Image of Woman in Greece Free Essay Example

Women have ranged from being mere objects to the downfall of cities throughout history. How women are portrayed during these time periods depend not only the author and their background, but the society around them. In Procopius’ secret history, an anecdote about Byzantine rulers Justinian and Theodora, Theodora is seen as nothing more than a glorified stripper or “actress”, and most of her “history” is sexual, with no regard to who she was as a person, or her character. In Sappho’s poems, we see women taking action because of love and more positive attributes that show women are more than their sexual history.

Despite this, Sappho was ridiculed later in history. These works show the extremely different views that people had on women in ancient Greece and the early middle ages. Sappho and Procopius had similar reactions to their works throughout history, but Sappho depicts women in a positive light, while Procopius is negative.

Procopius’ secret history is essentially a judgment of the reign of Justinian and Theodora.

Justinian’s portion was an attack on character: he was a liar, moron and sly. In contrast, Theodora’s portion of the text was about her sexuality. After describing her sexuality from a young age and how her mother supported her, towards the end Procopius writes “She was the kind of comedienne who delights the audience by letting herself be cuffed and slapped on the cheeks, and makes them guffaw by raising her skirts to reveal to the spectators those feminine secrets” (Procopius, 4).

These quotes demonstrate the biase that was held toward Theodora. Theodora was not worthy to be Empress because of her sexual history. It also goes on to describe how Theodora ,“through him, was able immediately to acquire an unholy power and exceedingly great riches”. This emphasizes Procopius’ opinion on Theodora being undeserving of the power and money that was given to her by Justinian. In his eyes, it was not Theodora’s place to have an opinion on how the empire was ran. This type of description is not seen in any of Sappho’s poems, and despite them being unfinished, an inference can be made based on her work that has survived. Sappho’s gender had a big role in the composition of her poems. Her poems were meant to be sung (lyrical poems), and her perspective and experience as a woman shaped her poems.

Sappho’s poems give women a voice along with a positive sense of identity. In her poem Wedding of Andromache and Hector, we see Andromache as “dancing eyed”, “godlike” and “delicate”, which were words that had never been used to describe a woman, specifically Theodora in Procopius’ history. Theodora was always viewed in a negative light. Helen of Troy was also described by Sappho’s poem Supreme Sight on the Black Earth; “Didn’t Helen who far surpassed all in beauty, desert the best of men her husband and king and sail off to Troy and forget her daughter and dear parents? Merely love’s gaze made her bend and led her from her path” (Sappho, 46). This description is very powerful. Helen is not described as “abducted” like in other versions of the story of the Trojan War, but she made the choice of her own free will. She left Sparta because she loved Paris, and it was not forced. Throughout all of her poems we see Sappho give women a voice, character, and not just objects possessed by men.

In Procopius’ history, Theodora, in a way, belonged to Justinian, but she was described as immoral and unworthy. Procopius’ depiction of Theodora not only reflects his own beliefs about women but also the idea in Byzantine society that women needed to be sexually and morally pure in order to find a husband. Because Theodora was neither moral or sexually pure, she did not deserve a husband, let alone the emperor. The ancient Greeks loved Sappho’s work, and this was mostly because of how influential and advanced they were in subjects like philosophy, language, educational system, and the arts. This suggests they were very open and respectful to new ideas, even homosexuality, which was later shamed by various Christian religious groups. Sappho depicts women as powerful, and able to make their own decisions in life, while Procopius sees women as nothing more than a child bearer and house wife. These two texts portray women very differently, but these portrayals also reflect the societies that the author lived in, or the author’s background.

The early middle ages were not the best times for women. Justinian and Theodora ruled the Byzantine Empire during a period of wealth, expansion, and power. Procopius’ secret history can be blamed on the major reorganization of society, tax collection, and property ownership which was an attack on the wealthy. Justinian also included Theodora in politics, so she did not just hold the title of Empress. This might have been frowned upon by nobles because women had little inclusion in politics in the Byzantine empire. They were still respected because of Christian beliefs at the time, but spent most of their time at home, but their lives were dictated by their fathers and husbands. In contrast, not much is known about Sappho herself. She grew up on the isle of Lesbos in ancient Greece, belonged to an aristocratic family, was possibly married with a daughter, but how she attained an education or the ability to read and write is unclear. During that time period, people in society appreciated and maybe even loved her poems. While Homer was referred to at “the Poet”, Sappho was “the Poetess”. Plato allegedly called her the tenth muse, and she was the only woman to be featured in the canon of nine lyric geniuses at the library of Alexandria. Solon of Athens liked her songs so much that he told his nephew to teach it to him, and when asked why, he said so he can know them and then die.

Reactions later on to Sappho’s poems are what bring the similarities between her poems and Procopius’ history. While Theodora is seen through time as a stripper/ whore because of Procopius’ secret history. However, his views are questionable because it is the only account of Justinian and Theodora’s reign existing today, and Procopius also wrote a previous work that praised these rulers. Procopius might had also held hatred for Theodora because she was not born a higher rank/ noble, so she did not deserve to be queen. Sappho herself and her work was ridiculed later on. She was mocked by later Greeks and Romans, was seen as pornographic by early Christians, and during the renaissance period, some called her a witch. This judgement continued through time, but changed in the 20th century. Sappho became an icon for feminists and lesbians, and Theodora is admired today because of how she broke the mold for rulers by not being rich or noble, and being included in decisions that affected the whole kingdom.

The work of Sappho and Procopius are both significant portrayals of ancient Greek and early middle age opinions of women. Ancient Greeks were very open in terms of sexuality, and the Byzantines reflected the Christian belief that women should have no sexual history prior to marriage. Sappho and Procopius had similar reactions to their works throughout history, but overall, Sappho depicts women in a positive light, while Procopius is negative. Despite Procopius’ negative depiction of women, we see this changing today because of the admiration of Theodora today. Sappho gives an amazing and empowering depiction of women in her poems that is still appreciated today.