Graduation Date
5-2013
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department or Program
Graduate Humanities
Department or Program Chair
Laura Stivers, PhD
First Reader
Leslie Ross, PhD
Second Reader
Martin Anderson, PhD
Abstract
The ancient Greek cult festival known as the Thesmophoria was an exclusively feminine ritual whose purpose was human and agricultural fertility. The festival honored Demeter, goddess of the harvest and her daughter Persephone. Although men held the festival in high esteem, they were expressly forbidden—sometimes to the point of death—from attending the three-day long event. Men’s respect for the Thesmophoria was demonstrated by both their financial support as well as the curtailing of certain civic events in the polis on the second day of the Thesmophoria. Considered one of the oldest and most widespread of all Greek religious festivals, the Thesmophoria is believed to have its origins in the Neolithic age—before the advent of patriarchal marriage. This paper explores the ways in which citizen wives in the patriarchal culture of ancient Greece were empowered by both the ritual and its pre-androcentric origins.
Comments
Read Mary Naples' book that expands on her thesis: Cult of the Captured Bride: How Ancient Women Took Power
For more information visit her website: Femmina Classica: Unearthing Ancient Wisdom