Year: 1984
Type: article
Abstract: Scholarship on women in antiquity is extensive and unsatisfactory at the same time.In order to understand its conceptual problems this paper distinguishes between two scholarly traditions.First the philological positivist view, which relied exclusively on the classical texts themselves and as a matter of principle made no use of comparative material.By defining 'society' as the public domain and as the product of rational attitudes, women were reduced to 'woman' as representative of the 'natural life' of the private, non-citizen sphere.This biological and emotional domain was related to society primarily as an object of legal rules, and `women' were seen as enclosed in a 'position' face to face with society.This 'position of women' could be described in the smallest detail without ever being understood as an integrated part of society.Consequently any attempt to evaluate this position, as required by positivist historiography, bogged down in a lack of adequate parameters.High esteem for classical civilization in general complicated this issue even more.The (ill)famous debate on women's status in classical Athens can be seen as an example.Positivist scholarship could only lead to a historiography of women as an autonomous phenome- non, isolated from the general course of history.A second, although minor, tradition sprang from the idealistic thought of Romanticism.'Woman' as a mysterious being, incorporating all sense of 'otherness' and 'emotional life' was felt to be intimately related to hidden, 'essential' cultural phenomena, clouded by superficial facts.From Creuzer through Bachofen to Engels and Jung large-scale systems were designed in which 'woman' was a key, not only to classical women, but even to reinterpret ancient civilization as a whole.Comparative methods were used by romantic scholars in order to unearth the essence of culture.Yet, their irresponsible handling and speculative aims invalidated these methods, which con- sequently became completely discredited in positivist eyes.Neither tradition has added much to our understanding of women's life within ancient society.Some remarks in Pomeroy's Goddesses (1975) still illustrate the risks involved in using this heavily biased literature.Because of the fragmented and one-sided nature of our sources research on women in antiquity shall have to rely on theory as an important stepping-stone.Concepts derived from other disciplines will be indispensable.Given the conceptual intricacies involved choice as well as motivation of the use of a certain theory or concept should be clearly and solidly explained.gepassioneerde, ongetemde en geheimzinnige waren in dit beeld vervat.De romantische onderzoekers stelden zich ten doel dit 'vrouwelijke' in de cultuur te traceren en maakten, in tegenstelling tot hun positivistische collega's, veel ge- bruik van cross-culturele vergelijkingen.De studie van 'de vrouw' als draagster van bepaalde waarden kon juist een interessant hulpmiddel zijn om aspecten van de klassieke oudheid, die in andere culturen meer geprononceerd waren, op te sporen.Van alle publicaties over vrouwen in de oudheid hoort het merendeel in de positivistische traditie thuis.Hier stond de vraag centraal ofwel welke
Author: J.H. Blok
Language: Dutch
Topic: Classical Antiquity Studies
Subfield: Classics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Gender equality
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2107124052