Classics 15. Women and Gender in Antiquity
Valentina Popescu (vpopescu@ucdavis.edu)
In this course we will examine the lives and roles of women in classical antiquity, comparing what we know about the realities of their lives with the sometimes contradictory images and representations of women from Greek and Roman literature and myth. Primary readings include documentary sources such as legal, philosophical, medical, and historical writings, along with inscriptions, letters, poetry and other literature. In addition to learning about the lives of ancient women, we explore the origins of modern conceptions of the female that may be rooted in the past.
GE credit: ArtHum | AH, VL, WC, WE
Texts:
· Elaine Fantham et al, Women in the Classical World: Image and Text (Oxford, 1995)
· Mary Lefkowitz and Maureen Fant (eds.), Women's Life in Greece and Rome: A Source Book in Translation (John Hopkins, 2016)