discussion

 This week’s required multimedia “Women in Greek Theatre” tells us that drama in ancient Greece was written by men, played by men, and performed for men. Although we see strong female characters in the plays, in reality, women lived in subjugation with their key roles being wife and mother. According to scholars of women’s legal status in ancient Greece, a marriage contract specified that both husband and wife were required to be chaste within the context of the household. Nothing, however, prevented the husband from having relations with other women or men outside the home while the wife could not leave the house for longer than a few hours without the husband's permission (Lefkowitz, n.d.). In the hands of the great tragic poets, the tensions and emotions resulting from these inequities were worked out on stage. For this assignment, choose one female character and discuss the conflict(s) that stemmed from the prescribed gender roles in ancient Greece. How were the conflicts resolved? Would equality in marriage and society have resulted in a different outcome?