Prompt 2

                                                              Back to Old Ways

     Aristotle's view on women honestly surprised me. After being taught from Plato, another famous Greek philosopher, I assumed he would share his idea of a more advanced way of living than what was used to be seen in ancient times. It seemed to me as if Aristotle held onto the past of how were. Plato's view reminds me much of the present. The women in this era are very independent and seem more equal to me more than ever before in history. I do, however, understand Aristotle's thoughts on women. In ancient times, women were, in fact, seen as only wives and bearers of children. This old way of thinking prevents women from becoming independent and we see time and time again in history that it took a long time for women to be recognized for more than just wives of men.

     The one philosopher that stood out to me was Plato, Aristotle's teacher himself. He had an advanced way of thinking; it was a way that was never seen before. He focused on how people act and feel and what should be most important to him. He believed that women were, in fact, equal to men because they both have human reason. Plato describes parts of the human body into the classes of people needed to build an ideal society. In all classes he believed that they corresponded with the three most important virtues in life: courage, temperance, and wisdom. Since both men and women have human reason, he believes that all should be able to work on those three virtues, thus proving both men and women are needed in society.

     In the time period of all the philosophers mentioned in this novel, women were not perceived in the same way as men. With the exception of Plato and some others, most had ideas similar to Aristotle that women were only good for taking care of their men, children, and homes. Men were viewed in a higher spotlight than women. This honestly hurt the ancient civilizations because just like Plato explained, women can bring as much human reason as men can. The gaining of power for women just did not come soon enough for the ancient philosophy era.