The Gender Role of Women Depicted by Ancient Greek Statues
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Though the character of Antigone may seem to be an individualistic and outspoken woman that upholds feminism today, in ancient Greece she was seen as a shock to the true nature of women during that time. There is a literary source limitation to the meaning of Ancient Greek sculptures because inscriptions of the works were made many years after the art was made. However, if we look at the Statues of women and goddesses from Ancient Greece, there are visual hints and religious references as to what women were actually expected of during that time. For example, Amazons were fully human women who were depicted to behave like men. They may have been what started gynophobia Hellenic attitudes towards standard behavior and gender roles. Statues depicting unclothed women were pretty rare in Ancient Greece. The use of elaborate jewelry and clothing are signs of female virtue whereas athletic bodies were markers of virtue for males. If a female were to appear naked in art, they would be associated with being hetaira, or ‘prostitute’. Opposed to the make, the female archaic bodies were for adornment just as Greek maidens were considered the adornment of the family. This means that interpretations of women and goddesses are left up to the visual interpretation.
Works Cited
Fullerton, Mark D.. Greek Sculpture, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2016. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.libproxy.scu.edu/lib/santaclara/detail.action?docID=4453680.
Gunther, York H., and Sumetanee Bagna-Dulyachinda. “From Realism to Idealism: Ancient Greek Sculpture in the Classical Period.” Literature and Aesthetics: The Journal of the Sydney Society of Literature and Aesthetics, vol. 29, no. 2, July 2019, pp. 159–183. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mlf&AN=EIS142016068&site=eds-live.
Squire, Michael. The Art of the Body : Antiquity and Its Legacy, I. B. Tauris & Company, Limited, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.libproxy.scu.edu/lib/santaclara/detail.action?docID=738296.