首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The Status of Women in Ancient Society In large part as a consequence of the feminist movement, historians have focused a gre
The Status of Women in Ancient Society In large part as a consequence of the feminist movement, historians have focused a gre
admin
2010-01-18
76
问题
The Status of Women in Ancient Society
In large part as a consequence of the feminist movement, historians have focused a great deal of attention in recent years on determining more accurately the status of women in various periods. Although much has been accomplished for the modern period, pre-modern cultures have proved more difficult., sources are restricted in number, fragmentary, difficult to interpret, and often contradictory. Thus it is not particularly surprising that some earlier scholarship concerning such cultures has so far gone unchallenged. An example is Johann Bachofen’s 1861 treatise on Amazons, women-ruled societies of questionable existence contemporary with ancient Greece.
Starting from the premise that mythology and legend preserve at least a nucleus of historical fact, Bachofen argued that women were dominant in many ancient societies. His work was based on a comprehensive survey of references in the ancient sources to Amazonian and other societies with matrilineal customs--societies in which descent and property rights are traced through the female line. Some support for his theory can be found in evidence such as that drawn from Herodotus, the Greek "historian" of the fifth century B.C., who speaks of an Amazonian society, the Sauromatae, where the women hunted and fought in wars. A woman in this society was not allowed to marry until she had killed a person in battle.
Nonetheless, this assumption that the first recorders of ancient myths have preserved facts is problematic. If one begins by examining why ancients refer to Amazons, it becomes clear that ancient Greek descriptions of such societies were meant not so much to represent observed historical fact--real Amazonian societies--but rather to offer "moral lessons" on the supposed outcome of women’s rule in their own society. The Amazons were often characterized, for example, as the equivalents of giants and centaurs, enemies to be slain by Greek heroes. Their customs were presented not as those of a respectable society, but as the very antitheses of ordinary Greek practices.
Thus, I would argue, the purpose of accounts of the Amazons for their make Greek recorders was didactic, to teach both male and female Greeks that all-female groups, formed by withdrawal from traditional society, are destructive and dangerous. Myths about the Amazons were used as arguments for the male-dominated status quo, in which groups composed exclusively of either sex were not permitted to segregate themselves permanently from society. Bachofen was thus misled in his reliance on myths for information about the status of women. The sources that will probably tell contemporary historians most about women in the ancient world are such social documents as gravestone, wills, and marriage contracts. Studies of such documents have already begun to show how mistaken we are when we try to derive our picture of the ancient world exclusively from literary sources, especially myths.
The primary purpose of the passage is to______.
选项
A、compare competing new approaches to understanding the role of women in ancient societies
B、investigate the ramifications of Bachofen’s theory about the dominance of women in ancient societies
C、explain the burgeoning interest among historians in determining the actual status of women in various societies
D、criticize the value of ancient myths in determining the status of women in ancient societies
答案
D
解析
主旨大意题。本文开头便提出了目前历史研究中的一个热点问题:考察各个时期女性在社会中的确切地位(on determining more accurately the status of women in various periods),而后作者以Bachofen的理论为例对以神话为证据来研究女性地位这一方法进行了批判,因此本文的主要写作目的应为D项。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/PjvO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
A、Manychildrenarenolongerplacedinschoolsaccordingtotheiracademicabilities.B、Manychildrencanaffordtostudyinpr
IamalwaysalittlepuzzledwhenIhearpeoplecomplainaboutthedifficultiesoffindingagoodjob.Youngpeopleintheir20s
AnarticlepublishedrecentlyintheprestigiousscientificjournalNatureissheddingnewlightonanimportant,buthithertol
TheLakeDistrictinnorth-westEnglandisanarearemarkablylittleaffectedbyindustrialization.Theprincipalactivityisst
Parentingwasneverapieceofcakeinanyage,butprobablythegreatestsourceofheadacheforparentstodayinJapanistheu
TheearlyretirementofexperiencedworkersisseriouslyharmingtheU.S.economy,accordingtoanewreportfromtheHudsonIns
Formostofus,workisthecentral,dominatingfactoflife.Wespendmorethanhalfourconscioushoursatwork,preparingfor
Professionallanguagetranslatorslaborinabusinessthatisunorganizedandhaphazard.Mostarefreelancers,contractingwith
Themajorityofsuccessfulseniormanagersdonotcloselyfollowtheclassicalrationalmodeloffirstclarifyinggoals,assessi
Weallknowthatprogramminglanguageisthesystemofsyntax,grammar,andsymbolsorwordsusedtogiveinstructionstoacomp
随机试题
用治阴暑的药物是
工作设计是指为了有效地达到组织目标,提高工作绩效,对( )等方面进行的变革和设计。
社会主义法治特指(),是社会主义民主的保障,实现社会主义民主的法律化、制度化,并严格依法进行国家管理的一种方式。
从国外特别是美国等规划实践来看,真正有成效的公众参与是()。
以下各项中,()是申请报关员注册应当具备的条件。
下列属于序时平均数的是()。
信贷资金的运动过程被称为二重支付、二重归流形式的价值运动。其中,“二重支付”指的是()。
下列各项中,属于同定资产减值测试时预计其未来现金流量不应考虑的因素有()。
根据营业税法律制度的规定,下列各项中,不属于营业税征税范围的是()。
设函数f(x)在(一∞,+∞)内连续,其中二阶导数f’’(x)的图形如图所示,则曲线y=f(x)的拐点的个数为()个。
最新回复
(
0
)