Karen Gibbins
Anna Henderson
Nick Lienesch
Jocelyn Olson
Marriage in Antiquity: Where’s the Love?
The topic that we chose to examine through our writings was the construct of marriage in antiquity, and whether it brought happiness to those involved. We looked at several aspects of these unions; those of power struggles, female subversion, love and support, the worth of women as managers in the household, and homoerotic and extramarital affairs. These were evaluated within the social constructs of first Athenian and then Roman society. There were certain ideals that we found to hold true for both, such as the importance of a chaste wife to ensure correct lineage, the clearly defined spheres of husband and wife, and how people respond to dissatisfaction in marriage. However, certain aspects differed between the two cultures, such as the presence of homoeroticism, and the personal freedom of women. The theme of marriage created a convenient sphere through which to view the various differences in gender and sexuality.
In assembling our journal and analyzing the papers as a collective, we were made aware of several common themes as well as disagreements. Some correlations within the papers which became apparent were the obvious presence of dissatisfaction in marriage, the unequal division of power between men and their wives, and the prevalence of extramarital affairs which led us to believe that good marriages were hard to come by and the exception of the majority. These exceptions however, could happen in the case of two individuals who were both suited to each other and the roles laid out for them by society. Three of the papers supported the idea that marriage is a social construct that would likely lead to dissatisfaction, while the fourth argued that the arrangement of marriage had a strong potential of achieving mutual happiness. The critical question that emerged from studying these papers was whether people’s unhappiness in marriage came from their own flaws or flaws within the social construct.
Another problem that we noticed was the potential legitimacy of the texts we were studying as a reflection of realistic Greek and Roman lifestyles. The texts which we examined tended to demonstrate either idealized, perfect marriage or else to lampoon the institution, making it difficult to draw conclusions about the way marriages actually worked for the majority of citizens.
Marriage in Antiquity is an important study as many of the same themes, such as imbalance of power, extramarital affairs, and the question of whether the convention of marriage itself or the individuals in it are flawed are relevant to marriage in our own society. Clearly in today’s society, not everyone is happy in their marriages as indicated by a high divorce rate. Relating back to the issues we looked at in Greek and Roman marriages, the high incidence of failed marriages today raises the question of whether these divorces come from the individuals involved or from the way our society views marriage today. As you
read the various journals and their responses, consider how these scenarios posed in the Greek and Roman texts relate to each other and current societal issues.