Patriarchal Ancient Civilizations
In ancient patriarchal civilizations, such as that of Rome, Greece and the Norse (or Viking) women had very little say in the public life. Yet religion and the goddesses they worshipped provided women with an opportunity for equal representation in society. The goddesses worshipped in some cases depicted the complete opposite of what was expected of women.
In many of the ancient civilisations women were looked down on and limited rights, yet in societies such as that of Rome, Greece-and-the-Vikings, female-deities-were-worshipped-and their-cults and priestesses were regarded with a lot of respect and these women had more rights than the other women in society. These civilisations were patriarchal, which is defined as being a system or government …show more content…
One of the most well-known religious institutions, or cults, in ancient Rome was that of the Vestal Virgins, who-worshipped-the virgin-goddesses-Vesta, the keeper of the hearth, home and the family. The sacred hearth under the protection of the Vestals, represented the importance and purity that was the Roman state (McLaughlin, n.d.). One of probably the most important key points to keep in mind is that in Rome, there were no full-time priests employed by the state yet the Vestal Virgins, Ceres (goddess of agriculture and motherly responsibilities) and Proserpina (daughter of Ceres who later became goddess of the underworld) priestesses were fully supported and part of full-time professional clergy (Flower, …show more content…
The rights and the treatment of Norse women varied just like the other two civilisations depending on wealth and status, but all had primarily the same responsibilities that bound them to the home (Wingate, 1993). What made these women more independent was that they were taught in medicine as they were responsible in nursing any sick household members, in authority of managing the farm and they were able to own property, claim land, divorce their husbands and whenever the man of the house left, she was left in complete charge and responsible of protecting the household (Streissguth,
In many of the ancient civilisations women were looked down on and limited rights, yet in societies such as that of Rome, Greece-and-the-Vikings, female-deities-were-worshipped-and their-cults and priestesses were regarded with a lot of respect and these women had more rights than the other women in society. These civilisations were patriarchal, which is defined as being a system or government …show more content…
One of the most well-known religious institutions, or cults, in ancient Rome was that of the Vestal Virgins, who-worshipped-the virgin-goddesses-Vesta, the keeper of the hearth, home and the family. The sacred hearth under the protection of the Vestals, represented the importance and purity that was the Roman state (McLaughlin, n.d.). One of probably the most important key points to keep in mind is that in Rome, there were no full-time priests employed by the state yet the Vestal Virgins, Ceres (goddess of agriculture and motherly responsibilities) and Proserpina (daughter of Ceres who later became goddess of the underworld) priestesses were fully supported and part of full-time professional clergy (Flower, …show more content…
The rights and the treatment of Norse women varied just like the other two civilisations depending on wealth and status, but all had primarily the same responsibilities that bound them to the home (Wingate, 1993). What made these women more independent was that they were taught in medicine as they were responsible in nursing any sick household members, in authority of managing the farm and they were able to own property, claim land, divorce their husbands and whenever the man of the house left, she was left in complete charge and responsible of protecting the household (Streissguth,