Antikkens jordbrukskvinne: komparativ undersøking av kvinna si rolle i det antikke greske jordbruket sett frå litterære og arkeologiske kjelder

Abstract

Denne masteroppgåva utforskar kvinna si rolle i det antikke jordbruket, hovudsakleg med utgangspunkt i dei greske forfattarane Hesiod og Xenofon, og seinare blir desse perspektiva samanlikna med arkeologisk kjeldemateriale i form av vasemåleri. Begge forfattarane gjev ei noko tradisjonell og avgrensa syn på kvinnenes roller, med fokus på deira plikter og arbeid innanfor heimen og familien. Greske vasemåleri viser ei meir aktiv rolle for kvinner i jordbruksarbeid enn dei greske forfattarane gjer, og med dette kjem det fram ein meir nyansert forståing av kvinnene sine roller. Gjennom arkeologisk materiale som keramikk og vasar, ser ein kvinner i jordbruksaktivitetar som innhausting og prosessering av jordbruksprodukt, og knytar kvinnene til jordbrukssamfunnet på ein måte som dei litterære tekstane ikkje gjer. Samanlikningar med liknande jordbrukssamfunn tyder også på at den litterære framstillinga av kvinner i stor grad er basert på eit bilete av den ideelle kvinna framfor den faktiske arbeidande kvinna i jordbruket. Ved å kombinere ulike typar kjeldemateriale, er det mogleg å konstruere ei meir omfattande forståing av kvinnenes liv i antikken, og resultata antydar at kvinna truleg spelte ei større og viktigare rolle i jordbruket enn tidlegare antatt.

This master thesis explores the role of women in ancient agriculture, drawing primarily from the perspective of the Ancient Greek authors Hesiod and Xenophon, and later on these perspectives are compared to archaeological source material in the form of vase paintings. Both authors provide a somewhat traditional and limited view on women’s roles, focusing on their duties and work within the household and family. Xenophon presents a slightly more positive view of women´s economic contributions and emphasizes their importance in household management. However, even in Xenophon´s description of women, they are confined to a narrow sphere which primarily was within the household. Hesiod’s portrayal is more restrictive, depicting women mainly as caretakers of the household, the family, and children, with less emphasis on their participation in production and economic activities. Despite Hesiod´s largely negative view on women, the author does acknowledge women´s involvement in agricultural tasks, including household chores and farming activities, albeit with a misogynistic tone. Both of these Greek authors makes a distinction and highlights the difference between free and non-free women. The free women are mostly confined to household duties while non-free women, such as slaves and servants, are more active and involved in agricultural work outside the household. However, not every farmstead, especially the smaller farms, were able to keep slaves. All family members, including free women, most likely participated in agricultural labor due to the necessity of utilizing available labor without the means to hire help. Greek vase paintings also showcases a more active women in agricultural labor than the Greek authors do, and with this a more nuanced understanding of women's roles emerges. Various vase paintings showcases women in agricultural activities such as harvest and the processing of agricultural products, all connecting the women to the agricultural world in a way the literary text does not show. Comparisons with similar agricultural societies also suggests that the literary representation on women are more based on a picture of the ideal women than on the actual working women. By combining different types of evidence to fill the holes each source material leaves us with, it is possible to construct a more comprehensive understanding of women's lives in ancient times. Resulting with a conclusion that women likely played a more significant role in ancient agriculture than what is usually assumed.