Gender and religion
Most people, when they look at Greek civic life, look at what the men did. Men were considered to be the politai, the citizens. Women were not true citizens, and they did not have the same rights as men. Nonetheless, they did have their own function in the religious life of the polis. Some of the ways in which women have played a role in polis religion are explored in this subsection.
The role of women in the ancient Greek polis was complex. It is a common view that women were preoccupied with the household and were largely excluded from the public sphere, but not everyone agrees with this view. Women played a larger role than merely at home and they had a broad civic engagement in the daily business of the polis. They had a direct influence on economical and political affairs. Furthermore, women played a significant role in the religion of the polis. It was in this capacity that women participated in the public sphere. The participation of women in religious affairs and their involvement in the polis is therefore the subject of this page.
The role of women in religious affairs will be regarded on the basis of four topics. The first topic will be the involvement of women in priesthoods. Another topic is an important festival for women, the Arkteia. We will also look at polis women from a gender perspective, investigating the way women were construed in the male-dominated polis ideology reflected in the Thesmophoria, a fertility festival, and examining the Galli, the priests of the goddess Kybele who reversed gender roles by castrating themselves and wearing women's clothes. Below you can find more information about these topics.
The role of women in the ancient Greek polis was complex. It is a common view that women were preoccupied with the household and were largely excluded from the public sphere, but not everyone agrees with this view. Women played a larger role than merely at home and they had a broad civic engagement in the daily business of the polis. They had a direct influence on economical and political affairs. Furthermore, women played a significant role in the religion of the polis. It was in this capacity that women participated in the public sphere. The participation of women in religious affairs and their involvement in the polis is therefore the subject of this page.
The role of women in religious affairs will be regarded on the basis of four topics. The first topic will be the involvement of women in priesthoods. Another topic is an important festival for women, the Arkteia. We will also look at polis women from a gender perspective, investigating the way women were construed in the male-dominated polis ideology reflected in the Thesmophoria, a fertility festival, and examining the Galli, the priests of the goddess Kybele who reversed gender roles by castrating themselves and wearing women's clothes. Below you can find more information about these topics.
The Priestess
One field of research in which the influence of the woman in ancient Greece can be measured is the field of priesthoods. Women could obtain priesthood and serve multiple cults. They played a role in the public life by their tasks in religious festivals and cult related practices. Priestesses were also subject of plays and had reserved seats at the theater between important male citizens. Women could obtain priesthoods by lot or by inheritance and usually served until death. It seems that the woman had an actual influence in civic life due to these priesthoods, but it remains unclear if this influence was intended and how far this influence reached.
An extended article about the nature of the influence of the priestess can be found here.
One field of research in which the influence of the woman in ancient Greece can be measured is the field of priesthoods. Women could obtain priesthood and serve multiple cults. They played a role in the public life by their tasks in religious festivals and cult related practices. Priestesses were also subject of plays and had reserved seats at the theater between important male citizens. Women could obtain priesthoods by lot or by inheritance and usually served until death. It seems that the woman had an actual influence in civic life due to these priesthoods, but it remains unclear if this influence was intended and how far this influence reached.
An extended article about the nature of the influence of the priestess can be found here.
The Arkteia festival
When girls were born they became part of their birth family. This was not the family they would be a part of for the longest period of their lives, that was the family of their husbands. Before girls could get married they had to undergo some rites de passage. These kinds of rituals were meant to mark a transition of one stage of life to another. The Arkteia served as a rite de passage for young Athenian girls. There are several myths that explain the events at the Arkteia festival, like the myth of Iphigeneia, expressed in the plays Iphigeneia in Aulis and Iphigeneia in Tauris by Euripides. They give some insight in the rituals that took place in Brauron during the Arkteia festival.
An extended artikel about the Arkteia festival can be found here.
When girls were born they became part of their birth family. This was not the family they would be a part of for the longest period of their lives, that was the family of their husbands. Before girls could get married they had to undergo some rites de passage. These kinds of rituals were meant to mark a transition of one stage of life to another. The Arkteia served as a rite de passage for young Athenian girls. There are several myths that explain the events at the Arkteia festival, like the myth of Iphigeneia, expressed in the plays Iphigeneia in Aulis and Iphigeneia in Tauris by Euripides. They give some insight in the rituals that took place in Brauron during the Arkteia festival.
An extended artikel about the Arkteia festival can be found here.
The Thesmophoria
In ancient Greece, women had an important role in fertility festivals like the Thesmophoria. The Thesmophoria were dedicated to Demeter, the goddess of harvest and fertility, and her daughter Persephone. Only women who were married with citizens were allowed to participate. Through this annual festival, the women tried to ensure fertile lands and good harvest. But it was not just a fertility celebration; the Thesmophoria also reflected the role of women in the polis. The festival could be viewed as a means to control, direct and marginalize women's sexuality, towards which men were ambivalent: they feared it, but it was also a necessary force for the survival of their polis.
An extended article about the Thesmophoria and the way this festival reflected polis ideology about women can be found here.
In ancient Greece, women had an important role in fertility festivals like the Thesmophoria. The Thesmophoria were dedicated to Demeter, the goddess of harvest and fertility, and her daughter Persephone. Only women who were married with citizens were allowed to participate. Through this annual festival, the women tried to ensure fertile lands and good harvest. But it was not just a fertility celebration; the Thesmophoria also reflected the role of women in the polis. The festival could be viewed as a means to control, direct and marginalize women's sexuality, towards which men were ambivalent: they feared it, but it was also a necessary force for the survival of their polis.
An extended article about the Thesmophoria and the way this festival reflected polis ideology about women can be found here.
Kybele and the Galli
In the sixth century BC the Phrygian goddess Kybele came to Greece. She was worshipped througout the whole Greek world. We have found hundreds of votive reliefs and statues dedicated to this foreign goddess. She even got her own temple on the Athenian Agora, which meant that she was a part of the established religion of the city-state, and she was in the same circles as Zeus, Demeter, Rhea and other great deities in Greek religion.
Still the goddess Kybele and, more so, her followers who became apparent in the third of second century BC, the Galli were marginal figures.
Kybele is a barbarious goddess with effeminate priests, a very interesting phenomenon in Greek religion...
An extended article about the Galli can be found here.
In the sixth century BC the Phrygian goddess Kybele came to Greece. She was worshipped througout the whole Greek world. We have found hundreds of votive reliefs and statues dedicated to this foreign goddess. She even got her own temple on the Athenian Agora, which meant that she was a part of the established religion of the city-state, and she was in the same circles as Zeus, Demeter, Rhea and other great deities in Greek religion.
Still the goddess Kybele and, more so, her followers who became apparent in the third of second century BC, the Galli were marginal figures.
Kybele is a barbarious goddess with effeminate priests, a very interesting phenomenon in Greek religion...
An extended article about the Galli can be found here.