The course of women’s life in the Western world has its historical roots in ancient Greece. Greek civilization of the fifth century B.C. shaped western civilization with its invention of democracy, political science, philosophy, and the professionalization of medicine; its impact is still felt today. This course juxtaposes the lives of ancient and modern women, and explores (i) first, the life of women in ancient Greece, their social and political status in ancient Athenian democracy, and the development of the ideology of ‘female inferiority’; and (ii) second, the influence of the ancient world on European and American pioneer women, who strove to break the stereotype of the ‘weak female,’ enter higher education and ‘male’ professions, while striving to win the suffrage in modern democratic countries. The obstacles women encountered and the ideologies they battled against, both in antiquity and modernity, are astoundingly similar. The goal of the class is to understand what caused the social and political restrictions imposed on women, and how they are still evident today. Understanding the factors that shaped women’s public life can build bridges of communication between men and women and create social harmony between the genders.
