2020 IB Extended Essays

As portrayed in Theogony, Genealogy of the Gods, Hesiod describes a non- anthropomorphic deity with a personality of as vengeful mother. The goddess Gaia was a significant deity in the Greek pantheon as she was the representation of Great Mother Goddess and was the personification of Earth itself. However, it can be reasoned that her dual nature was the cause of patriarchal anxiety as she also held the stereotype and characteristics Hesiod condemned. Hesiod’s characteristics of a women were submissive and deceitful as seen in Pandora’s myth. Yet, Gaia’s nature as a vengeful mother “personified all that men feared in a woman” (Vincent Hannity, 2019). Thus, it can also be argued that the reason for women seclusion was due to Pandora’s weakness and Gaia’s vengefulness. Gaia’s dual nature also exposes a different side to Athenian Art which usually represented women as weak and deceitful. Pandora’s box also exemplified anxieties within the patriarchal system. Solely due to the fear that if she was not tamed or secluded she could lead the male world into destruction. Thus, leading to the ideology that all intelligent women or so-called elite women must be secluded out of fear of the destruction of the patriarchal system. Therefore, women’s position in society was not always accurately portrayed within Athenian art. Although, the role of the Gods and myths played an emphasis on the position of females in Greek society, Sarah B.Pomeroy, a renown Ancient Historian majoring in Ancient Greece and Rome, challenges this by addressing that myths were based on historical events which were later recounted by male philosophers. Reminding us of the relationship between myth and the reality of women's lives in Greece. She states that Classical mythology provides the earliest glimpse of male-female relationships in Greek civilisation. Pomeroy explains that mythology is not a lie but “rather a men’s attempt to impose a symbolic order of their universe” (Goddesses, Whores, Wives, And, Slaves, pg1; Godesses and Gods) addressing that the myths that were written by male philosophers were based on historical events. Thus, positioning women to appear systematically deceitful, weak and not fit to rule.