Women in Ancient Society Comparing Medea and One Thousand and One Nights

Briana Little

World Lit

7/15/2013

Women in Ancient Society

The role of women in society has been a journey with many ups and downs. In ancient cultures especially, women were seen as property and their overall role in society was extremely archaic. This is seen in many works over the course of the time period, but two works in particular present women characters that go against the grain and show women in a different light. In One Thousand and One Nights and Euripides’ Medea, women are both admired and feared for their wit and rebellious ways. This picture paints in reader’s minds that ancient cultures view woman as inferior beings, which cannot be trusted and, if given the opportunity, will cause hurt and harm wherever possible.

The role of women in society is seen as obsolete and cursed in both stories but from two different viewpoints. In Medea, Medea herself states in her first speech to the chorus that “Of all creatures with a soul and mind, we women are the most pathetic (Medea 229).” She states that large amounts of dowry must be paid in order to obtain a decent husband, women must have virtuous reputations, and lastly, they can only depend on one person, herself. In One Thousand and One Nights, we gain the male perspective on the view of women. Though King Shahrayar does not say very much on his opinion of women, we see by his action that he thought of women as expendable, worthless, and untrustworthy. This speaks volumes for what each culture believes as the role of women. Euripides points out some of the demeaning nature with Medea’s monologue, but it really only scratches the surface of women in Ancient Greece. Women had no part in picking a husband for themselves and because they were seen as objects, marriage was, in a sense, a business arrangement between two men. Women were restricted from going out doors and a woman was permitted to socialize outside of the home only if her husband granted her permission. As in today’s society, Grecian women...