JC Dunsmore Bennett

Women as Queen Bees in Antiquity

Women in antiquity: a topic scarcely studied and, in many accounts, misunderstood. While the study of women in antiquity is only just now beginning to gain momentum, it has the ability to provide connections not only to the ancient societies of the Mediterranean and to the marginalized daily life of women within the patriarchy, but to issues of modern feminism. Within the city-states of ancient Athens and Rome, women were undoubtedly an integral component of social unity, and the vital importance of their central and organizational role inside the busy structure of a given household provides a context for the success of entire city-states. I will therefore be looking at the head woman/wife within the average household in antiquity and likening her to a queen bee in a hive. For the purpose of this discussion, imagine each household as a hive filled with workers and drones (often, in antiquity, slaves), presided over by the foremost woman as queen bee. While this analogy appears to stumble when taking into account the head man/husband within each respective household (commonly referred to as paterfamilias [in Rome] and kyrios [in Greece]), I have decided to liken this central male figure to the beekeeper. Like a beekeeper, the man is dependent on the success of the hive, but is not as influential within the hive as the queen bee herself.