Jealousy in Ancient Greek Society :: Greek History Studies

Jealousy in Ancient Greek Society Jealousy is one of the harsher and more passionate faces of erotic love in Ancient Greek Society. societal norms for love and bloods dictate that older manpower are the lovers who pursue women and young boys. cope infects the pursuer and causes him to have intense feelings about the object of his desire, but non always vice versa. Consequently jealousy is seen more as the active partners disease and is commonly associated as a male emotion. Women likewise experience jealousy but they are not supposed to be the pursuers in relationships according to societal norms. Since society only excuses the pursuer in the relationship acting on jealous impulses, a women doing so was improper because she was not supposed to be the active partner in the relationship. Hence jealousy was lots more widely accepted as a mans disease. By examining the views of society in The Women of Trachis and the Legal Text VIII, Wounding with Intent to m assacre Quarrel over a boy, on love as a sickness, controlling jealousy, and how to win back a lost love, we can conclude that Loves face of jealousy in Ancient Greek society appears to only be accepted as a predominately male emotion. Society excuses umteen of mens jealous and irrational actions because of the widely held belief that Love effects men like a sickness. In The Women of Trachis, Deianira continually excuses her husbands actions, blaming his outrageous whole kit on him being poisoned by Love. When Heracles attacked a city so that he could win his mistress, Deianira blames Love for rousing him to such hysteria. She thinks that it is love alone which bewitched him into this violence(355). She has also justified all his past affairs with this same theory. Deianira mentions that Heracles is sick as he so often is with this same sickness(543) of love. Society has allowed men to use Love as an excuse for their outrageous actions as well as the legitima te reasoning behind their deeds. Deianira also expresses societys view on Loves power when she says, For Love rules even the gods as he pleases(443).