首页
登录
职称英语
The Status of Women in Ancient Society In large pa
The Status of Women in Ancient Society In large pa
游客
2023-12-19
51
管理
问题
The Status of Women in Ancient Society
In large part as a consequence of the feminist movement, historians have focused a great deal of attention in recent years on determining more accurately the status of women in various periods. Although much has been accomplished for the modern period, pre-modern cultures have proved more difficult: sources are restricted in number, fragmentary, difficult to interpret, and often contradictory. Thus it is not particularly surprising that some earlier scholarship concerning such cultures has so far gone unchallenged. An example is Johann Bachofen’s 1861 treatise on Amazons, women-ruled societies of questionable existence contemporary with ancient Greece.
Starting from the premise that mythology and legend preserve at least a nucleus of historical fact, Bachofen argued that women were dominant in many ancient societies. His work was based on a comprehensive survey of references in the ancient sources to Amazonian and other societies with matrilineal customs--societies in which descent and property rights are traced through the female line. Some support for his theory can be found in evidence such as that drawn from Herodotus, the Greek "historian" of the fifth century B. C. , who speaks of an Amazonian society, the Sauromatae, where the women hunted and fought in wars. A woman in this society was not allowed to marry until she had killed a person in battle.
Nonetheless, this assumption that the first recorders of ancient myths have preserved facts is problematic. If one begins by examining why ancients refer to Amazons, it becomes clear that ancient Greek descriptions of such societies were meant not so much to represent observed historical fact--real Amazonian societies--but rather to offer "moral lessons" on the supposed outcome of women’s rule in their own society. The Amazons were often characterized, for example, as the equivalents of giants and centaurs, enemies to be slain by Greek heroes. Their customs were presented not as those of a respectable society, but as the very antitheses of ordinary Greek practices.
Thus, I would argue, the purpose of accounts of the Amazons for their make Greek recorders was didactic, to teach both male and female Greeks that all-female groups, formed by withdrawal from traditional society, are destructive and dangerous. Myths about the Amazons were used as arguments for the male-dominated status quo, in which groups composed exclusively of either sex were not permitted to segregate themselves permanently from society. Bachofen was thus misled in his reliance on myths for information about the status of women. The sources that will probably tell contemporary historians most about women in the ancient world are such social documents as gravestone, wills, and marriage contracts. Studies of such documents have already begun to show how mistaken we are when we try to derive our picture of the ancient world exclusively from literary sources, especially myths. (467) [br] The primary purpose of the passage is to ______.
选项
A、compare competing new approaches to understanding the role of women in ancient societies
B、investigate the ramifications of Bachofen’s theory about the dominance of women in ancient societies
C、explain the burgeoning interest among historians in determining the actual status of women in various societies
D、criticize the value of ancient myths in determining the status of women in ancient societies
答案
D
解析
主旨大意题。本文开头便提出了目前历史研究中的一个热点问题:考察各个时期女性在社会中的确切地位(on determining more accurately the status of women in various periods),而后作者以Bachofen的理论为例对以神话为证据来研究女性地位这一方法进行了批判,因此本文的主要写作目的应为D项。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3287283.html
相关试题推荐
Accordingtothepassage,themaindifferencebetweenahomogeneoussocietyand
Onecharacteristicoftherichclassesofadecliningsocietyistheirtendency
Onecharacteristicoftherichclassesofadecliningsocietyistheirtendency
"Ineveryknownhumansocietythemale’sneedsforachievementcallberec
Inmodernsociety,mostpeopleseemtobelievethatthesocietyisfullofc
VanityFair,acausticsatirenovelonthearistocratic-bourgeoissocietyofthe
Onecharacteristicoftherichclassesofadecliningsocietyistheirtendency
Onecharacteristicoftherichclassesofadecliningsocietyistheirtendency
Onecharacteristicoftherichclassesofadecliningsocietyistheirtendency
Storytellingisanancientandhonoredart.Storytellersentertaineddurin
随机试题
HewroteanarticlecriticizingtheGreekpoetandwon______andascholarship.A、
You______Markanything.Itwasnoneofhisbusiness.A、needn’thavetoldB、need
AtarecentdebateinWashingtonabouttheriseofChina,aU.S.careerdipl
巴豆内服的用量是A.0.1~0.3克 B.0.5~1克 C.1.5~3克
共用题干 第一篇HypertensionDrugsFoundtoCut
中性粒细胞介导的再灌注损伤机制不包括A.促进细胞凋亡 B.致炎物质的损伤作用
下列选项中,可诊断妊娠甲亢的辅助检查为A:基础代谢率 B:血清总T<sub>3
对设计能力和结果的充分性和适宜性进行评价的活动,指的是()工作。A.设计策划
GPS的特点不包括( )。A.高精度 B.高耗能 C.自动化 D.高效率
男,32岁,3天前淋雨,次日出现寒颤、高热,继之咳嗽,咳少量黏液脓性痰,伴右侧胸
最新回复
(
0
)