Greek Women: Working with Evidence, Looking at

Continuity and Change

Primary Source Evidence - Objects

• View the following objects and describe what you see.– Refer to:

–The settings and what the women are doing there

–The way women are dressed –Any poses or gestures that capture your

attention

1 “Attributed to the Danae Painter: bell krater (23.160.80)”. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2000-. http://metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/23.160.80 (July 10, 2012).

2“Attributed to the Amasis Painter: Lekythos. (31.11.10)”. Heilbrunn Timeline

of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2000-. http://metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/31.11.10 (July 10, 2012).

3

Bronze Figure of a Running Girl. British Museum. N.d. http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/gr/b/bronze_figure_of_a_girl.aspx (July 10, 2012).

4“Attributed to the Class of Hamburg: 1917.477: terracotta hydria (water jar) (06.1021.77)” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2000-. http://metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/06.1021.77 (July 10, 2012)

5

“Attributed to the Class of Hamburg: 1917.477: terracotta hydria (water jar) (06.1021.77)” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2000-. http://metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/06.1021.77 (July 10, 2012)

6

“Grave stele (pentelic marbe), circa 350 BCE: (956.108).” Royal Ontario Museum. Gallery of Greece. 2012. http://images.rom.on.ca/public/index.php?function=image&action=simpledetail&image_name=ROM2004_1017_4 (July 12, 2012).

Description of Objects• 1. Woman playing lyre instrument; perhaps Sapho the poet

with two of her female students. • 2. Women working with wool, showing the five step process

involved in making the family’s clothing.• 3. Running girl; thought to be Spartan. Spartan girls

participated in Olympic-like games celebrating the goddess Hera. Running was one of the sports.

• 4. Water jar showing women filling water jars at a fountain house.

• 5. Goddess Athena on an amphora of oil given as a prize at the Panathenaic games.

• 6. Grave stele (marker) for the woman Lostrate shown with her servant girl.

The The teacher would probably not give this information until after the students had made their own inferences.

Group Activity

• Discuss what inferences historians could make about Greek women based on the objects you just viewed. Divide your inferences into these three categories:

–What is known for certain?–What is probable?–What is unsure (you are guessing)?

Inference = “a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning”

Remember…• These objects are primary source evidence

that were created with a purpose, but also whose creators had definite worldviews and values.

• Potters (all male most likely) were creating practical objects (e.g., amphora for oil, hydria for water).

• But they also were art pieces that reflected their view of their society and their religious myths.

• There may have been differences in quality depending on the class of the user (buyer).

Now what?

• Where would you go for more evidence?• It is important to go to the right type of source for evidence

and question its pros and cons for your purpose (to understand the role of Greek women):– Other primary sources…– Secondary sources

• Scholarly sources (that probably rely on (interpret) many primary sources)

• Textbooks (that may or may not refer to primary sources; are probably based on secondary sources)

Written Sources• Hipponax, On Women, c. 580 BCE• Two happy days a woman brings a man: the first, when he

marries her; the second, when he bears her to the grave.

• Thukydides, Pericles' Dictum on Women, c. 395 BCE• The best wife is the one of whom the least is said, either of

good or evil.

• Philemon, The Good Wife, c. 350 BCE• A good wife's duty 'tis, Nicostratus, not to command, but to

obey her spouse; most mischievous a wife who rules her husband.

The Lot of the Hellenic Woman, c. 700-300 BCE. Fordham University. Ancient History Sourcebook.

1999. http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/700greekwomen.asp (July 10, 2012).

Independent Practice/Assessment as Learning

•Read this excerpt from Aristotle’s Oikonomikos. Give a written response to the following three questions. You have 20 minutes.1.What inferences can you draw from this reading?2.How does this fit the inferences regarding the visual evidence you’ve already looked at? Fit can mean add to, complement, contradict, or anything else.3.What questions are you left with after reading this source?

Evaluation of a Secondary Source

• Look at your summary chart of Joan Breton Connelly’s Portrait of a Priestess: Ritual in Ancient Greece

• In your groups make point form notes to answer the following questions

1. What is the traditional historical view of Greek women?

2. What evidence does Connelly use to challenge this?3. Are there problems with her use of evidence?4. What is her thesis?

Continuity and ChangeGreece Egypt Rome Modern

CanadaMain activities (within home, outside home)

Rights (legal, political, other)

Education

Differences based on class

Restrictions

Overall perception of them in society

Conclusions from Chart• After completing the chart respond to the following prompts

to hand in.• My eyes were opened to…• I was surprised that…• As I thought…