Women in Ancient Greece

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Informative
Review: I used this book for a study abroad trip to Greece and it was excellent. I found the book not only interesting, but informative. I really got an understanding of the status of women in ancient Greece. The author has covered a lot of information in this book and has done it in a very readable and enjoyable way. I highly recommend it. I still pick it up occassionally and read a chapter here and there. I can't say enough good things about it. It would be great to use in the classroom or to read on one's own. Wonderful book! 5 stars!

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and well written account
Review: You wouldn't think anyone could come up with a new or original idea for a book about ancient Greece, but actually, this book comes close in its focus on the treatment of women. Blundell's book is well-written, scholarly, and even includes the occasionally humorous (and possibly apocryphal) story. For example, there is a section in which she discusses the punishments for adultery. According to Athenian law, a husband had the right to kill a man caught in the act of adultery with his wife. However, the law also allowed the dead man's family to sue the aggrieved man for damages, so it's suspected that very few men actually availed themselves of this right, and perhaps opted for other choices, such as payment for damages, and so on. There is even mentioned the punishment of "radishment," which is "to have a large radish stuffed up one's anus." I kid you not. Well, this piece of information comes from the satiric playwright Aeschylus, who mentions it in one of his plays, and so is perhaps the product of the writer's over-active imagination. But whether this was actually part of the law or not, I found this to be a well-written, scholarly, and occasionally humorous account of life in ancient Greece.