History of Women in the West Volume 1

In the words of the general editors, A History of Women seeks "to understand women's place in society, their condition, the roles they played and the powers they possessed, their silence, their speech, and their deeds. It is the variety of the representations of women--as gods, Madonnas, witches, and so on--that we hope to capture, in its permanence as well as its many transformations". Informed by the work of seventy-five distinguished historians, this five-volume series sets before us an engaging, panoramic chronicle that extends from antiquity to the present day. The inaugural volume brings women from the margins of ancient history into the fore. The authors' deft analysis offers fresh insight into more than twenty centuries of Greek and Roman history and encompasses a landscape that stretches from the North Sea to the Mediterranean and from the Pillars of Hercules to the banks of the Indus. In the minds of the ancients, the roles for which women were destined were silent ones: motherhood and homemaking, tasks relegated to obscurity by scribes who focused exclusively on the deeds of men. Even the census neglected women; in Rome, only heiresses were counted. But the dearth of information about women in official archives and the near absence of writing by women from this era stand in stark contrast to the astonishing profusion of texts and images created by men that are concerned with women and gender. The number of women's representations is astonishing. The authors draw upon sources ranging from gravestones to floor plans, from stele inscriptions to papyrus rolls, from vase paintings to Greek and Roman literary works, to illustrate how representations of women evolved during thisage. They journey into the minds of men--from the Greeks imagining their goddesses to the Church Fathers inventing the figure of the martyred female saint--and bring to light an imaginative history of women and of the relations between the sexes. The authors explore select asp

The goal is more a history of relations between the sexes rather than a history of women. Translated from the Italian Storia delle Donne in Occidente, v.1: L'Antichita (Gius. Laterza & Figli Spa, Roma- Bari, 1990), this is the first volume of a five-volume work. The western European experience is the primary focus, with some attention given to North America. Many different and contradictory points of view are expressed; as the brief introduction to the English edition points out, the essays have a somewhat different slant from what might have been produced had an Anglo-American team organized the project.
Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Informed by the work of seventy-five distinguished historians, this five-volume series sets before us an engaging, panoramic chronicle that extends from antiquity to the present day.

The inaugural volume brings women from the margins of ancient history into the fore. It offers fresh insight into more than twenty centuries of Greek and Roman history and encompasses a landscape that stretches from the North Sea to the Mediterranean and from the Pillars of Hercules to the banks of the Indus. The authors draw upon a wide range of sources including gravestones, floor plans, papyrus rolls, vase paintings, and literary works to illustrate how representations of women evolved during this age. They journey into the minds of men and bring to light an imaginative history of women and of the relations between the sexes.

Georges Duby, a member of the Acadandeacute;mie Franandccedil;aise, is Professor of Medieval History at the <>Collandegrave;ge de France.Michelle Perrotis Professor of Contemporary History at the <>Universitandeacute; de Paris VII.

A New Kind of History
Natalie Zemon Davis and Joan Wallach Scott

Writing the History of Women
Georges Duby and Michelle Perrot

Representations of Women
Pauline Schmitt Pantel

1. Feminine Models of the Ancient World

1. What is a Goddess?
Nicole Loraux

2. The Sexual Philosophies of Plato and Aristotle
Giulia Sissa

3. The Division of the Sexes in Roman Law
Yan Thomas

4. Figures of Women
François Lissarrague

2. Traditional Rituals Women Share

5. Marriage in Ancient Greece
Claudine Leduc

6. Body Politics in Ancient Rome
Aline Rousselle

7. Pandora's Daughters and Rituals in Grecian Cities
Louise Bruit Zaidman

8. The Religious Roles of Roman Women
John Scheid

9. Early Christian Women
Monique Alexandre

3. Yesterday and Today

10. Creating a Myth of Matriarchy
Stella Georgoudi

11. Women and Ancient History Today
Pauline Schmitt Pantel

The Woman's Voice

Notes

Bibliography

Contributors

Illustration Credits

Index