Eastern queens in light of herodotos'historia

ABSTRACT Institution, Institute, Department : Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University, Institute of Social Sciences, : Department of History Thesis Title : Eastern Queens in Light of Herodotos'Historia Thesis Author : Elif Demirtok Thesis Adviser : Assoc. Prof. Ayşen Sina Type of Thesis ,Year : MS Thesis, 2024 Total Number of Pages : 86 The work titled 'Historia' by Herodotos, who lived in the 5th century BC, is one of the most important sources of the ancient period and consists of nine chapters. Herodotos discussed various topics in his work, from the Greek-Persian wars to the ancient culture of Egypt, from the ethnic groups of Asia to the structure of the Persian Empire. Each book is devoted to different countries, peoples and topics. However, they are not limited to wars, but also talk about gender issues, especially queens, which will form the perspective of our field of study. Herodotos' thoughts about women are quite interesting because he is the first history writer to distinguish myths and stories from one another. In ancient Greece, women took care of domestic affairs and their families, while men were responsible for protecting their homes and representing their families in the political community. The vast majority of his sources are oral and taken from the entire Mediterranean basin; therefore, his views on women reflect not only the social debates of a particular Greek state or its concerns at a particular time, but also a more general outlook. Herodotos talks about the consequences of kings abusing the power given by political authority and explains in detail how kings tend to see their wives as their property, and the plans that queens made, whose honor has been trampled, by using their power to get out of these situations. Queens are extraordinary figures who act professionally and address issues on behalf of their country, rather than seeing the war as their own personal matter. These queens showed their presence in a field that was thought to belong only to men, such as making war, and challenged the male-dominated world with their courage, management skills and ability to use diplomacy. Cultural history and gender studies help us better understand the historical identity of women, by aiming to offer new opportunities in examining the intersocietal status of women, especially of ruling women, in ancient times. Our aim is to show the eastern queens in Herodotos' work and their diplomatic and political activities through the female representations of the period and the differences in the social situations adopted for women in the ancient world. Herodotos' work shows how women were represented in various situations and that in the ancient world, there were various social practices for women. Herodotos, unlike other writers, found non-Greek traditions valuable and interesting and even praised those he saw as positive. In his work, he talked not only about states and political events, but also about Greek women and the women and queens of the eastern peoples, whom he described as barbarians. Key Words: Wars, Gender, Queens, Diplomacy, Politics.