Laura Slapikoff
Women in Antiquity
May 10, 1996
In Classical Greece there was little distinction between high art and pop culture. Performed at the same festivals, the burlesque comedies of Aristophanes coexisted within the same context as the probing tragic dramas of Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles. Between these extremes were the presumably inferior and certainly less enduring dramas presented by dramatists ridiculed in the plays of Aristophanes. In contrast to 20th century America, where the myriad forms of art and literature are targeted for specific audiences of varying economic, social and racial demographic groups, Athens had but two dramatic festivals a year, the City Dionysia and the Lenaia, which were attended at least by all of Athens' citizens (Athenian born men). Obviously, this comprises a significantly more homogeneous group than does America's citizens. Still, it is arguable that within the group there would have been vastly different levels of understanding and appreciation of the dramatic offerings at the festivals. Thus, while certain dramatis personae became popularly associated with particular virtues or defects of character, a close reading of the texts on which these interpretations are based often provides a more complex understanding of the characters than was perceived by general opinion.
Two examples of the foregoing occur with the characters Penelope of Homer's Odyssey1 and Alcestis of Euripides' Alcestis2. Both of these characters, though non-contemporaneous, came to represent the same ideal of female sophrosyne or excellence. As exemplified by the "bee woman" in Semonides 7, the "earliest extant literary allusion to feminine sophronsyne,"3 the qualities possessed by the sophron woman are tangible; she is a good housekeeper, a nurturer of her husband, a child-bearer. She is chaste, graceful and does not like to talk about sex with other women.
According to Helen F. North in an article regarding the etymology of sophrosyne, the word originated in the Homeric epics as saophrosyne, which implies "soundness of mind" and is used only in relation to men.4 The word implies both "self-knowledge" and "a sense of propriety," putting one in mind of the inscription at Delphi. It is notable that in relation to men, sophrosyne does not carry specific behavioral connotations, as it does when it comes to be applied to women.
Penelope's story, set in the time immediately proceeding the Trojan War, is one of strategic waiting. The Odyssey begins with stasis; simultaneously, Odysseus' departure from Ogygia and Telemachos' coming of age set the events of the epic in motion. As a woman, Penelope has no momentum of her own, but must operate on that of her kyrios. This is not to imply that Penelope is by definition powerless, but it is worth noting that the sphere of her effectiveness is actively determined by the wishes of the men responsible for her. In fact, Penelope faces a drastically reduced role whether Odysseus returns or she marries one of the suitors. Upon leaving for Troy, Odysseus instructs her as follows: "Here, then, you must attend to everything." (18.333) This position is considerably more challenging than that of a woman whose kyrios is present; in addition to performing her womanly duties (weaving, raising Telemachos), Penelope must see to the preservation and running of the entire household until Odysseus returns. Penelope is obviously qualified for such duties and adept at their performance, as indicated by the fact that despite the constant gluttony of the suitors, the household remains fundamentally intact. Until Telemachos' coming of age, it is only the staying hand of Penelope which prevents the potential chaos represented by the suitors from erupting into an actual threat. Penelope is able through her strategic abilities to manipulate the suitors into waiting for her to decide between them, thus prolonging and preserving her position of power. By doing so, she also reconstructs her relationship with Odysseus; her choice to wait for his return implies a reversal of roles. Rather than passively waiting to be chosen by a husband, Penelope is now in the position of the one who may choose. The fact that chaos, normally designated a feminine force in Greek mythology, is here represented by the suitors, nicely underscores this transposition, in which Penelope becomes the ordering force.
What allows Penelope to become a standard of sophrosyne is that she does all this while maintaining the surface appearance of feminine obedience. Penelope is not directly subversive; however, she manages to incorporate the characteristics of the sophronein (good wife)5 into a role more nearly resembling that of the saophron man. Penelope's "faithfulness" (undermined by the suggestion of eroticism in her dream of the geese) is above all strategic. If taken at face value, it is easy to see how her behavior could be construed as conforming to the Greeks' notion of the sophron woman. On closer analysis it becomes evident that the differences between Penelope and Klytaemnestra (against whose image she is favorably compared by Agamemnon) are more a question of character and approach than goal.
The difference between the written character and the perceived character is even more pronounced in the case of Alcestis. Euripides sets up the discrepancy through the entry song of the chorus and subsequent conversation between the chorus leader and the maid. It must be due to these second-hand accounts of her that Alcestis became popularly associated with the notion of sophrosyne, because her attitude is in reality fairly subversive to the values of the establishment.
In the dialogue between the chorus leader and the maid immediately predeeding Alcestis' appearance on stage Alcestis is portrayed as a selfless martyr. If the maid's description is taken at face value, one must assume that Alcestis has undergone a complete change of attitude in the few minutes separating her entrance from the maid's in order to make sense of the ensuing dialogue between herself and Admetus. An alternative reading that allows Alcestis some consistency of character is that the conversation between the maid and the chorus leader in fact reflects the chorus' (and by extension the audience's) expectation of a wife's behavior. While the chorus leader is absolutely without guile, the maid's manner is arguably ironic. It is she who points out Admetus' tardiness in appreciating the virtues of his wife. The chorus leader bemoans the inevitable, as Admetus will do himself, while the maid responds with bald statements of fact, "She's sinking now: breathing out her last/...Her hour has come: there's no avoiding it/...the funeral is arranged." (143) Following the starkness of these announcements, the maid's lushly extreme praise of Alcestis as "...a paragon.../How could a woman show/ more devotion to her man than die for him?" (152-5) comes across as highly ironic, if not downright sarcastic. The melodrama of her description in fact contradicts Alcestis' account of herself. Playing directly to the fantasies of the chorus leader, the maid quotes Alcestis as saying to Admetus, "Some other bride will own you soon:/not more chaste than I, but happier perhaps." (180-1) Conversely, in the on-stage dialogue between the two, Alcestis directly instructs Admetus not to remarry.
Alcestis makes it clear that she is sacrificing a great deal by allowing herself to die in place of Admetus, reminding him that if he were to die she could make for herself a "prosperous" (286) second marraige. Like Penelope, she thinks strategically, if not for her own preservation then for her children's. By criticizing Admetus' parents' failure to sacrifice their lives, Alcestis drives up the bargaining price she can set for her own. She makes her point with manipulative aplomb when she states, "Well some destiny has arranged things as they are,/so be it, but remember always what you owe to me:/something I can never ask you to repay,/for nothing is so valuable as life-/as you yourself will readily admit." (Emphasis added.) (298-302) The irony of the words "some destiny" is powerful; Alcestis is well aware of the exact circumstances which have led to this arrangement. It is the chorus leader and Admetus, the men, who are unwilling to admit that the situation has come about by Admetus' design rather than destiny. Alcestis' words, "as you yourself will readily admit," are a ferocious castigation of Admetus' denial of responsibility. She acknowledges through them what he will not: that it was his choice to accept Apollo's favor and place someone else in the position of having to die for him. Considering the impossible situation she's in, one can hardly wonder at Alcestis' use of an arsenal of verbally manipulative techniques in attempting to preserve the safety of her children. In doing so, Alcestis severely limits the pleasure Admetus can have at her expense by requiring him not to remarry, a fitting retaliation for his placing her in her present position.
Again, at the end of the play, when Heracles persuades Admetus to take the disguised Alcestis into the house despite his dramatic vows that "no one else shall be called my wife," Admetus places himself into a situation of extreme vulnerability. Admetus values the male to male guest/host relationship with Heracles more than his responsibility to his wife. This is perfectly in keeping with what is known of the societal values of the time. However, Admetus' thoughtless devotion to them ultimately places him in a position in which he will have no defense for his behavior toward his wife, a woman of strength and intelligence who has amply demonstrated her ability to manipulate such circumstances to her own advantage. Presumably, though the end of the play sees the family order ostensibly restored, life for Admetus will be of a different character than it previously was. What is striking is that despite the transfer of power that takes place throughout the play, the audience was able to perceive Alcestis as a dutiful and obedient woman within the context of its social values. This judgement could only be made based on the fact that Alcestis agreed to die for Admetus, and the hearsay description given by the maid, rather than on any observation of Alcestis herself.
The fact that both Penelope and Alcestis came to be considered archetypes of feminine sophrosyne reveals how strongly patriarchal was the culture of Classical Greece. These two countercultural heroines were absorbed into the existing value system in a way that strongly belied their natures. By focusing on the aspects of the characters that conveniently fit existing stereotypes and dismissing any contradictory aspects general opinion remained at rest squarely within the status quo rather than finding itself particularly challenged by them. The mistrust and underestimation of women was never dislodged from the ancient Greek consciousness despite artistic renderings of them as capable and intelligent people. By idealizing them and placing them on pedestals of impossible virtue, the sense of woman's "otherness" was reinforced. At the same time, the subversively pro-active behavior of these characters demonstrates the enormous effort it takes to keep women excluded and subdued. By using their strategic skills these women are able to maintain order in a way that the often brutishly portrayed men can not. Despite the restrictions upon their positions, the stories of both Penelope and Alcestis illustrate the accomplishments a woman's tenacity and ingenuity can achieve.
1 All quotations from Fitzgerald, Robert, translator. The Odyssey/Homer. New York: Vintage Books (1961).
2 All quotations from Roche, Paul, translator. Three Plays of Euripides. New York: W. W. Norton & Company (1974).
3 North, Helen F. "The Mare, the Vixen, and the Bee: Sophrosyne as the Virtue of Women in Antiquity." From Marcovich, Miroslave, ed. Illinois Classical Studies II (1977): 36.
4 Ibid: 37.
5 Ibid: 36.
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