in Lefkowitz-Fant, op. cit., p.
Table V of the Twelve Tables. Cited in Lefkowitz-Fant, op. cit., p.
Pomeroy, op. cit., p. 151.
Ibid., p. 155.
Ibid., p. 157.
Ptolemy Physcon.
Pomeroy, op. cit., p. 150.
Ibid., p. 161.
For example, Julia I, Julia II, and so on. Cf. M. I. Finley, Aspects of
Antiquity (New York: Penguin, 1977), pp. 125-126, Pomeroy, op. cit.,
For example, the wife and daughter of Julius Caesar.
Pomeroy, op. cit., p. 177. Women demonstrated against the Oppian Law in 195
Musonius Rufus, In stob. ecl. II, 235, 24ff. Cited by Oepke, TDNT I,
References in Pomeroy, op. cit., pp. 172-173, 177.
Pliny, Natural History 35, 40, mentions women painters. Inscriptions of the
first and second centuries A.D. mention women physicians. Cited in
Lefkowitz-Fant, op. cit., p. 172.
Pomeroy, op. cit., pp. 200, 203. Inscriptions mention women seamstresses,
dressmakers, hairdressers, stenographers, scribes, secretaries, silk slaves,
fishmongers, and wool-weighers. Cited in Lefkowitz-Fant, op. cit., p.
Finley, op. cit., p. 131.
vestal virgin was thus executed in A.D. 83, during the reign of Domitian. Cf.
Plutarch, “Life of Numa,” 9-10.
A.D. 5 Augustus allowed freed women to apply.
P. V. D. Balsdon, Roman Women (London: Bodley Head, 1962), p. 238.
Ibid., pp. 242-243.
Ibid., p. 243. Cf. inscriptions in Lefkowitz-Fant, op. cit., pp. 152, 193,
which mention women priests in the imperial cults in Aphrodisias and
Arthur, art. cit., p. 402; Pomeroy, op. cit., pp. 206-208.
Pomeroy, op. cit., p. 216. There were also women priests of these cults in the
provinces. Cf. inscription of 1st century A.D. which mentions a woman high
priest of Asia, in Lefkowitz-Fant, op. cit., pp. 192-193.
Pomeroy, op. cit., p. 226.
3:16. Cf. Oepke, TDNT I, 781.
Men could refuse to enter in women could not. Dt 25:5-10.
Cf. Oepke, TDNT 1, 781.
31:18, Dt 21:10-14.
24:15-21, 29:6-12, 34:1 Also texts from the period of the settlement: Jdg
21:21, Ruth 2:2-3.
15:20, Jdg 4:4, 2 Kg 22:14-20, Is 8:3, Neh 6:14.
15:21 (song of Miriam), Jdg 5 (song of Deborah).
Sm 14:2-20, 20:15-22, Jdg 5:29.
Test Reub 5:1-2. Cf. Jub, Test XII Pat.
Hillel, Aboth 2, 7, bKeth 65a. Cf. Swidler, Women in Judaism, p. 198, n.
Gen rabb 45, bQid 49b, 82b. Cf. Oepke, TDNT1, p. 781.
Yeh.ben Elaj, TBer 7, 18, jBer 13b, bMen 43b. Cf. Oepke, TDNT 1, p.
Oepke, TDNT 1, pp. 786-787.
bErub 53b, Ab 1, 5. Cited by Oepke, TDNT 1, p. 781.
jSota 10a8: “May the words of the Torah be burned, they should not be
handed over to women." Cf. Sota 3, 4, bSota 216. Cited in Oepke, TDNT I,
pp.781-782.
Cf. Swidler, Women in Judaism, pp. 69-70.
Philo, Hypothetica 11, 14-17.
Philo, Flaccus 89, De spec. leg. 111, 169-171.
Philo, De opif. mund. 165, Leg.all. 38-39.
Philo, De spec. leg. III, 113.
Josephus, Antiquities VII 11, 8, XI 3, 5, War I 5, 1 (Queen Alexandra), VII 9,
2 (Masada).
Josephus, Antiquities V 8, 15.
Josephus, Contra Apion II, 201. Trans. by H. St. J. Thackeray, Loeb Classical
Library (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1966), p. 373.
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