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Boundaries of Identity and Gender in Classical Antiquity: Warrior Women and Witches
Caterina, Alice
Caterina, Alice
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Abstract
The investigation of this thesis deals with the way in which Graeco-Roman authors conceptualized women non-conforming to their stereotypes, in terms of gender norms and social identity roles. Specifically, the research aims at understanding if the notions defined by these non-stereotypical instances ultimately reinforced or challenged the Classical assumptions. In order to do so, the study firstly defines in detail notions of gender, gender roles, social identity and identity roles. Then, it analyzes the literary examples of non-conforming women, that is, the characters of the Amazons and the witches, as attested by various ancient sources used to in this thesis, together with the secondary sources referring to the ancient texts. The thesis demonstrates that the lifestyle and the ideals of neither the Amazons nor the witches were integrated into the Classical everyday life, because they could not be accepted. Specifically, the Amazons represented foreign values of gender equality, attributed to populations which were considered as less civilized from the Graeco-Roman perspective. On the other hand, the witches were completely contrary to what the Greek and Roman societies supported in terms of roles that women could take on, to the point that witches disrupted basic values, like maternal care and respect of marriage. Again, however, the witches were outcasts of these civilizations, impersonating another type of outsiders. Hence, in general, Greek and Roman authors conceptualized non-conforming women as too different and distant from the everyday reality to allow for the comprehension of these original notions and for their integration in Classical culture.
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Thesis (B.A. in Humanistic Studies, Minors in Communications and Psychology)--John Cabot University, Fall 2022.
Date
2022
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Keywords
Women soldiers, Women and war, Women and war, Witches
Citation
Caterina, Alice. "Boundaries of Identity and Gender in Classical Antiquity: Warrior Women and Witches". BA Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2022.