A crítica às mulheres no fr. 7 de Semónides de Amorgos

Abstract

Semonides of Amorgos’ poem on women (Fr. 7 West) is the longest extant fragment of iambic archaic Greek poetry. In it, the poet unfolds a pessimistic and misogynistic reflection on female character, resorting to an original narrative form that catalogues ten types of women, eight based on animal models (the sow, the fox, the bitch, the female donkey, the weasel, the mare, the female monkey and the bee) and two inspired by elements of nature (the earth and the sea). In this paper, we intend to show that this typological classification was innovative and pursued a twofold purpose peculiar to this kind of poetry, both satirical and humouristic. Since the poem would be intended for a sympotic context, a typically masculine space, woman and female nature would constitute a theme that would lead man to reflect in both a serious and an amusing way about his own condition.