The Feminine Matrix of Sex and Gender in Classical Athens

Abstract

In The Feminine Matrix of Sex and Gender in Classical Athens, Kate Gilhuly explores the relationship between the prostitute, the wife, and the ritual performer in Athenian literature. She suggests that these three roles formed a symbolic continuum that served as an alternative to a binary conception of gender in classical Athens and provided a framework for assessing both masculine and feminine civic behaviour. Grounded in close readings of four texts, 'Against Neaira', Plato's Symposium, Xenophon's Symposium, and Aristophanes' Lysistrata, this book draws upon observations from gender studies and the history of sexuality in ancient Greece to illuminate the relevance of these representations of women to civic behaviour, pederasty, philosophy, and politics. In these original readings, Gilhuly casts a new light on the complexity of the classical Athenian sex/gender system, demonstrating how various and even opposing strategies worked together to articulate different facets of the Athenian subject.

Historical Discord: The Question of Greek Women

“…19 Lysistrata's takeover of the Acropolis-a representation of Athenian politics-evokes not only Athena but also the powerful Amazonians. 20 The ending lines of Lysistrata are "Athena the fair." 21 Although Lysistrata is a mortal woman in the play who is often sexualized along with the other women she still ends the play representing one of the most powerful goddesses.…”

“…Even before her act of dressing as Athena, Lysistrata still represented the goddess because her "name is a thinly veiled reference to Lysimache, who was the priestess of Athena Polias." 22 If Aristophanes wrote his mortal feminine character as a representation of a goddess, the idea of Greek women-especially heroines-resembling goddesses may not have been so foreign to classical men.…”

Feminist Theory

“…Under the Roman Empire sex was "a way to talk about imperium" (Vuot 2007, 5): by musing upon the emperor's intimate relationships, subjects might be induced to assimilate him to divinity. Parallel case studies examine Greek use of the courtesan as icon or metaphor (Kurke 1999;McClure 2003;Gilhuly 2008) and Roman glorifications of matronal chastity (Milnor 2005;Langlands 2006). Finally, Gaca 2003 has continued Foucault's genealogical project by tracing the roots of Christian abhorrence of the flesh back to its pre-Christian sources.…”

Prostitution

“…It would be profitable, for example, to examine them in light of current controversies on the subjects of hetaira vs. pornē and of the representation of prostitutes on vases and in literature (see McGinn 2011, 260, 261-2, 264; add to the literature cited there Gilhuly 2009 andWrenhaven 2009). It would be profitable, for example, to examine them in light of current controversies on the subjects of hetaira vs. pornē and of the representation of prostitutes on vases and in literature (see McGinn 2011, 260, 261-2, 264; add to the literature cited there Gilhuly 2009 andWrenhaven 2009).…”