History 50H Research Paper

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Anzhelika Kostyuk
Dr. Gregory
History 50H
December 18, 2014

The Freedom to Obey

Hellenism,1 an influence that ancient Jews struggled with for years, greatly impacted
those that allowed their traditional Jewish history to be modified. When the question of how
much Hellenism each of the Jews would allow to integrate with their culture came up, some gave
in to the temptation of assimilation to Greek and Roman life while others would not enable
foreign ideas and rituals to enter their extremely pious lives. As time went on, various Jew
clusters scattered throughout the area known as the Asia Minor including, but not limited to areas
such as Palestine. Because of the diaspora2 that took place from around 586 BC to 135 AD, some
of the Jews were affected by Hellenism whereas others held on to their culture with fervor. Those
who lived among a variety of cultures, deeper in the Diaspora, further from Judea, were more
likely to allow the Hellenism around them to become integrated with their Jewish culture. Yet,
even those not directly under its influence had to carefully debate how to respond and how much
1 Hellenism was the period of time from 323BC to 31BC. Beginning in 323BC with Alexander
the Great's death and ending in 31 BC with the Roman conquest of the last Hellenistic kingdom.
It refers to the period of time when the Greek culture was widely spread and Greek colonization
occurred. Greek cultural influence in Europe, Asia, and Africa peaked during this time in areas
such as the arts, literature, theatre, etc.

2 The Diaspora refers to the region throughout which the Jews scattered among other cultures
outside of Judea between 323BC and 31BC, the period of influence of Hellenism.

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Hellenism they would allow to mix into their traditional Jewish culture. With the arrival of
Hellenistic influences on the Jewish culture, women were given a higher status than they held
under their traditional Jewish culture.The majority of the Jewish population, with the exception
of a few select, viewed women as more influential and respectable than ever before. Hellenism
gave women a greater heightened sense of equality rather than their ritual Jewish customs. In the
spheres of the home, the market, and even religion, the integration of Hellenism into the Jewish
way of life of those in the Diaspora was, in a way, the earliest form of liberation for Jewish
women.
Hellenistic law, a mixture of Greek and Roman law the majority being Greek, was the
remnant of the law set by Alexander the Great's Empire. Succeeding his death, many of the areas
conquered under his rule continued to be dominated by the predominantly Greek culture set by
him. Hellenistic law afforded Jewish women more protection than they were offered under their
previous Jewish laws3. Under Jewish law, a woman's sole guardian was her father until the age of
12. After the age of 12, there were no laws protecting them. In essence, they were non-existent,
simply an extra hand to help take care of the home and the property. Up until Jewish women
were married off, they received no extra guarding under Mosaic law, and even when they were
married off, they had very little security through the law. Women were mainly valued for their
labor in previous Judean times, which is why their fathers were given donkeys and other gifts at
engagement. The labor their fathers would be losing had to be compensated through collateral.
Under Hellenistic law, a woman was "subject to guardians throughout her life in accordance with

3 Jewish law was the traditional Mosaic law intermixed with the culture that assimilated over
time. It was written in the Bible as well as known throughout the Jewish culture.

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the customs prevalent in Greece,"4 which reveals that the Jewish culture was assimilating to
Hellenism. It could also be an indicator that women were seen as more valuable than before in
Jewish civilizations. Greek laws protected women by giving them not only rights and freedoms,
but also by guaranteeing that the men, fathers or husbands, in their lives with continue to be their
guardians. Women were given more value under Hellenistic laws. That which is valuable, is
protected vehemently. Whereas before women were simply passed on from their fathers to their
husbands to regulate as they saw fit, under Hellenistic law, women were protected.
Along with increased guardianship, women were also enabled to protect themselves
through the increased flexibility of the laws regarding women in the Hellenistic lifestyle. There is
evidence that "the life of a Jewish woman [in the Diaspora] bore closer resemblance to that of the
Greek woman than to that of the Jewish woman in Palestine5,"6 from 300 BC to 100 BC. We see
evidence of this, such as women being allowed to own as well as inherit land. Women were not
allowed to own land under Jewish law; if a woman's husband passed away, their land would go
to her son or the closest male relative. There is proof of Jewish women owning land under
Hellenistic law such as "A tax record that names ten Jewish landowners in the locale and four of
them are women."7 Evidence of women in business is also insinuated in texts such as one in

4 Tcharikov Victor, Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews (Philadelphia: Magnes Press, 1959) 350.

5 Palestine is the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan. It is mentioned because
that is the area in which Judea was located and in which the majority of Jews lived.

6 Tcharikov 350.

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which a woman named Sarah was making a deal about a loan.8 Before Hellenistic times, a
woman making any deal or working in business was completely unheard of under the Jewish
customs. Women having any affairs regarding finances was a completely modern idea
blossoming from the Hellenism of the Jews.
Educational opportunities for women increased with Hellenism as well around 160 BC
with the acceptance of Jews into Greek institutions. Philosophers such as Hipparchia who fell in
love with the teachings of Crates, a well known teacher/philosopher9 in 370 BC, became more
common with the increase of Hellenistic influences on Jewish women. She fell for his words and
refused any suitors who came to her. Crates and Hipparchia were betrothed and married when
she agreed to take on his minimalistic lifestyle. Hipparchia's disobedience would have been
abhorred and she might even have been killed according to past Jewish laws, but in Hellenistic
times, she was tolerated. Stepping out of her rightful place as the obedient housewife, Hipparchia
ventured into the land of education and knowledge. She did not rely on her husband for
knowledge, though she did religiously listen to his teachings. Hipparchia and other Hellenized
Jewish women who received an education were able to read and deal with finances.
But while there are a few examples such as these about the freedom of females to own
land and make financial transactions, the clear cut roles of males superioriority still existed. It

7 Vandor, Christine,
http://www.academia.edu/3674865/Jewish_Women_and_the_influence_of_Hellenism_during_G
reco-Roman_period 13.

8 Vandor 13.

9 Nagle 318.

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was simply less enforced. One of the only ways women were allowed to "act out" against a man
was in the case of divorce. The influence of Hellenism in the Jewish home was evident through
"A wife's right to divorce because of her husband's sexual misbehavior,"10 as opposed to the past,
when a woman was never allowed to divorce her husband, even though men were allowed to
divorce their wives. This is a clear indication of greater equality between Jewish men and women
under the influence of Hellenistic law than under the traditional Jewish law. This greater equality
allowed women more control in their lives at home. It was also one of the only ways that women
dared to defy their husbands. They, for the most part, held onto their traditionally submissive
views.They always took care of household affairs such as feeding all those who presided in their
homes and taking care of the home, but everything before was simply in support of their
husbands. With Hellenism, women no longer "belonged" to the man their father gave them away
to until death. Only under the circumstance that their husband was unfaithful were they allowed
to divorce him, yet this in itself offered women much more protection than before. According to
Jewish laws, women could not divorce men for any reason, which meant that once she was given
to a man, she belonged to him. Because of this, women generally lacked the power to take care
of themselves in any way if their husband was failing to do so.
Pre-Hellenism, women were banned from participating in any religious ceremonies. With
the political and social freedom that Hellenism afforded them, women, especially those raised in

10 Nagle, D. Brendan, Readings in Greek History. (New York, Oxford University Press, 2014)
314.

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elite families, were allowed to take part in religion through various means.11 A rare example of a
woman with religious influence is Rufina, whose inscription from Smyrna reads:
"'Rufina, a Jewess, head of the synagogue, built this tomb for her freed slaves and the
slaves raised in her household. No one else has the right to bury anyone[here]. Anyone who dares
to do [so] will pay 1500 denaria to the sacred treasury and 1000 denaria to the Jewish people. A
copy of this inscription has been placed in the [public] archives'. There is no mention of a male
patron, and she appears to be both socially and financially independent."12
For women of this time, as uncommon as it was to be socially and financially
independent, it was a possibility which says a lot in itself. Before, women were unable to take
part in religion, relying on their husbands for their own salvation. Religion had, for centuries,
been a sphere of life dominated completely by men. Judaism especially exemplifies this. With
the Hellenism of the Jews, not only were women given more protection, but they were allowed
into the sphere that had for so long been completely dominated by men. Most women depended
on the men in their households for religious teachings since women couldn't even read: there was
no opportunity for them to engage in religion.
Queen Alexandra, ruler of Israel around 76 BC, is a another extraordinary example of
women's liberation in the fields of religion and status during the Hellenistic period. She was not
of royal blood, but married the crown prince. When her husband, Judah Aristobulus, died of a
hemorrhage on top of a fatal illness in 66 BC, she released his three brothers from jail,

11 Vandor 2.

12 Vandor 14.

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appointing Alexander Jannai as king.13 He married the childless widow, in accordance with
Jewish law. Alexandra was a Pharisee, a religious group to whom Jannai was unspeakably cruel,
even crucifying hundreds at a time. His actions did nothing but increase the extreme instability in
the Jewish government, which was facing turmoil between two religious groups: the Pharisees
and the Sadducees.14
Before dying of debilitating fever, Jannai appointed his wife, Alexandra, as head of the
government. The fragile government that she took over was first stabilized by her reassurance of
her future policy towards the Pharisees. She convinced them to even give the late king a proper
burial before releasing hundreds who were imprisoned by Jannai.15 Not only was Alexandra the
second queen to ever rule the Jews (Athalia, daughter of Jezebel being the first), she also
liberated the Pharisees and became extremely powerful in foreign affairs as well as at home.16
Those who were liberated by her found a respect for her which was not generally known to
women in earlier time periods.
However both Rufina and Alexandra acted in the proper way for a woman according to
Mosaic law and Jewish tradition. They both presided over their household affairs and took care
of those living in their homes. On top of that, they were always obedient to their husband. When
13 Fink Greta, Great Jewish women: profiles of courageous women from the Maccabean period
to the present (New York: Menorah Pub Company, 1978) 4.

14 Pharisees believed in traditional Jewish oral law as well as written law. Sadducees believed
in written Jewish, Mosaic law along. Opposition between them arose around 115 BC.

15 Fink 4.

16 Fink 4.

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the Pharisees were being persecuted by her husband, Alexandra dared not argue. While she did
protect Pharisees that he would've captured, Alexandra did nothing to publicly defy her husband.
The limited amount that is written about Jewish women in Hellenistic times could
indicate one of two things; they were not important enough to do anything worth writing about or
women were not seen as threat and therefore men didn't feel the need to specifically write about
them. The tone though, in which manuscripts were written about women, were adverse to the
newfound liberties that they enjoyed with Hellenism. This probably indicates that the second
idea is contrary to the truth. This also indicates that while women did have newfound freedoms
with the mergence of Hellenism into their culture, they did not use their newfound freedoms to
gain power against men. They appreciated the freedom, but stuck to their traditional ways as
well, respectfully submissive. There are a few works by men who were outraged that Jewish
women had any freedoms at all. These works were also predominantly published by men like
Philo, a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher living in first century Alexandria from 25 BC to 50 AD,
who believed that women were getting out of hand and needed to be put back into their place of
submissive obedience.
"Philo resisted the influence of his Egyptian environment and viewed women as
inferior and evil creatures. Their proper place was in seclusion and in subordination to
men, ruled by father or husband. He believed that man was led by reason and woman by
sensuality. Influenced by the spirit-matter dichotomy of neo-platonism, he viewed sex,
which involved contact with matter, as evil. Spiritual man, according to Philo, did well to
avoid contact with sensual woman." 17
17 M. Tetlow Elisabeth Women and Ministry in the New Testament (New Jersey: Paulist Press,
1980) 29.

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Philo was very set in his opinions of women being below men in status, yet with his ideas
of female inferiority, even Philo believed that women should receive some education. He didn't
believe that women and men should get equal educational opportunities, but that women should
not be forbidden from any education. Even those who were completely against hellenization and
the liberation of women agreed that women should be educated.
The inferiority of women is most clearly accentuated through writers such as Philo
declaring those who are "free from all participation in and from all influence of passion, [to be]
completely happy."18 As this passage implies, it was still common to generalize women as
weaker to men, categorizing them with a completely negative connotation. In his allegory of a
creation story, Philo writes that God created a genderless being. This being was then separated
into those with reason/logic and those led by emotion. Women were those led by emotion,
leading men away from reason.19 He does write of two groups of women in a positive light: those
who have never had sexual relations with a man and those who had gone through menopause.
Both groups were viewed as close to masculine as women can achieve. Therefore, in Philo's
mind, they were more respectable than other women. Yet, even though these women were placed
in a positive light because of their "masculinity," women who tried to act in ways reserved
strictly for men were looked down on. Jewish women had a certain mold that the Torah, Dead
Sea Scrolls, and other Jewish laws shaped for them. Those who, in any way, did not fit the mold
were regarded as detestable.

18 Judaeus, philo: cornerstonepublications.org: 2008 1.

19 Judaeus 1.

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During this era, writers such as Philo witnessed women who were, in his opinion,
stepping out of their place. Another such writer was Ben Sira, who went so far as to exclude
women from reading the Torah from 200 BC to 175 BC.20 In his writings, he attempts to protect
women from falling into the trap of feminism, that is, more freedom and equality than Jewish
women were allowed before Hellenism. Both writers exemplify Eve in the book of Genesis as
proof of women's adulterated nature. Hellenism, in their eyes, was the downfall of man, giving
women the power to weaken their men through emotion and lust. Since, according to the book of
Genesis in the Bible, sin initially entered the world because Eve, the first woman, sinned, women
were generally seen as the sex that was less resistant to sin, the sex that was tainted and needed
to be held back.
Every cultural movement includes defiance amongst those who rule the traditional world.
Hellenism's effect on Jewish women was no different. There were those opposed to it, but there
were also many taking advantage of it, including women such as Alexandra and Rufina. The
Diaspora took Jews out of their comfort zone and forced them to assimilate to new ideas. Those
who allowed Hellenism to alter their lifestyles found themselves faced with protected women
who were allowed to make a difference when necessary, yet generally stayed in the place of the
obedient woman. Once the Romans defeated the last of the Hellenized states in 31 BC, the Jews
slowly began returning to their own cultural traditions. The effects of Hellenism lingered with
those in the Diaspora though. While Jewish women and men once again followed the Mosaic
Jewish laws, women continued to be held in a more equal view than before. This is evident
through the increased amount of women mentioned in historical texts such as the Bible.

20 Vandor 10.

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Hellenism overall had a powerful effect on the lives and the status' of Jewish women from 323
BC to 31 BC.

Bibliography

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Fink, Greta. Great Jewish women: profiles of courageous women from the Maccabean
to the present. New York: Menorah Pub. Co., 1978.
Judaeus. Philo: cornerstonepublications.org: 2008.
M. Tetlow Elisabeth Women and Ministry in the New Testament (New Jersey: Paulist
Press, 1980).
Nagle, D. Brendan. Readings in Greek History. (New york, Oxford University Press,
2014).
Tcherikover, Victor and Eric, Simon Applebaum. Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews ...
Translated by S. Applebaum. Pp. vii. 566. Philadelphia: Magnes Press, 1959.
Vandor, Christine. http://www.academia.edu/3674865/Jewish_Women_and_the_influ
ence_of_Hellenism_during_Greco-Roman_period.

period