The woman’s position in the Byzantine society
(EN)
Kokkori, Vasiliki
(EN)
ntua
(EL)
The Dream symbols belong to a particular symbol group.
Today, in Byzantine literature there have been preserved twelve Dreambooks which provide a large number of information for a variety of topics. Among them is the position of women in Roman and Byzantine society. Many of these Dream symbols are associated with the wider Mediterranean world in a primordial relation with social and cultural conations. Especially those which are connected with references to animals/birds(donkey, cat, crow, swallow, etc.) and plants/trees( grapevine, laurel, olive, cypress, etc.)
The study of these symbols provides data on the position of women in the paternal and in the marital life. There are topics about marriage, child bearing, marital relationship, divorce, widowhood etc. Furthermore, very important is the information for the enslaved women and prostitutes. Apart from the information about the women’s private life, the dream symbols’ examination provides data for a controversial issue: The public presence of woman and especially her relationship with authorities (power).
(EN)
