Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity by Sarah Pomeroy (PDF)

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“The first general treatment of women in the ancient world to reflect the critical insights of modern feminism. Though much debated, its position as the basic textbook on women’s history in Greece and Rome has hardly been challenged.”–Mary Beard, Times Literary Supplement. Illustrations.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “An essential text in the process of retrieving women’s part in history, it is also an absorbing story, fascinating and dramatic to read.”—Marilyn French“With this book Sarah Pomeroy created a new area of modern classical studies. . . . The book has itself become a classic.”—H. A. Shapiro, University of Canterbury“Pomeroy’s pioneering study on the status and activities of women in antiquity was, and has remained, a milestone in classical historiography. . . . That no one today would dream of writing a major work on ancient social history with no index entry for ‘women’ is due in no small part to her revolutionary, yet scrupulously scholarly, trail-blazing work.”—Peter Green, Univerity of Texas at Austin“Extraordinary and durable. . . . Opens up a traditional discpline to a whole new range of questions and issues while providing enlightenment about the past for feminists and nonfeminists alike.”—Natalie Kampen, Barnard College“The first general treatment of women in the ancient world to reflect the critical insights of modern feminism. Though much debated, its position as the basic textbook on women’s history in Greece and Rome has hardly been challenged.”—Mary Beard, The Times Literary Supplement (London) From the Publisher “The first general treatment of women in the ancient world to reflect the critical insights of modern feminism. Though much debated, its position as the basic textbook on women’s history in Greece and Rome has hardly been challenged.”–Mary Beard, Times Literary Supplement”Pomeroy’s pioneering study on the status and activities of women in antiquity was, and has remained, a milestone in classical historiography.”–Peter Green, Univerity of Texas at Austin From the Inside Flap rst general treatment of women in the ancient world to reflect the critical insights of modern feminism. Though much debated, its position as the basic textbook on women’s history in Greece and Rome has hardly been challenged.”–Mary Beard, Times Literary Supplement. Illustrations. From the Back Cover “The first general treatment of women in the ancient world to reflect the critical insights of modern feminism. Though much debated, its position as the basic textbook on women’s history in Greece and Rome has hardly been challenged.”–Mary Beard, Times Literary Supplement. Illustrations. About the Author SARAH B. POMEROY is an American ancient historian, author, translator, and former professor of classics. She is best known for her work on women’s history in classical antiquity, and has written over ten books. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐_Goddess, Whores, Wives and Slaves_ was originally written because, in Pomeroy’s words, “most of the standard references in the field of Classics did not include women in their purview…. major works … (had) splendidly detailed indexes, but (none of them had) an entry for ‘Women.'” It is precisely because of works such as this – and the efforts of professors like Pomeroy, this is no longer the case. The discipline of history and its students are richer and better for it.In examining the role of women in ancient Greece and Rome, the historian faces a number of challenges, not the least being the relative lack of primary work by women, but also the relative dearth of women as the subject of classical authors. As a result, much must be inferred (albeit historically and textually supported) from what works we have. Pomeroy does a magnificent job of examining the roles, social mores and attitudes of ancient Greeks and Romans from a wide variety of sources: myths, art, literature and polemical tracts.Pomeroy begins her study by closely considering the way in which female deities were portrayed in Greek myths. This fascinated me. For example, I had never thought of the creation story of Athena as significant or telling in terms of gender. That Athena was born out of Zeus’ head (without any participation of woman), that she is the most “masculine” of female dieties (as goddess of both wisdom and warfare), and also the most prominent female deity in ancient Greece – perhaps as a result of all this – got me to see and think about issues of gender in the ancient world in a new and different way.Similarly, the role and place of women as reinforced through literature was explored, from the portrayal of Helen in

⭐and Penelope in

⭐, to Socrates’ banishment of Xanthippe at his execution, and Plato’s consideration of women in

⭐.Her analysis of role of hetairia, often seen as the most “liberated” of ancient Greek women, (

⭐) also caused me to reconsider their place for, as Pomeroy put it, “The hetaira had access to the intellectual life of Athens, which we nowadays treasure … but the fact that we know of some courtesans who attempted to live as respectable wives, while we know of no citizen wives who wished to be courtesans should make us reconsider the question of which was the preferrable role in Classical Athens.”Turning her attention to women in Rome, Pomeroy spends a great deal of time examining women of the upper classes (the sisters and wives of Emperors in particualr) – primarily because of the wealth of information about them

⭐,

⭐,

⭐); this was of less interest to me than her discussion of women of the lower classes, but it was fascinating nonetheless. The only point I could take issue with was that I wish she had explored the role of women in the early Church in her chapter on “Women in the Religion of the Romans.” Where the Classical period ends and the early middle ages begins, however, is grey, so I cannot fault her for that.Given that women are half of the population, it has long been a disservice that their role and place in history has not been explored, taught and celebrated to the extent that it should be. Pomeroy’s book is one of the seminal works that has reversed this trend (as any cursory look in the index of a history text under “women” will show). It is tremendous scholarship, well written. For any student of history, I would recommend it. For those studying the Classics, this is a “must have” text.

⭐This made such an impression on me back in college that I bought a second copy for a friend 20 years later. Excellent scholarship and writing.

⭐Chronological description how how Western women got where they are now. Interesting to see how in some matters they were more liberated.

⭐As much as I might of liked a revised and updated edition, I’m glad other authors were left to deal with that and we get to read the scholarship when it was groundbreaking and therefore still free of the constraints later authors must labor with.

⭐I am not a scholar, but an amateur, who started out with an interest in learning more about life in Ancient Greece. This interest led me to discover that most books on the period barely mention women. In some, the word “women” doesn’t even appear in the index. Frustration with that led me to this book, which is by far the best on the subject. Pomeroy’s research is excellent, and so is her writing. Intelligence comes through in every sentence. The book is exciting, a pleasure to read, and I’m learning so much. I have a hard time finding a sentence that I DON’T want to underline.Anyone interested in the period must read this book.

⭐This unique and relevant book is a must read for anyone who is interested in women issues. Although Pomeroy writes about women’s life in ancient Greece the picture she presents is strikingly relevant for our own times. You will be surprised to know that women in ancient Greece, the place considered by many as the corner stone of Western civiliaztion, didn’t fare much better than their sisters in today’s Saudi-Arabia: they couldn’t vote, couldn’t go out of their houses without an escort, were not permitted any education, and couldn’t participate in community political life AT ALL. Pomeroy’s data is detailed and specific – rare to find in (the few)studies done on this subject. Her lucid style and very balance presentation of the material makes this book a jem.

⭐The saucy title is certainly enough to lure readers who might not otherwise be interested in the topic to give this book a look. The content, like all of Pomeroy’s other writing, is enough to keep them engaged. Pomeroy has the gift of being a scholar that can write for arm chair history professors. It is engaging and interesting. It’s the book on women in the ancient world that I have been wanting to read for a long time.

⭐The book really does go into much detail on women of all levels of society. I was most interested in the lower classes. I’m more used to historical novels than this factual treatment but Sarah manages to keep it from drying out. I note the age of the first publication and realize she was ahead of her time back then.

⭐Pomeroy is too keen on using mythology as a source: from the number of Priam’s bedrooms in Homer, Pomeroy deduces male vs female population statistics and that males far outnumbered females. Kings regularly have 50 sons in Greek myth – this is just a “magic number”, yet Pomeroy takes it as literal data! And then she ignores the counter-data of Danaus having 50 daughters; and I assume she ignores Nereus’ 50 daughters because they live in the sea (lol). She ignores the fact that (Priam’s and anyone else’s) daughters leave home and live with husbands. And she ignores the fact that Homer is war fiction, and sons and sons-in-law have come from miles around to defend Troy. I can no longer remember anything good about the book (stuff about marriage and prostitution rarely contains surprises*) – that’s probably my fault, but if her treatment of Homer is a methodological manifesto, then I don’t feel any guilt.* We project modern mores onto the past. Even Syme did it. There’s a Martial poem that ridicules a man who marries a young girl in order to avoid having sex. I’ve never seen that used as counter-evidence.

⭐I’m enjoying reading the stories, there are some funny customs and events in the book that made me giggle. Obviously as women have been in the house most of the time, the info can be scarce but Sarah has done a great job here. I do find myself skipping sections like the burial rites, but I have enjoyed the chapters on the gods relationships with mortal women.

⭐A classic, but still completely relevant. Rigorous yet readable. Of interest far beyond the discipline of Classics.

⭐Printing error on pages 13-17. Contain pages from a completely different book, and a piece of fiction.

⭐Thoroughly enjoyed it

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