Archaic age in Greek Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Archaic age in Greek Society - Essay Example The literacy has been spread slowly, which has been lost in dark ages. As a result, the democracy blossomed by the end of archaic age, though there is instability in the society. The most important fact that needs attention regarding the activities of archaic age is regarding the change in the way Greeks constructed their world. The reconstruction includes laws and customs as well as themselves. The above mentioned reconstruction in archaic age has made Greeks unique and different from the people of other parts of Europe. Though there is frustration in the society during this period, it has witnessed gradual changes in all walks of life of Greek society (Carol Dougherty, Leslie Kurke, 2007).1 In the period between Hesiod and Persian, which is known as archaic age, women did develop themselves literally and challenged men in poetry and writing. N.S. Gill (2009) quotes about Sappho who defeated the great Pindar in verse competition five times and these marks the era of advance of women when compared to that of dark ages, when there is no such situation. Artemisia of Halicarnassus was taken as threat by Greeks and they offered a bounty on her head and this gives the instance of prominence, the women got in archaic age, which is in contrast with that of women in dark ages. The contrast is that the women in dark ages do not have that much prominence and used to be treated as things of physical beauty like Helen of Troy. However, Gill claims the evidence regarding women is from Athens and states that in case of middle class and lower classes of society, the women is treated as a liability. The same thing though may be true in case of dark ages, only the evidence regarding wome n as pleasure thing were popular. Though the women are treated as liability, there existed some sort of opportunities and to own property in Sparta and to participate in trade activities. Another important aspect that's a reason to treat a woman as liability in family is the burden of paying dowry and this context is not well observed previously. As it is a convention in archaic age for women to marry a man of older age than her, the lower status when compared to men is clear. However, Priestesses and Prostitutes used to wield power in some contexts (N.S.Gill, (2009).2 Comparison of Situation in Dark Age to Archaic Age Hence, it is clear that the political situation in the society is reason for any development. In contrast to above mentioned activities of women in archaic age, the Dark Age witnessed local conflicts, economic disruptions and movements of peoples between 1200 BC to 1000 BC. As a result Mycenaean civilisation in Greece has been destroyed and thus cities were weakened as well as the kingdoms based on them. The situation is not that much worse in archaic age as it witnessed the rise of women and it is possible with reasonable tranquillity and peace for an extended period of time. Another important contrast between Dark Age and archaic age is that, not many records are available regarding the situation of dark ages, but in case of archaic age,