Did matriarchy exist in Bronze Age Greece? How was the Lesbian poet Sappho viewed by her contemporaries? Were Athenian women allowed out of doors or were they confined to their homes? Could Roman women own property, have affairs, get divorced? These are a few of the questions we will consider as we look at the role and status of women in classical antiquity. Through readings and visual images culled from primary sources in literature, history, epigraphy, art, and archaeology, we will examine the question of whether women had control over their lives in political or economic ways and what kind of influence they had on their world.

Goals:

· to gain an understanding of the roles and influence of women in the ancient world

· to develop cross-cultural perspectives and apply them to gender issues

· to present orally and in written form an argument supported by primary and secondary sources

· to conduct research by traditional and digital methods