The Indic and the Graeco-Roman civilisations, often considered to be the powerhouses of the ancient world, have always demented scholars, (when seen through the various periods of their upbringing) about the ideologies and the status, women had to play in societal developments.
Taking into consideration the various epics and literary sources that form a major part of the ancient Indian scriptures, gender equality seems not to be a thing scholars be bothered about. Seemingly because, the Indus Civilisation (or what we might also denominate as the Harappan civilisation and what came before the Aryan race established its hegemony) had always had an all powerful deity who was indeed feminine, as has been observed by classicists and archaeologists who have unearthed the figurine statuettes of the Mother Goddesses at various locations throughout the territory of the Indus civilisation .
For a society or a civilisation that worships women, gender inequality seems to have been a thing not extant. Talking of the then contemporary cases such as the Minoan Civilisation at Crete, it could be well noted that the frescoes have often depicted women, beautifully robed, symbolic of the freedom to enforce their wills. Thus, there arises no question of inequality in these times, if seen through the blurred out lenses of a classical demeanour.
But, when deepened into the intricate observations, assumptions and eventually, conclusions would alter. In fact, the frescoes and goddesses talked about until now, are but, women who belonged to the upper classes of the society.
Societal hierarchy is a thing that was prevalent from the days when human learnt to group himself into clusters. Not surprisingly, the members of the royal family could, as of now, enjoy their own rights and had no bindings that could affix them. In fact, the Greek myths widely deal with stories of heroes and their spouses who are again, in an attempt to emphasise upon their aristocratic belonging, often depicted as heroines. What was the social status of the slaves who were bought and sold? Did their females enjoy the power to choose their own partners or were they just set aside from this custom and were destined to be concubines forever? The questions remain unanswered.
Greek mythology has, in its various legendary tales about their pantheon, depicted the male gods as fearless, vile, ferocious and war loving; characteristics that, in their opinions, suit that of a man, while females like Hera and Demeter are generally not associated with weapons. In fact, most of the Greek goddesses (other than Athena and Artemis who have equal capabilities to that of Ares and Apollo) have always been associated with harvesting, crop ripening, beauty and love. Such were formed the listed characteristic traits associated with or attributed to the feminine gender: gentle, tender, loving and caring.
Mythology gave rise to gender inequality and questions have been risen on whether a woman is sufficient enough to take care of herself or whether she has to depend on her male partner for her life and her safety.
In the Indian classical text, Ramayana, although Sita is eventually identified as an avatar of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, she’s shown to be helpless at Ashoka Vatika, under Ravana’s captivity, if it were really her (scholars have, in the past few decades, disagreed over the actual identity of the woman kept confined at Ravana’s garden in Lanka). But when talking about the original storyline of the epic, it was Lord Ram who rescued her, after a vociferous battle that crushed the authority of the Asuras and extended the banner of the Raghukula till the Deccan or to the Dravidians (only if Rama can be considered to be a proper Aryan).
Classicist Don Nardo, in his book entitled ‘Women of Ancient Greece’ has closely observed the political, social and economic conditions of the women who lived back then. A brief interpretation of his analysis would lead us to observe that even though women could not participate in political discussions or orations at the senate, they could still enjoy a certain degree of freedom, until the Archaic age. Thus there arises no doubts on the fact that women weren’t equal to men.
Although, in his thesis entitled, “Debating Women's Equality: Toward a Feminist Theory of Law from a European Perspective” Ute Gerard says that women often owned land, as found from the records of ancient Delphi, Gortyn, Thessaly, Megara and Sparta, Athenian women were simply regarded to be a part of the ‘oikos’ (En: household) that was usually dominated by a male family head or a kyrios (En: master). The spouse was often referred to as the ‘damar’, which, in English terms, transliterates to ‘to tame’. Thus, the condition of the Athenian women, when seen through the perspectives of them being a part of the household, were no different to the conditions of the Indian women who were dominated by their male family members; a system that came to be called as patriarchy.
Comparing closely, Indian women had a better position in the society during the Early Vedic Period, when she could attend festival rites, yagnas, choose her own husband through the means of swayamvara and often, participate in philosophical discussions with leading sages (instances include Maitreyi and Gargi).
As the society evolved and the class and caste structures became complicated, the female was stripped off all her societal dignity and all relaxations given to her earlier, were snatched away. The brahmanical superiority began to find its way, around this period. Nevertheless, swayamvara remained but only in name.
Talking again about the Indian classics, Ramayana and the Mahabharata, we have seen both caste discriminations and the prevalence of a not so idealistic swayamvara. Both Rama and Arjuna had to fulfil the tasks set for them to wed Sita and Draupadi respectively. It might have been that Rama was an able human and of course, since he was the avatar of the Lord on earth, caring and affectionate for his better half. But that didn’t mean that Sita was free to choose Rama. They could only unite when Rama could string the bow, hence fulfilling the requirements set for a prince to have Sita’s hand in marriage.
In the Mahabharata, when all princes could attempt in piercing the eye of a fish kept on a revolving disk, by looking at its reflection in the water below (the condition set for the Swayamvara), Karna, a very efficient archer and originally, son of Kunti, was set aside only because people thought that he was a Sutaputra (in English terms, a charioteer’s son) and was not eligible to participate in a contest that deserved only the royal men.
Such instances have been found in almost all tales of the world. If talking about the Greek mythology, when Troy was won over by Hercules, the Greek God of Strength and Masculinity, Hesione, princess of Troy and daughter of King Laomedon, was given away to Hercules’ partner Telamon, one who had helped him in breaching the Trojan walls, ultimately to be made into his concubine.
Coming back to the Athenian discussion, women were exploited like nowhere throughout Greece. They were not even considered true citizens, which is why they had limited property rights and complex divorce processes.
Divorces in Athens were interesting, especially because of the procedure in which they were conducted.
There were three types of divorces, as noted down by Sue Blundell in ‘Women in Ancient Greece’:
By mutual consent of both the partners (the damar and the kyrios)
The kyrios or the male household master, when he willed to divorce, could simply throw out the female counterpart from his residence.
When the damar had to demand for divorce, she wouldn’t be permitted to do so herself. It was because she wasn’t even recognised as an Athenian citizen. All she could do was to take the help of her male family members (that included a father, a brother or somebody else) to demand for a divorce, as per the legal terms.
Thus, in simpler words, a woman was always considered the property of a man. The earlier stages of her life were to be dominated by her father’s decisions, be that effectual or ineffectual, whereas the later part of her life (after marriage; child marriages were prevalent both in India and Greece) was to be dominated by the kyrios or the master of the household!
When it comes to education though, differences arise between the civilisations. Greek women, in their early childhood, were allowed to attend teachings of a litterator and later, that of a grammaticus, both of which were equivalent to tutors who taught boys!
The only exception arose when the household that the woman came from would be poor. Here, she was expected to stay back at her home, supporting her family in cleaning up the household and working as a maid. But then, the conditions imposed upon the boy were also similar. He wasn’t expected to attend school but rather, work in the fields to help sustain his family.
Women have often also been described on detailings of ancient Greek pottery which however, sexualised their depictions to a large extent. In the opinions of Sue Blundell, “Scenes of adornment within vase painting are a window into the women’s sphere, though they were not entirely realistic, rather, a product of the voyeuristic and romanticized image of womanhood rooted in the male gaze”.
Hence, however advanced (technically, philosophically and literally) and impenetrable these ancient civilisations were, gender equality was never a thing that existed in the classical age, be that Archaic, Hellenic or the Aryan epochs. Gender equality, today, must become a lived reality. The oppression and unjust practices that women had to endure for centuries, had made them bold enough to suppress the oppressors and claim their rights, as they did in Greece, Africa and many other parts of the world. But yet, males haven’t actually forgotten the classical ideals. They seem not to realise that gender equality isn’t only an issue for women, it is an issue for the human community as a whole, to be extant in it. Emma Watson’s words would best fit in the box! “It is time we see gender as a spectrum, instead of two sets of opposing ideals”.
This text was originally published by Souhardya De in SDG-5 Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy for Sustainable Development (ISBN: 978-938753
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