The Role Of Men In Ancient Greece

8 Pages 2055 Words

“We do not simply regard a man who does not participate in the city's life as one who just minds his own business, but as one who is good for nothing.”
--Pericles’ Funeral Oration

The role of men in ancient Greece was one of power, prestige and honour. Men were given the most responsibility and therefore considered to be the most important people in archaic Greece. Societal status was based upon the quality of ones character—knowledge, strength and integrity—rather than on ones wealth, political position or ancestry. Men were the citizens who held power in city-states; it was the men’s character, behaviour and important values that were praised and celebrated by society.

Writers from ancient Greece reflected these values of masculinity in their works. In Homers the “Iliad”, the set of principles his characters adhere to are qualities that became known as Homeric values: honour, status, and power. Each of the characters in the “Iliad” is trying to achieve these. In Sophocles’ tragedy “Oedipus the King”, depending on perspective, the character Oedipus demonstrates two different sets of values. Oedipus displays all the virtues of an ideal Greek citizen, yet from the reverse perspective he embodies the exact opposite. Sophocles’ also depicts the moral values of archaic Greece in his play “Antigone”. He displays the relationship and reactions between men and women in effect portraying the differentiating gender roles in ancient Greece. In factual historical accounts of ancient Greece, the historian Thucydides described the values that held significance in his era of Greek society. Through the works of ancient Greek playwrights, story tellers and historians, it is made evident what personified the men that were valued by Greek society.

To be able to identify with the values of ancient Greece one must know a little of the history of these people. It shows the roots of the moral codes and clar...