Chapter Donne lavoratrici nell’antichità

Abstract

The paper examines some "scenarios" or theoretical frames of reference, within which there are very different - if not even opposite - readings of the nexus between ἔργον and γυνή. After some remarks of a methodological nature, concerning the scarcity of sources and the need to take into account, on the one hand, a very complex and stratified socio-economic framework and. on the other hand, a general idealization of female work, the contribution unfolds along the following areas of reflection: the home as the perimeter of women's work; the general disdain for women's work vs the appreciation of the intelligence and the industriousness of working women; the work as a remedy for female idleness.