The theme that is going to be discussed in this paper is that of gender roles. According to Glover & Kaplan (2008), the authors of the book “Genders”, gender today is “one of the busiest, most restless terms in the English language, a word that crops up everywhere, yet whose use seems always on the move (…).” As for the term “gender roles”, it suggests “something that restrains or confines, a part we have to play (…)” (Glover & Kaplan, 2008, p. 1). The subject of gender roles is closely related to the studies in women’s history and feminist studies, since the issue of gender roles has been a focus of scholarly debate only since the mid-1950s. By the way, the very term “gender” was first used in its present meaning by researcher John Money as “a new conceptual realm of sex” just at that same time (Germon, 2009, p. 23). In this paper, the problem of gender roles will be discussed with reference to its development in cultures of the ancient civilizations, in particular those of Greece and Rome. Further, these developments will be compared with other ancient cultures’ representation of gender roles.

In Ancient Greece, as one can easily find in numerous written records, the treatment of women was based on the premise that women were inferior to men (Hufnagel, 2012). However, as it can be traced by the works of literature and philosophy, as well as by material culture, attitude to women and distribution of gender roles differed in pre-classical and classical periods. One of the earliest and most comprehensive records of the societal roles left in the culture of archaic Greece was that of Homer’s epic poems “Odyssey” and “Iliad”. In these poems, written around 8-7 centuries B.C., Homer delineated, through a spectrum of male and female characters, their roles in the society of that time. In his works, a certain ideology of gender emerges.

Representation of gender roles in “Iliad” is based on the premise that women are an essential part of the ancient Greek society, but are subject to men. Women are not secluded in the society, but their roles are generally passive. To illustrate this statement, in “Iliad”, young females Chryseis and Briseis, the representatives from the nobility, who were abducted by Achaeans, are depicted as mere toys of the heroes and as objects. For example, Agamenon decides to keep Chryseis as he thinks the woman is ornamental. He says: “I like her better than Clytemnestra my own wife, for in truth she is no way inferior, neither in build nor stature nor wit, nor in accomplishment” (1.113-15 in Foxhall, 2009). At the same time, one can see that women still had some influence on men. The perception of gender, as we can in “Odyssey,” depended on the social status of a woman. To illustrate this statement, Hera, a female goddess and a wife of Zeus, is senior to Thetis, also she is shown to speak out amongst the gods’ family (Foxhall, 2009).

However, in the classical period, the gender roles typical for archaic Greece, were re-thought. Since the times of Hesiod (6-5 centuries), the author of the poem “Theogony”, women had been perceived in a misogynist way. Hesiod, in fact, institutionalized the perception of a woman as an essentially evil being and a species different from a man. He wrote that females were a “great affliction to mortals.” (Hesiod 590-3 in Foxhall, 2009) The works of Aristotle (4 century B.C.) and Hippocrates (5-4 centuries B.C.) show that women were perceived as having inferior physical bodies to men’s and thus being inferior to them. In his De Geneatione Animalium I, Aritostle wrote that women were “monsters…deviated from the generic human type”; in De Geneatione Animalium II, he wrote that women were “mutilated males” (Hufnagel, 2012, p.15).

The role of women in Ancient Rome differed from that of Ancient Greece. Whereas it was forbidden for women to hold public offices or officially participate in political life, women’s role in everyday life was still very important and, with years, women got more freedoms. This can be explained by a different attitude of Roman men to women. For the Roman men, family, home, and marriage, were very important; also, men often sought advice of their wives. Thus, women were considered a worthy part of the society, not just as inconveniences. In the objects of material culture, one can find the proofs to this statement. A Large Herculaneum Woman headless statue, found in Italy at the turn of the 20th century, and its inscription “To Servilia, daughter of Lucius, wife of Publius Marius, her mother dedicated”, evidence that the woman (from the noble family) played a public role. From other sources, we get to know that the stue stood in the public place and was devoted to the woman who the highest office in priesthood and was respected in the society (Trimble, 2011).

Now if to compare the representations of gender roles in cultural objects from previous two civilizations with that of Ancient Egypt, it can be said that in Ancient Egypt women had the most privileged position. While women were typically regarded to have a secondary position to that of men, their legal status was equal. Ancient Egyptians valued love and tender feelings in marriage and they did not marry just because of necessity to have children who would look after them in the future. Respectively, women were valued, although their role was primarily restricted to home and domestic life. On the drawings, women are often represented as embracing husbands, standing or sitting behind men, or being smaller in size (Watts & Girsh, 1998). At the same time, we know of women queens in Ancient Egypt, as well as of women who would look after large stores or, rarely, hold some governmental positions. Besides, women held high positions in religious cult. The fact that women could own property, set on jury, sign contracts, serve as witnesses, and initiate course cases show how women’s position in Egypt was much superior to the position of women in Greece and still superior to that of women in Rome.

In summary, the position of women in ancient world differed a lot. While in Greece women were in the worst position, Rome treated women much better and did not seclude them in public and domestic life. As for Egyptians, their distribution of gender roles was the most favorable for women, since the latter enjoyed an array of legal rights and were considered important at home. The evidence of all this has been found in the works of literature, philosophy, and material art. As for the modern world, we see a great progress in all respects as for gender roles, but we still live in a patriarchal society and most high positions in the corporate world are occupied by men.