Picture from the presentation Gender Roles in Mythology
What would be the first thing that comes to mind when we discuss Greek mythology and gender roles? Well, a group of students answered that question during University Day. Michael Dobbs, Connor Murphy and Katherine Asam tried to explain and understand the gender roles of ancient Greek society throughout the source of mythology and the different myths that portray the nature of gender roles.
During their presentation, the main idea was that myths and the different stories that people used to believe in actually portray their lifestyle and the way that the Greek community was structured. The presentation started with the actual roles of both men and women in society and then the presenters connected these stories and perceptions with the mythological aspect that connected with it.
To represent the male side of society, the students used examples that included the gods Zeus, Apollo and Ares. And for the female part, they used Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. The lives of the gods and their qualities represented the nature of people and their life qualities. Some other examples that showed the gender side of the story were the myths of Medea and Medusa, where Katherine explained in depth the actual role of these stories and their societal aspect.
So what did the visitors take out of the presentation? They learned that “Ancient Greek deities represented stages in the human life cycle rather than gender roles specifically.” They also learned that mythology plays a vital part for historians to discover and better understand society and its values.
“I feel overall positive about the experience, and that we did a good job to convey how using different sources to get different possibilities for what the reality was historically rather than only what is accounted by a small portion of the population,” Connor said after the presentation, with the whole audience clapping in excitement.
