Social Organization in Classical Mythology
Introduction
One of the social organization that was most dear to classical mythologies was the family. The family was the base upon which the whole society was founded. There were, therefore, certain mythologies that were created to reinforce the familial systems, self-reproduction and marriage in the Greek Society. The family, for example, was bounded by marriage between a man and a woman. Each of them had different roles that enabled them to maintain the institution. They also believed in the myth of self-reproduction being the sole purpose for marriage, and this formed the basic frameworks of marriage systems. Stereotypes around the place of men and women in society consequently came up as a result of these myths. Women’s value, for example, becomes mainly determined by their ability to reproduce. They belonged indoors to take care of the family while the men belonged outdoors to bring food for the family. These myths have long lived through the archaic times, and shreds of it are still evident even today.
The Greek gods and goddesses, who were the overall heads of the societies, also lived by these myths that governed marriage, self-reproduction, and familial systems. Many of the gods and heroes at the time represented the significance of fertility in marriage, and the responsibilities if each gender in the family. The gods of the Olympus, for example, were associated with protection and care, which was symbolical to the attributes expected of a man at the time. Moreover, heroes such as Achilles and Hercules were associated with massive strength and thereby developing the mindsets that judged masculinity with the amount of strength. Goddesses and Heroines, on the other hand, are associated with fertility and sexual desire. Aphrodite, for instance, is a goddess of sexual lust (Maurizio, 2015). She was prayed to by young women before their wedding day so that they could bear children.
The paper, therefore, intends to analyze the impact these social myths regarding marriage, self-reproduction and marriage had in building the Greek Society and today’s society. The knowledge on the social institutions presents during this time is helpful in the adoption of better methods that would be able to maintain the fabric of society.
Body
The myths regarding female domesticity and self-reproduction as the centre of marriage systems, are parts of human nature because they developed the mindset that portrayed women as less significant and sexual. Women were seen as too weak to get out and do the jobs that the men did. They were also denied an education because of the fear that they would get too knowledgeable to be controlled by their male counterparts. This way women who had more potential than just sitting around and taking care of the home were denied many opportunities in the academic field and also in the manual fields that were male-dominated. Along with the deprivation of opportunities, the women were also denied their human rights. Men being seen as superior to women permitted them to physically violet them. Most of the domestic violence in the archaic period was as a result of men physically mishandling women. Some even came to believe that a man battering the women was a symbol of care, and it only showed the woman’s defiance to stick by the norms that governed the society. As a result of these myths, female oppression became rampant, and some of it still being carried in our today’s society.
Moreover, the myth around self-reproduction being the sole purpose of marriage developed families that were deprived of love and care. Marriage which is supposed to be a union between two people who loved each other was seen as a passage right and a means of reproduction (Maurizio, 2015). Because it was a rite of passage, marriages were strategically planned by the parents and other adults, and it didn’t matter whether there were any emotional connections between the bride and the groom. The bride and groom’s families aimed to get power and wealth from marriages, and also as many children as they could. Love was in no way associated with marriage it was considered as a disruption of marriages.
Some different perspectives of the problem would be the need to maintain a clearly defined social institution among the Greeks. During this time the Greeks had no political nations and no rules that would maintain the peace and harmony within the family. Assigning specific rules to the members of the society consequently served to alleviate the disruptions that may occur due to indefinite family roles.
Additionally, these myths were made to maintain close connections with their gods and heroes. Hermes, for example, was known to be a traveller which the Greek interpreted as the responsibility of the men to go outdoors to bring food to the family (Maurizio, 2015). Goddess Hestia, on the other hand, was constantly depicted with a flower and a veil on her head to show her piety. She was also referred to as the goddess of the hearth because of her connection with the fireplaces. Because of this reason, she was associated more with the interior of the home. She was seen as a steadfast figure that bound the home and a depiction of the domesticity of women. Hestia is said to be a perfect complement to Hermes because she abounds by the roles of the archaic woman whole Hermes’ activities were also in line with that of the ancient man.
One of the social consequences of the myth on women’s main purpose being for reproduction has led them to be seen as always responsible for crimes related to sexual assault. Women have longed been perceived as conduits for implementing men’s sexual desire. It has become a norm even today in pitting cases concerning early pregnancy and rape on women. It is always seen as women’s fault; how they dress, or they look. If they were made for reproduction then they shouldn’t complain about being sexually mishandled. It is therefore clear that these myths have normalized female oppression in the community.
The mythical problems earlier mentioned are evident today in that there are still feminine jobs and masculine jobs. Most jobs that are academic intensive are also mostly assigned to the males because of the belief that women will be unable to handle it because of their duties to their families. Even men who opt for female-dominated careers are perceived as weak and underutilizing their potential. Till date, some companies still make their employment decisions based on gender bias. Institutions such as the construction industries are still male-dominated because of their preference to males the fear of females being seen as incompetent in the workplaces. Though many people are breaking these norms in the society, there is still a lot of bias that limits the potential of the men and women who find passion in fields that are not dominated by their genders.
Conclusion
Greek mythology made is well known for myths that upheld self-reproduction as the main goal for marriage and promoting female domesticity that was very rampant in the antebellum period. The gods they looked up to also formed unions mainly for reproduction and also aligned their responsibilities to these myths. Love in marriage was, therefore, a taboo, a disruption for that matter, and they had all the stories to prove this. These myths have long shaped gender definitions from the archaic period to date. Although a lot is being done to alleviate these beliefs, there is also the need to understand these myths at their conception, that is, from the lens of Greek mythologies, to be able to be more aware of how to get rid of the problem.
References
Maurizio, L. (2015). Classical mythology in context. Oxford University Press.