The Athenians and most of the Ionic states over the world went so far in their dislike of the name as actually to lay it aside; and even at the present day the greater number of them seems to me to be ashamed of it.225
319
Whenever in early historic times a country was subjugated5, the conquerors6 either murdered or enslaved the men, and utilized7 the women for wives, or sexual slaves. The Ionians who, according to Herodotus, sailed from Attica, without women, took for wives native Carians whose fathers they had slain9; hence these captives made a law, which they bound themselves by an oath to observe, and which they handed down to their daughters after them, that “none should ever sit at meat with her husband, or call him by his name; because the invaders10 slew11 their fathers, their husbands, and their sons, and then forced them to become their wives.”226 The terms of the oaths sworn by them at the time of the capture seem, subsequently, to have been enforced by their imperious masters.
As these women were foreigners they were entitled to little or no respect from their captors. However, as they were to become the mothers of Greek citizens, they must necessarily be “protected,” or, in other words, they must be kept in seclusion12. In the time of Solon, rape13 committed on a free-born woman was punishable by fine.227
From that stage in the history of Greek tribes, at which through capture and appropriation14 of the soil by individuals women began to lose that influence which they had exercised under matriarchal usages, to the time of Solon, the lawgiver of Athens, when they had finally descended16 to the lowest level320 of misery17 and sexual degradation18, may be observed a corresponding tendency gradually developing itself among the people towards selfishness, usurpation19 of power, and the slavery of the masses. In the age of Solon the limit of human wretchedness seems to have been reached, and as the human race is never at a standstill, it must at this time have either become extinct, or have begun gradually to lift itself from the condition of disgrace and ruin into which it had fallen.
The character of Solon, as gathered from the facts at hand regarding him, reflects in a measure the true condition of society at that time. Although vain and morally weak, he was in a certain sense humane20; his humanity, however, extended only to those of his own sex. A large proportion of the women of Athens were imported foreigners, and were therefore so degraded that they had no rights which any one, even a lawgiver, was bound to protect. After his appointment to the archonship, Solon’s first act was to cancel the debts against the lands and persons of the Athenians, and to establish a law that in future no man should accept the body of his debtor21 for security.228 Many who had been previously22 banished23 or driven out of the country for debt, and had remained so long from their native land as to forget their Attic8 dialect, were recalled as freemen, while others, who at home had suffered slavery, were released and given their freedom.
321
Perhaps, however, in no position in life will a vain, morally weak man display to better advantage the defects in his character than in his attempts to legislate24 for women; and under no circumstances will his true inwardness of purpose stand more truly revealed than in his efforts to “regulate” the relations of the sexes. A brief notice of Solon’s laws concerning women proves him to have been no exception to the generally observed rule. It is recorded of him that in his extreme solicitude25 lest their movements should not comport26 with his ideas of female propriety27 and decorum, he regulated their journeyings, and laid down rules respecting their mournings, sacrifices, and the number of gowns which they were to take with them when they went out of town. The provision for their journey and even the size of the basket in which it was to be conveyed were subjects not unworthy the attention of the great Athenian lawgiver. Women’s mode of travel by night was also prescribed as was also their conduct at funerals and various places of amusement. In fact all their actions were subjected to that meddlesome28 espionage29 and control which characterize a weak and sensuous30 age. Indeed, we have something more than a hint of the degraded position occupied by women, in the fact that a man might not be allowed to sell a daughter or a sister “unless she were taken in an act of dishonour31 before marriage,” in which case her accuser might sell her person for individual gain; and this, too, not322withstanding the fact that he, as well as nearly every other man in Athens, was steeped in infamy32.
The measure adopted by Solon for the regulation of prostitution, and his division of women into classes for the convenience of all conditions of men, indicate clearly the disgrace and shamelessness which characterized the Athenians at this stage of their career, and depict33 with unerring fidelity34 the depth of horror into which womanhood had been dragged.
The condition of public morals during the three hundred years following the age of Solon is plainly indicated not only in the laws but in the mythologies35 of Greece and Rome. Prostitution was enjoined36 by religion and when Draco, suddenly shocked by the degeneracy of his time, affixed37 the penalty of death to rape, seduction, and adultery, it has been said that by the performance of the prescribed religious rites38 within the temple, the “rigour of his edicts was considerably39 softened40.”
The restraint imposed upon the Athenians by the Draconian41 regulations was, however, of short duration; for when Solon, the successor of Draco, assumed the position of archon, he at once legally established a sufficient number of houses of prostitution at Athens to supply the demand, filling them with female slaves who had been taken captives in war, or who had been otherwise provided by the munificence42 of the government.
323
But you did well for every man, O Solon;
For they do say you were the first to see
The justice of a public-spirited measure,
By this time, so degraded had womanhood become, that the traffic in female captives for sexual purposes was regarded as a legitimate44 business, and the revenue accruing45 from their services was considered a lawful47 source of gain to the state, its use being devoted48 to the rearing of temples and to the carrying out of the various projects connected with religious worship.
That the Athenians of this period were wholly given over to luxury and licentiousness49 is shown by the fact that at their bacchanalian50 feasts, the troops of women who were in attendance and who had been provided for the occasion by the generosity51 of the state, performed all their duties under direct and explicit52 instruction of the government “to disobey no order of a guest”; for which wise regulations Solon received the praise and commendation of Athenian men.
In a former portion of this work the fact has been noted53 that until well into the Latter Status of barbarism all women were protected; that among the Kaffirs, the Fiji Islanders, and various other peoples occupying a lower stage in the order of growth, women, although divested54 of their former influence, are still jealously guarded by324 the gens to which they belong; and that when maidens55 are bereft56 of home and near relatives, they are adopted into some other gens within the tribe where they are invested with the same rights as are its own members. Therefore when contemplating57 the social condition of the Athenians five or six hundred years B.C., we are naturally led to inquire: What were the causes which during one ethnical period had produced so marked a change in the position of the female sex? For an answer to our question we must recall the facts set forth58 in this volume relative to the capture of wives, together with the feeling of hatred59 entertained by early society for alien women.
In the time of Pericles, an age when Athens was at the height of its prosperity, the women of the city were divided into five classes as regarded their duties and uses. The first of these consisted of wives, who, for the most part, were kept in seclusion and allowed to exist solely60 for the purpose of propagating Greek citizens. These women were without influence, possessing no rights or privileges beyond the will of their “lords”; while to such an extent were they considered merely in the light of household furniture that they were not permitted to appear in public, nor to sit at table with their masters.
The following dialogue between Socrates and Ischomachus, a man who had managed his household in such a manner as to be “pointed out as a model for all Athens,” perhaps serves as a correct325 picture of the relations existing between husband and wife in the Periclean age. “I should like to know this particular from you,” said Socrates, “whether you yourself educated your wife so as to make her what she ought to be, or whether you received her from her parents with a knowledge of her duties?”—“And how could I have received her so educated, Socrates, when she came to me not fifteen years old, and had lived up to that time under the strictest surveillance that she might see as little as possible, and hear as little as possible, and inquire as little as possible?”
Of the five classes to which reference has been made, wives only were native-born, and as this particular class had specific duties to perform, severe penalties were attached to the crimes of seduction and rape when committed upon Athenian women. The remaining four classes were arranged according to the dignity of their associates, the highest in rank and repute being the hetairai, the members of which comprised the only free women in Athens. Themselves philosophers and stateswomen, their associates among males were of the same rank or station. They constituted a highly intellectual class, and as such were able to control not only their own movements, but to exercise a remarkable63 influence upon literature, art, and the affairs of state. Because of the important position occupied by these women, they will be referred to later in this work.
The next in rank were the auletrides, or flute326-players. Many of the most fashionable of these were slaves who had been brought to Greece by speculators. We are informed that female musicians were a usual accompaniment to an Athenian banquet, and that flute-playing became an essential feature in the worship of several of their deities64; hence, the services of this particular class were in demand, not only to heighten the enjoyment65 of social intercourse66, but to stimulate67 and encourage religious enthusiasm. At public gatherings68, after the dinner was over, and while the wine was flowing freely, these women made their appearance in a semi-nude condition, dancing and keeping time to the music by the graceful69 motion of their beautifully moulded figures. While the enthusiasm was at its height they were sold to the highest bidder70. Fist fights, or hand-to-hand encounters for the possession of these female flute-players, were not uncommon71 occurrences in the best society in Athens.230
These scenes were performed under the sanction of religion and law; they therefore serve to reveal the true inwardness of the Greek character at this stage of development. It is reported that the finest houses in Alexandria were inscribed72 with the names of famous Greek auletrides. Of all the flute-players of Greece, Lamia is said to have been the most successful. For fifteen or twenty years she was the delight of the entire city of Alexandria and of King Ptolemy. Finally, when the327 city was taken by Demetrius of Macedon, Lamia was taken also. When she demanded that an immense tax be levied73 on the city of Athens for her benefit, it is recorded that although the people murmured at the amount, they nevertheless found it to their interest to deify her and erect74 a temple in her honour. According to the testimony75 of Plutarch, Lamia raised money on her own authority to provide an entertainment for the king.231
The fourth class consisted of concubines, or purchased slaves who were in the service of Athenian gentlemen (?). This appendage76 to the Greek family was a member of the household of her master where she was kept with the full knowledge of the wife, the latter occupying a position little if any superior to that of her rival. Indeed, as the purchased slave could be disposed of whenever the fancy or caprice of her master so dictated77, and another installed in her place, it is reasonable to suppose that so long as she did remain, she was the object of quite as much attention as was the wife.
The lowest class, or those who were allowed the least freedom of action, were those known as the dicteriades. They were compelled to reside at a designated place, and were forbidden to be seen upon the streets by day. Nothing of a personal nature was allowed to interfere78 with the duties which were imposed upon them by their imperious masters. Their only duty was to obey.
328
By this time we are prepared to appreciate, to a certain extent, the moral aspect of Greek society during the years intervening between the age of Solon and that of Pericles, a period of about a century and a half. That all women, wives and concubines, native-born and foreign, had been dragged to the lowest depths of disgrace and shame and that they were classified and arranged to meet the demands of those who through the unchecked tendencies inherent in the male nature had reached the lowest level of infamy to which it is possible for living creatures to descend1, are facts which are only too plainly shown by those whose duty it has been to record the events connected with the history of the Greeks.
Although under Draco, the predecessor79 of Solon, the political degradation of the citizens of Greece may be said to have reached its height, and although the uprising of the masses against the usurpation of power by the few marks an era in the history of the Greeks, it was not until the dawn of the Periclean age that women had gained sufficient freedom to enable them to exercise any direct influence on thought, or on the principles underlying80 human conduct.
We must bear in mind the fact that for five or six centuries the inferiority of women had been systematically81 and religiously taught. Ever since the rule of Cecrops, at which time doubtless the manner of reckoning descent began to be changed from the female to the male line, woman’s influ329ence in Athens had gradually declined. The religio-physiological doctrine82 that in the office of reproduction the mother plays only an insignificant83 part had not only been proclaimed by Apollo but had been sanctioned also by Athene. It is recorded of Cecrops that “he instituted marriage and established a new religion.”
Just here may be observed the key to the gradually declining position of the female element in the deity84, and to the finally accepted dogma that the female is inferior to the male. Through the private ownership of land and the consequent dependency of women upon men, the way had been paved for this assumption—an assumption which had the effect to create in Ionian men the supreme85 and lofty contempt for women which is observed throughout their literature and laws. From the age of Solon to that of Pericles, the overwhelming degree of superiority assumed by Athenian men over women had uprooted86 in the former every vestige87 of restraint, at the same time that it had deprived them of the last trace of that respect for womanhood which under earlier and more natural conditions had been entertained.
It has been frequently remarked that women took little or no part in the intellectual development of Greece; that during the most rapid progress of Greek men, there was no corresponding improvement in the position occupied by Greek women.
From what is recorded relative to Athenian330 women from the time of Cecrops to that of Solon, one would scarcely expect to find them competing with men for the prizes of life. Later, however, that a considerable number of them did assert their independence, and that, defying the customs and traditions by which they were bound, did prove themselves the equals of men, may not be doubted.
There probably has never been a time since the dominion88 of man began when the more sensitive and better endowed among women have not secretly rebelled against the tyranny exercised over them, and, throughout the ages, whenever an opportunity has been offered, large numbers of these women, have never failed to make known their discontent. Greek women were no exception to this rule. Their first step toward liberty was to free themselves from the galling89 chain imposed upon them by marriage, a position in which, as has been shown, wives were simply household slaves, tools of their imperious and degenerate90 masters. Greek women, in the Periclean age, simply assumed the control of their persons and by so doing provoked the maledictions of future ages, ages in which sensualism still reigned91 supreme.
For reasons which have already been explained, the foremost women in Greece, and in fact all women who during the Periclean age were engaged in art, literature, philosophy, and statesmanship, belonged to the class known as the hetairai, a term331 which, through the excessive growth or sensuality and superstition92, subsequently became a term of reproach. Whatever may have been the importance of the services rendered by these women to society, such services would have been ignored, or, if not altogether ignored, would have been reflected upon, or appropriated by, the opposite sex.
To say that the hetairai were free is equal to saying that they have been misunderstood, hence the calumnies93 which for more than two thousand years have been heaped upon them. That the hetairai of Greece in the Periclean age included a class of women who were the intellectual compeers of the ablest statesmen and philosophers is a fact which may not by those who have paid close attention to this subject be denied. That they taught rhetoric94 and elocution, that they lectured publicly and established schools of philosophy at the same time that they wielded95 a powerful influence on the state and on the drift of current thought are facts which medi?val scholasticism has not been able to conceal96.
I think one may not investigate the various schools of philosophy which arose during the fourth and fifth centuries B.C., without noting the peculiarly altruistic98 principles involved in them, and this, too, notwithstanding the fact that, hitherto, extreme selfishness or egoism had constituted the prevailing99 character observed in Athenian society.
332
According to the principles of the Cyrenaics, the virtuous100 man is not necessarily he who is in the possession of pleasure but he who is able to proceed rightly in quest of pleasure. “Virtue101 is the only possible and sane102 way to happiness.” The most eminent103 members of the Cyrenaics were Arete the daughter of Aristippus and her son Aristippus the younger, surnamed the mother-taught.232 The fundamental doctrine of the Cyrenes seems to have been that right-living or virtue constitutes the only good. “The essence of virtue lies in self-control. Enjoyment sought as an end is evil.”
“Virtue is capable of being taught, and when once acquired cannot be lost. What is good is honourable104, and what is bad is disgraceful.” On examination it is found that one of the most eminent members of this school is Hipparchia. That she is not a mere61 listener, imbibing105 the ideas of others, is shown in the fact that she lectured publicly and argued strongly before the philosophers of Athens. The founder106 of the Cynic school of philosophy is said to have been Antisthenes, the son of a Thracian mother. One of the sayings of this philosopher is, that “virtue is the same in a man as in a woman.”233
That the question of the position of women333 was a theme for discussion in the age under consideration is shown in a “sophism” proposed by Hipparchia to Theodorus. Once when she went to sup with Lysimachus, she said to Theodorus: “What Theodorus could not be called wrong for doing, that same thing Hipparchia ought not to be called wrong for doing.”234
When we take into consideration the fact that Hipparchia was intimately associated with Crates62, a man for whom she entertained the tenderest affection, and when we remember that they were both engaged in teaching a philosophy which “recognized virtue as the supreme end of life,” the conversation at the house of Lysimachus between Hipparchia and Theodorus, as set forth by Diogenes La?rtius will be seen to admit of a different interpretation107 than that which commonly prevails.
Of the Epicureans it has been observed that they were a sort of Pythagorean brotherhood108, consisting of both men and women.
The scandalous tongue of antiquity109 was never more virulent110 than it was in the case of Epicurus, but, as far as we can judge, the life of the Garden joined to urbanity and refinement111 a simplicity112 which would have done no discredit113 to a Stoic114; indeed, the Stoic Seneca continually refers to Epicurus not less as a model for conduct, than as a master of sententious wisdom.
334
Among the most distinguished115 members of this school were Themistia, to whom Cicero refers in his speech against Pisa as a “sort of female Solon,” and Leontium, who ventured to attack Theophrastus in an essay characterized, as we are assured, by much elegance116 of style.235
No school of philosophy arose in Athens with which there was not closely connected the name of one or another of the illustrious women of the time. Zeno, the founder of the Stoic philosophy, was the pupil of Crates, the companion of Hipparchia.
Aspasia was the “clever preceptress of Socrates,”236 the sage15 who sat for the portrait of the Stoic philosophy. According to the Stoic philosophy, the supreme end of life is virtue, i. e., “a life conformed to nature.” The degree of self-restraint taught by Socrates is shown in the following lines:
Is it not the duty of every man to consider that temperance is the foundation of every virtue, and to establish the observance of it in his mind before all things? For who, without it, can either learn anything good, or sufficiently118 practice it? Who, that is a slave to pleasure, is not in an ill condition both as to his body and his mind? It appears to me, by Juno, that a free man ought to pray that he may never meet with a slave of such a character, and that he who335 is a slave to pleasure should pray to the gods that he may find well-disposed masters; for by such means only can a man of that sort be saved.237
When the ablest statesmen and the first philosophers of Greece united in sounding the praises of Alcibiades, the genius of Aspasia commanded equal recognition. Not only did Socrates and Pericles receive instruction and inspiration from this gifted woman, but we are assured that she lectured publicly and that her “acquaintances took their wives with them to hear her discourse119.”238 Indeed “Pericles threw all Greece into confusion on account of Aspasia, not the young one, but that one who associated with the wise Socrates.”239
It is not to be imagined that Aspasia excelled in light and amorous120 discourses121. Her discourses, on the contrary, were not more brilliant than solid. It was believed by the most intelligent Athenians, and amongst them Socrates himself, that she composed the celebrated122 funeral oration123 pronounced by Pericles in honour of those that were slain in the Samian War.240
It is recorded of her that many Athenians resorted to her lecture-room on account of her skill in the art of speaking. Not only did she teach rhetoric, philosophy, and the proper relations of the sexes, but so renowned125 was she for statesman336ship that Pericles is said to have surrendered to her the government of Athens then at the height of its glory and renown124. On this subject Plutarch remarks: “Some, indeed, say that Pericles made his court to Aspasia only on account of her wisdom and political abilities.”
It has been said that the expedition against the Samians was merely to gratify Aspasia. The Milesians and Samians who had been at war were ordered to lay down their arms. When they refused to obey, Pericles, in company with Aspasia, sailed with a fleet to Samos and abolished the oligarchical126 form of government. Although he was offered large sums of money, he “treated the Samians in the manner he had resolved on; and having established a popular government in the island, he returned to Athens.”241
Plutarch, quoting from ?schines, says that Lysicles, who was “of a mean, ungenerous disposition127, by his intercourse with Aspasia after the death of Pericles, became the most considerable man in Athens.”242 Notwithstanding the scandalous reports which have come down to us of this woman’s character, in view of the facts which it has been impossible for sex-prejudice to conceal, we are constrained128 to ask: “What manner of woman was this who was able to control statesmen, impart instruction to world-renowned philosophers, and leave a name which even bigotry129, envy, and malice130 may not efface131 from the history of human events?”
337
In seeking for an explanation of the exalted132 character of Aspasia, we have something more than a hint in the fact that she is reported to have “trod in the steps of Thargelia,” a woman who by her exceeding brilliancy had gained the sovereignty of Thessaly. Indeed, we have found a key to the entire situation when we learn that this Thargelia, in whose steps Aspasia trod, “was descended from the ancient Ionians,”243 a people who, originally worshipped the female principle, and who still preserved the customs peculiar97 to the matriarchal system, under which it will be remembered women, as aliens, did not follow the fathers of their children to their homes. So soon as these facts are understood, we are not in the least surprised to learn that Aspasia discountenanced the institution of marriage as it existed in Athens. Neither is it remarkable, when we remember that the underlying principles involved in the philosophy which she taught were justice and equity133, that she should be found using her great influence, as in the case of the Milesians and Samians, in substituting democracies in the place of oligarchies134; nor that, in an age when women had come to be regarded simply as the tools and slaves of men, she should be found teaching the dignity of womanhood to her own sex, and the principles of equality to males.
According to Xenophon, Aspasia’s efforts were to a great extent directed to the duties of husbands and wives; indeed, her foremost object seems to338 have been to educate Athenian women. During the Periclean age the position of women was one of the leading topics discussed in Athens. Socrates says to his companions that he has been of the opinion “of a long time that the female sex are nothing inferior to ours, excepting only in strength of body or perhaps steadiness of judgment135.”244 The coarse picture painted by Aristophanes, of women with beards going in male attire136 to the agora, “to seize the administration of the state so as to do the state some good,”245 although a vulgar attempt to ridicule137 the female philosophers of Athens, furnishes something more than a hint of the fact that the ideas subsequently set forth in Plato’s Republic had been openly discussed by the philosophers of the Periclean age.
That the word hetairai was originally employed in no mean or compromising sense is plain, since Sappho uses it in the sense of “female companion (?τα?ρα) of the same rank and the same interests.” We are assured that these women were able to preserve a friendship “free from trickery.” Of them even “Cynulcus does not venture to speak ill.”246 They “of all women are the only ones who have derived their name from friendship or from that goddess who is named by the Athenians Venus Het?ra.”247
“Accordingly, even to this day,” observes Athen?us,339 “free-born women and maidens call their associates and friends their ?τα?ρα; as Sappho does where she says:
And now with tuneful voice I’ll sing
These pleasing songs to my companions.
And in another place she says:
Niobe and Latona were of old
Affectionate companions ?τα?ρα to each other.”248
That medi?val scholasticism has not been able wholly to obscure the greatness of the Greek hetairai is shown by the declaration of a renowned writer of modern times who says: “Of all the poets who have appeared on the earth Sappho was undoubtedly138 the greatest.”
Notwithstanding the aspersions which have been cast upon the name and fame of the hetairai of Greece, it is doubtful if the intelligent women of the present age who carefully examine the shreds139 and remnants concerning them which have withstood the envy of mediocrity, and the bigotry of scholasticism, will be brought to believe that the excesses which are foreign to the female nature, and which belong to ruder and less highly developed structures, were practised by these gifted women. We must bear in mind that the hetairai were free, and therefore that they were able to direct their movements according to the natural characters developed within the female,—char340acters which it will be remembered are correlated with the maternal140 instinct.
The licentiousness, not only of Greek and Roman women, but of those in certain portions of Asia as well, has been the favourite theme of many writers of past ages; more especially has the lewdness141 of Lydian and Babylonian women been noted and commented upon. After referring to the annual sale of women in Babylonia, Herodotus says that the people
have lately hit upon a very different plan to save their maidens from violence, and prevent their being torn from them and carried to distant cities, which is to bring up their daughters to be courtesans. This is now done by all the poorer of the common people, who since the conquest have been maltreated by their lords, and have had ruin brought upon their families.249
It is recorded that the various classes of “kept women” in Greece were foreigners, that they were either bought or captured from surrounding countries. As in the case of the Lydians and Babylonians, they were doubtless carried from their homes at a tender age after having been reared to their profession. Many of the maidens thus taken to Greece subsequently became philosophers, statesmen, and scholars, whereupon they abandoned their former calling. Lysias mentions the fact that Philyra gave up her former course when she was still quite young,341 “and so did Scione, and Hippaphesis, and Theoclea, and Psamathe, and Lagisca, and Anthea.”250
As special mention is made of a woman who “did not cease to live a prostitute when she began to learn philosophy,”251 we may reasonably infer that it was usual for these women to abandon the calling to which they had been born and bred, so soon as from such teachers as Aspasia and Hipparchia they began to imbibe142 principles of self-respect and womanly independence.
From the position occupied by the hetairai it is evident that by the philosophers of Greece, they were regarded with that respect which is ever due to cultured womanhood; indeed, from the evidence at hand we may believe that they were the most highly honoured citizens in Athens.
All women in Greece who prostituted themselves were forbidden to take sacred names; yet of Nemeas, Athen?us says: “And we may wonder how it was that the Athenians permitted a courtesan to have such a name, which was that of a most honourable and solemn festival.”252
Of Glycera it is related that Harpalus issued an edict that no one should present him with a crown, unless the donor143 at the same time presented one to her. He erected144 a statue to her and permitted her to dwell in the palace of Tarsus where he allowed her “to receive adoration145 from the people”; he permitted her also to bear the title of Queen, and342 “to be complimented with other presents which are only fit for your own mother and your own wife.”253
Timotheus, who was a general of very high repute in the Athenian army, was the son of a courtesan; we are informed, however, that she was “a courtesan of very excellent character.”254 The great Themistocles is said to have been the son of Abrotonum, a “courtesan.”
It is recorded that in response to an order issued by the people, Praxiteles made a solid gold statue of one of the hetairai, which was consecrated146 in the temple of Delphi. Certainly the deathless models of Greek art formed by Praxiteles and Phidias are not representations of coarse and sensualized womanhood.
That these women were a power in Athens during the Periclean age may not, in view of the facts recorded in relation to them, be disputed. Of them it has been said:
None but they could gather round them of an evening the choicest spirits of the day, and elicit147, in the freedom of unrestrained intercourse, wit and wisdom, flashing fancy and burning eloquence148. What wonder that the hetairai should have filled so prominent a part in Greek society! And how small a compensation to virtuous women to know their rivals could not stand at the altar when sacrifice was offered, could not give birth to a citizen.
343
In this acknowledgment of the exalted position occupied by the Greek hetairai the author, like most writers upon the subject of the sexual relations, measures virtue not by its antithesis149 to vice46, but by the established masculine standards which have been set up for women to conform to. A Greek wife’s life may have been one continuous scene of subjection to the lowest appetites of a master for whom she may have had not the least degree of respect or affection, and who regarded her only in the light of an instrument for his convenience and pleasure; still such an one would doubtless be accounted as a “virtuous” woman in contradistinction to one of the hetairai whose position enabled her to control her own person and who was able to exercise her own will-power in protecting it against the excesses of Greek men. It is evident that this class of women more than any other in Greece was able to direct its movements and manage its activities, and, therefore, if we bear in mind the characters correlated in the female constitution with the maternal instinct, we may be assured that among the entire population of Athens, the lives of these women were the most pure and the least addicted150 to excesses.
Aspasia, the philosopher and statesman; Hipparchia, practical professor of Cynic philosophy and one of the most voluminous and esteemed151 writers of her time; Thargelia, the Milesian, whom Xerxes employed at the court of Thessaly, and many others scarcely less renowned, prove that344 through the exercise of that personal freedom enjoyed by the hetairai, women had at length risen to that position in which they were able to exert a powerful influence, not only on the affairs of state, but upon the intellectual development of the Athenians and the entire world. To say that these women have been written about in an age in which male power and male influence have been in the ascendency, is to say that they have been misunderstood and their movements misinterpreted.
Because of the efforts put forth by scholastics for two thousand years to belittle152 or annul153 the importance of the services rendered by the hetairai, they will doubtless for some time continue to be judged not by their intellectual vigour154 nor by what they accomplished155, but by the social position into which, through the exigencies156 of masculine domination, they had been jostled. The fact has been observed that less than two centuries prior to the age of Aspasia and Socrates, Solon had given to the calling of prostitution the sanction of religion and law; that he had purchased a sufficient number of young slaves from surrounding countries to satisfy the demands of the men of Greece; and that he had made the calling of these girls a source of public revenue for which services he had received the title of “Saviour of the State.” We would scarcely expect, therefore, to find chastity among the prominent virtues157 of the Periclean age. I wish to emphasize the fact that by the345 conditions of society at that time, the class designated as hetairai, although they were in a certain sense free, were practically prevented, no matter what may have been their natural inclinations158 or aspirations159, from rising to a higher plane of moral action, and furthermore that the existing conditions were wholly the result of the supremacy160 gained by the lower propensities161 over the higher forces developed in human nature. Had these gifted women accepted the position of wife, ignorance and seclusion would have been their portion, while their sexual degradation would have been none the less complete or perfect; indeed it would have been all the more intolerable, for the reason that the degradation of their persons, which in the position of hetairai was sued for as a privilege, in the position of wife would have been claimed as a right.
By most writers upon this subject the fact seems to have been overlooked, or, if observed, has not been acknowledged, that licentiousness among women during a certain period of Greek life, about which so much has been written, was governed wholly by the demands of their masters; in fact, throughout the history of mankind since the ascendency of the male over the female has been gained, the class which has controlled the means of support, and within which has resided all the power to direct the activities of women, has ever regulated the supply of victims to be offered upon the altar of lust117; and in all these regulations346 may be observed such an adjustment of women’s “duties” to the “necessities” of the male nature, that no alternative has been left them but submission162.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
descend
|
|
| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
derived
|
|
| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
opposition
|
|
| n.反对，敌对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
sect
|
|
| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
subjugated
|
|
| v.征服，降伏( subjugate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
conquerors
|
|
| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
utilized
|
|
| v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
attic
|
|
| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
slain
|
|
| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
invaders
|
|
| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
slew
|
|
| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
seclusion
|
|
| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
rape
|
|
| n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
appropriation
|
|
| n.拨款，批准支出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
sage
|
|
| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
misery
|
|
| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
degradation
|
|
| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
usurpation
|
|
| n.篡位；霸占 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
humane
|
|
| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
debtor
|
|
| n.借方，债务人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
previously
|
|
| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
banished
|
|
| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
legislate
|
|
| vt.制定法律；n.法规，律例；立法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
solicitude
|
|
| n.焦虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
comport
|
|
| vi.相称，适合 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
propriety
|
|
| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
meddlesome
|
|
| adj.爱管闲事的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
espionage
|
|
| n.间谍行为，谍报活动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
sensuous
|
|
| adj.激发美感的；感官的，感觉上的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
dishonour
|
|
| n./vt.拒付（支票、汇票、票据等）；vt.凌辱，使丢脸；n.不名誉，耻辱，不光彩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
infamy
|
|
| n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
depict
|
|
| vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
fidelity
|
|
| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
mythologies
|
|
| 神话学( mythology的名词复数 )； 神话（总称）； 虚构的事实； 错误的观点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
enjoined
|
|
| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
affixed
|
|
| adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
rites
|
|
| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
considerably
|
|
| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
softened
|
|
| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
draconian
|
|
| adj.严苛的；苛刻的；严酷的；龙一样的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
munificence
|
|
| n.宽宏大量，慷慨给与 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
saviour
|
|
| n.拯救者，救星 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
legitimate
|
|
| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
accruing
|
|
| v.增加( accrue的现在分词 )；（通过自然增长）产生；获得；（使钱款、债务）积累 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
vice
|
|
| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
lawful
|
|
| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
devoted
|
|
| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
licentiousness
|
|
| n.放肆，无法无天 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
bacchanalian
|
|
| adj.闹酒狂饮的；n.发酒疯的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
generosity
|
|
| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
explicit
|
|
| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
noted
|
|
| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
divested
|
|
| v.剥夺( divest的过去式和过去分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
maidens
|
|
| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
bereft
|
|
| adj.被剥夺的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
contemplating
|
|
| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
hatred
|
|
| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
solely
|
|
| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
crates
|
|
| n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
deities
|
|
| n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
enjoyment
|
|
| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
intercourse
|
|
| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
stimulate
|
|
| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
gatherings
|
|
| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
graceful
|
|
| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
bidder
|
|
| n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
uncommon
|
|
| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
inscribed
|
|
| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
levied
|
|
| 征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
erect
|
|
| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
testimony
|
|
| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
appendage
|
|
| n.附加物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
dictated
|
|
| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
interfere
|
|
| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
predecessor
|
|
| n.前辈，前任 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
underlying
|
|
| adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
systematically
|
|
| adv.有系统地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
doctrine
|
|
| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
insignificant
|
|
| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
deity
|
|
| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
supreme
|
|
| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
uprooted
|
|
| v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
vestige
|
|
| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
dominion
|
|
| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
galling
|
|
| adj.难堪的,使烦恼的,使焦躁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
degenerate
|
|
| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
reigned
|
|
| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
superstition
|
|
| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
calumnies
|
|
| n.诬蔑，诽谤，中伤（的话）( calumny的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
rhetoric
|
|
| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
wielded
|
|
| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
conceal
|
|
| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
altruistic
|
|
| adj.无私的，为他人着想的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
prevailing
|
|
| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
virtuous
|
|
| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
virtue
|
|
| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
sane
|
|
| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
eminent
|
|
| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
honourable
|
|
| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
imbibing
|
|
| v.吸收( imbibe的现在分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
Founder
|
|
| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
interpretation
|
|
| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
brotherhood
|
|
| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
antiquity
|
|
| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
virulent
|
|
| adj.有毒的，有恶意的，充满敌意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
refinement
|
|
| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
simplicity
|
|
| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
discredit
|
|
| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
stoic
|
|
| n.坚忍克己之人，禁欲主义者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
elegance
|
|
| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
lust
|
|
| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
sufficiently
|
|
| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
discourse
|
|
| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
amorous
|
|
| adj.多情的；有关爱情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
discourses
|
|
| 论文( discourse的名词复数 )； 演说； 讲道； 话语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
celebrated
|
|
| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
oration
|
|
| n.演说，致辞，叙述法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
renown
|
|
| n.声誉，名望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
renowned
|
|
| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
oligarchical
|
|
| adj.寡头政治的，主张寡头政治的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
127
disposition
|
|
| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
constrained
|
|
| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
bigotry
|
|
| n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
malice
|
|
| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
efface
|
|
| v.擦掉，抹去 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
exalted
|
|
| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
equity
|
|
| n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
oligarchies
|
|
| n.寡头统治的政府( oligarchy的名词复数 )；寡头政治的执政集团；寡头统治的国家 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
judgment
|
|
| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
attire
|
|
| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
ridicule
|
|
| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
undoubtedly
|
|
| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
shreds
|
|
| v.撕碎，切碎( shred的第三人称单数 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
maternal
|
|
| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
lewdness
|
|
| n. 淫荡, 邪恶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
imbibe
|
|
| v.喝，饮；吸入，吸收 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
donor
|
|
| n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
ERECTED
|
|
| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
adoration
|
|
| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
consecrated
|
|
| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
elicit
|
|
| v.引出,抽出,引起 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
eloquence
|
|
| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
antithesis
|
|
| n.对立；相对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
addicted
|
|
| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
esteemed
|
|
| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
belittle
|
|
| v.轻视，小看，贬低 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
annul
|
|
| v.宣告…无效，取消，废止 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
vigour
|
|
| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
accomplished
|
|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
exigencies
|
|
| n.急切需要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
virtues
|
|
| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
inclinations
|
|
| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
aspirations
|
|
| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
supremacy
|
|
| n.至上；至高权力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
propensities
|
|
| n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
submission
|
|
| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |