01.29.08
Herodotus and the Power of Women
One of my classes this semester is Women in Medieval and Early Modern Britain. A student can take it and receive credit either in History, English Lit or Women’s Studies. Last week, we read some of the most appalling misogynistic diatribes I’ve ever read. I had heard Jerome and Juvenal were anti-women but I honestly had no idea how hateful they were. And yet, the Holy Roman Catholic church made Jerome a saint! As a historian I have to be aware that these attitudes existed and be careful not to impose my values onto this period of time. The trick is to tease out how women got around these attitudes to take care of business.
Tonight while perusing the internet, I found “Herodotus and the Power of Women”, an article which is really about what goes behind closed doors to move history forward.
Herodotus’ version of the story about Gyges, King Candaules and his gorgeous, unnamed queen and the role the queen had in the overthrow of the king is retold. But retold to make the point that there is much that goes on behind closed doors between men in power and their women that has an impact on history.
Go read the article, if only to see the humour in this:
The history of more than half of humanity is a side or specialist issue. How does this happen? To see the marginalisation clearly, imagine trying to frame a project entitled “The Role of Men in History”, and be taken seriously.