Like a woman scorned: A reconsideration of archaeological and historical evidence for the changing lives and power of women in the Classical and Hellenistic world

With a few exceptions, mainstream studies of the Classical and Hellenistic world have largely ignored the roles of women, relegating them to the footnotes of history. Women, however, had a significant role in the economy, culture, and historical processes of the period. Forgoing outdated discussions of status, I instead employ the theoretical framework of power. I investigate the means through which women from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds gained, exerted, and maintained power using archaeological, art historical, and literary analyses, with a particular emphasis on the female members of domestic contexts. I also discuss the changing conditions of women throughout the Hellenized world and the gradual assimilation of native cultural and social practices to create a new, hybrid culture that benefited Greek women in particular. These changes for women and the roles that they played both impacted and reflected the changing socioeconomic and political structures of the Hellenistic world.