The civilizations of the Ancients were not always friendly to the woman or to her reputation. But before we condemn the Ancients as uncivilized, I hope to be able to explain in this paper what the culture and society of the time was like for women and I hope to do this from the information left to us by the philosophers and scholars of the time, to understand why women were often looked upon with scorn and disdain, and viewed as an inferior counterpart to the man. I believe that after a view of what the culture of the time was like, the reader may be able to more fully understand how women were perceived, why the perception was commonly held, and perhaps help to understand how certain views of women from that time prevail even today, nearly 2000 Years later.

"Strange that God hath given to men slaves for the venom of all creeping pests, but none hath ever yet devised a balm for venomous woman, worse than fire or viper” Andromache to Hippolytus

At the beginning of the first and following centuries, Rome may have been the ruling power of the time, Greek Hellenism had made great inroads into the nations, and the mixture of its philosophies did not escape the Roman subjects. The Gree

k poets were fond of compare woman with evil. Euripides has Hippolytus say: "Why hast thou given a home beneath the sun, Zeus, unto woman, specious curse to man?” Andromache, a woman who had internalized the values of men, comes to this conclusion: "Strange that God hath given to men slaves for the venom of all creeping pests, but none hath ever yet devised a balm for venomous woman, worse than fire or viper”. Among the Romans, we find Tacitus picturing women as controlling and cruel. He quotes Severus Caecina as saying during a debate: “With good reason," he said, "had it been formerly decided that women were not to be taken among our allies or into foreign countries. A train of women involves delays through luxury in peace and through panic in war, and converts a Roman army on the march into the likeness of a barbarian progress. Not only is the sex feeble and unequal to hardship, but, when it has liberty, it is spiteful, intriguing and greedy of power. They show themselves off among the soldiers and have the centurions at their beck. Lately a woman had presided at the drill of the cohorts and the evolutions of the legions. You should yourselves bear in mind that, whenever men are accused of extortion, most of the charges are directed against the wives. It is to these that the vilest of the provincials instantly attach themselves; it is they who undertake and settle business; two persons receive homage when they appear; there are two centers of government, and the women's orders are the more despotic and intemperate.” The ancient males were convinced that woman was to blame for introducing evil into man’s world. To Greek men, Pandora was believed was the first woman to be both beautiful and evil, a myth that was used to explain evil in human beings. But where does this perception of evil in women come from? To understand this we must put ourselves in the world at 100 A.D and remember what the world was like. Culture most surely played a part in why women were put in the place of evil. Take into account these facts to help you understand the Ancients view of woman’s inferiority. A strongly male-dominated culture consigns women to a position of crucial restraint beyond the attachment of their children and households. Greek women were, lawfully and symbolically, considered as children all their lives. Community customs separated male and female activities in every field. Women and their children lived in separate quarters in their fathers’ or husband’s house. Literacy was not encouraged for respectable women. A woman’s major - almost sole - purpose

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