The aim of this thesis is to present the role and position of women during the celebration of one of the women-only religious festivals of ancient Greece, the Thesmophoria. The thesis includes an outline of the celebration, a presentation of the significance of the festival for the ancient Greek society and the polis, a presentation of the connection between the festival and the mythological narrative or myth on which it was supposedly based, and last but not least, what this kind of celebration and religious practice represented for women in the ancient Greek society. In this work, I also rely on information about the festival, women and their position in it provided by the comedy of the most famous representative of the so-called 'old comedy', Aristophanes, Women at the Thesmophoria.
In this work, I also present the general role of women in the polytheistic religion of ancient Greece and present my perspective and understanding of the sources, as well as try to answer my own question: did women see the festival of Thesmophoria as an opportunity for political engagement and slight undermining of the social norms of ancient Greece, or did they not view the celebration from such a modern perspective at all.
|
