Women in Ancient Greece - Hardcover

Macdonald, Fiona

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0872265684 ISBN 13: 9780872265684

Publisher: Brighter Child, 1999

Synopsis

Women have played critical roles in business, politics, and the family throughout history. However, it is only recently that these roles have been studied and valued by society as a whole. This book explores women's contributions to and lifestyles in Ancient Greece, broadening readers' perspectives and enhancing their appreciation of this essential "other half" of history.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

In this latest entry in the Other Half of History series, Macdonald (Women in 19th-Century America, p. 967, etc.) addresses both the myths and realities of life for women in ancient Greece. Every aspect of those lives is examined forthrightly; women were kept indoors to master housekeeping skills, not allowed to speak in public or to hold property, subject to arranged marriages at the age of 14 to men twice their age, and only too aware that female infanticide was a husband's prerogative. Macdonald makes clear that Greece was a society that exalted womanhood, but seemed to deplore real women. Divided into easy-to-read sections, the main text is broken up by informative sidebars, photographs, and quotations from contemporary poets, authors, playwrights, and philosophers, e.g., Aristotle stated, ``A woman is an imperfect male. She is female because her body is not properly made.'' Macdonald is balanced in her presentation and wary of modern pronouncements about this distant culture; she tempers her research with phrasing that helps readers understand what is fact and what is speculation, and may inspire them to further study on their own. Eye-opening and useful. (glossary, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 7-14) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7-These titles are visually attractive, with lots of colorful, well-captioned photographs of art and artifacts. Double-page spreads introduce such topics as "Women at Home," "Palace Fashions," "Women's Status," or "Running the House." Much of what is covered is already available in other books for this age range. Information about clothes and cosmetics, weaving and cooking, and living arrangements can be found in the "Clues to the Past" series (Watts) and the "Eyewitness Books" (Knopf). However, Macdonald does go into more specific detail about women's status and occupations than the other books. She devotes a little space to a discussion of ancient Greek and Egyptian individuals, but Vicki Leon's Outrageous Women of Ancient Times (Wiley, 1997) provides much more detail and is more entertaining.
Rebecca O'Connell, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Brighter Child
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0872265684
• ISBN 13: 9780872265684
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 48