Women who were victims of female violence in Ancient Hellenic mythology

Mythology is among the most important sources for understanding the life stories and perspectives of people who lived in the past. At the same time, the propaganda notes that the writers and statesmen of the period wanted to convey to the public were imposed on the society through myths. Starting from the Sumerians, the first known civilization, the myth tradition that we encountered and the pantheon that was created caused the formation of similar stories and people in different geographies. We often encounter similar stories, heroes and figures in the societies that existed in the Old World. Heroes think about the survival of the society, the soil is fertile as long as the god and goddess is worshipped properly, and creation definitely happens with the touch of a woman. Historically, light rises from the east (Iux ex oriente), that is, the first civilizations are eastern civilizations. Therefore, the myth tradition first developed in the east. The representative of the west is the Hellenic society and geography. Hellas is not limited to today's Greece in terms of geography. Especially with the Hellenistic Age; it is used to describe the lands extending from India in the east to Iberia in the west. The Hellenic chronology is divided into five as the Heroic, Dark, Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic Ages. In this chronology; historical events, borders, geography, climate, demography etc. have changed, and continuous changes have been observed in society and women's ideas under the influence of these events. In the period known as the Heroic Age, the Minoan Civilization appears. In the archaeological sources obtained regarding this early period people, women have the image of a modern Parisian woman. The Minoan society is not a warrior society, their rich and peaceful lives reveal that they are an egalitarian society. We do not encounter any work or discrimination between men and women. Second resident of the area Mycenaeans are heroic heroes who were the subject of Homer's epics. The concept of women changed considerably in the Mycenaean Period. Humanity, which was introduced to brute force, seems to have established a new world where women should be loyal and stay at home, and men should be womanizers but bring money to their homes. Women should not be creatures that cheat on their husbands, run away and cause disasters like Helen of Lacedaemonia. Instead of Helen, they should be loyal to their husbands like Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, stay at home and have eyes for no one but her husband. These norms appear as unwritten rules in the Hellenic world in the following period. Hesiod, who was the successor of Homer, had a much more ugly perception of women, and women were shown as creatures that were a disaster for humanity. Pandora and her story, which were accepted by the society, reveal the change of women who were once seen as mother earth and considered sacred. The tragic background of the Dark Age seems to have caused women to be confined to the home even more. The great wave of migration caused by the Sea Peoples: displaced tribes, great empires collapsed, strong empires weakened. Such a chaotic environment was only recovered after about three hundred years. The result of the increase in brute force was irreversible. In the Dark Ages, women were confined to living within their oikos (οἶκος). Weaving, motherhood and housewifery were among the professions and duties of noble women. The woman, who was confined to the house called the oikos, continued her life under the control of the head called kyrios (κύριος). A woman who moved from one oikos to another due to marriage had to obey the rules and religion of the new oikos. In other words, a woman who got married changed her religion in an absurd way. An example of history consisting of a cause-effect relationship is; the establishment of the Hellen poleis (πόλις), the colonization movement created as a result of the raw material needs of these poleis, then the production of coins and the birth of the aristocratic class are historical examples related to each other. Of course, this newly born rich class opposed the kings; the basileuses (βασιλεύς) of the period were dethroned and renewal movements within the state began. This process is known in Hellenic history as the democratization process. Women do not take part in any part of this movement, because in Hellas, demos (δῆμος), meaning people, means: a free man who has reached the age of eighteen. While the struggle for democracy continues between the rich and the poor; men known as legislators (νομοθέτης) make laws at certain intervals. The first written laws of the Hellenic people appear in a late period, such as the Archaic Age. Women who were not accepted in society were not mentioned in the new written laws either. There was only a regulation regarding the clothing of prostitutes called hetaira (ἑταίρα), this order, which basically showed women as disconnected from the public, now tries to show women as disconnected from women. There were many policemen, large and small, in the Hellenic geography. Although they shared the same culture, they preferred to be defenseless against external dangers by fighting instead of uniting and establishing a powerful empire. Sparta and Athens are at the forefront of these policemen. Both policemen draw attention with their different educational and social structures. While education in Sparta was compulsory, provided by the state and not subject to gender discrimination, in Athens, education was provided by families and only rich men could access. Although Spartan women were more free, the education they received was ultimately to ensure that they would be good mothers. The growing Persian threat in the East was among the problems of the Classical Age. While the policemen sometimes fought together against the Persians, sometimes they joined the war on the Persians' side, and the Hellenic policemen lost power to a large extent. At the end of the period, when the two poleis were caught in a great war that lasted for more than thirty years, the Kingdom of Macedonia emerged from this weakness, shouldering the Hellenic heritage and introducing it to the world. In fact, the unification that the poleis could not achieve would take place in the Hellenistic Age. The Old World conquered by Alexander III (Αλέξανδρος Γʹ ὁ Μακεδών) was the means for the meeting of Hellenic culture and Eastern cultures. The common culture that dominated this vast geography, that is, the entire known world, was the means for the emancipation of Hellenic women. Women, who were assigned to work branches that were seen as men's jobs due to the effects of wars, became artists, writers, doctors and even rulers. In Hellenic mythology, women are evaluated within the pantheon created by male writers such as Homer and Hesiod. History is written by the winners. Of course, the winners of Hellenic society are men. When Homer discusses the loyal woman; he gives the example of Penelope who waited for her husband for twenty years. Hesiod attributes the cause of wars and all evil to a woman, Pandora, and her box. Mother Earth has been weakened and patriarchal thinking has gained. Women appear before us as characters who only harm their fellow women, such as the nagging Hera, the warrior Athena and the ill-tempered Artemis. Hera, jealous of her husband, has committed violence against his lovers, collaborators and the children of Zeus. Athena has punished women who are more beautiful and talented than her. Artemis, on the other hand, has mercilessly punished those who mocked her power and messed with her loved ones. The people these women punished were never masculine characters, they always showed their power over weak women. This absurd idea that portrays the muscular strength of men as a symbol of patriarchy, a goddess targeting a mortal woman or a woman who has a lower position than her and rising from her shoulders, are nothing more than absurd texts read in the lines of a man.