• In the Republic, arguably his most famous work, Plato attempts to define justice. To do so, he and those in his company construct a hypothetical society. It is in the fifth book of this that he expounds on the roles of women in this city. He raises some points about women that were certainly very controversial at the time. He suggests that women should receive an education and hold offices as the men would do, because that would be very beneficial to the constructed city. Despite the feminist implications of the previous, he still believes that one sex is weaker than the other. It is these two seemingly conflicting points that I wish to address in this paper.

    The fifth book of the Republic deals extensively with the roles of women and children in the hypothetical city designed in the previous chapters. The argument central to this paper is a question regarding the capabilities and quality of females taking on roles in this republic that most ancient Greeks would consider male jobs. At the start of the argument, Socrates, is challenged by those in his company to discuss women in this community. Socrates himself mentions that this will bring up a whole swarm of arguments and discussions that he had somewhat uncharacteristically been avoiding. However, his companions convince him to expand on his statement and so he does. He has doubts that what he proposes will be best or, in fact, even feasible, and he fears that he is missing the truth. Socrates believes that it is worse to mislead than to accidentally kill. Nevertheless, his discussions on the role of women in this society begin.

    Socrates begins with an analogy of watchdogs in comparison to the human sexes. In contrast with Athenian women at that point in history, the females of that species are expected to guard right along with the males instead of delegating the job to solely one sex. One of Socrates’ companions states that the two sexes of dogs are alike in most aspects, except that he treats “the females as weaker and the males as stronger.” Socrates then asks if it is possible to use two creatures for the same tasks if one lacks the education and nurturing that the other possesses, and the companion affirms that it is not. Thus, they come to the conclusion that if the women will hold the position of guardians, then they must be afforded the same education in culture and gymnastics as the men. Socrates remarks that what they propose would sound ridiculous to most of their contemporaries, especially the women practicing gymnastics. At that time, it was the custom for men to exercise in the nude: in fact, that was how the ancient Olympic games were held. He recognizes that many would have snide comments to say about women practicing like this, but states that remarks like that should be ignored. Socrates raises the question of whether females are capable of all tasks males have, or perhaps just a few of them. He believes that there is a great difference between men and women, and that he still believes that the two sexes should follow the same pursuits. He asks if there is anything in which males don’t best females, and his companion says that there isn’t. Socrates concludes then that women are general are weaker than males, but they still have natural ability and it would be a shame for all duties of the state to be assigned to one sex. I find Socrates’ reasoning here rather curious. In this book, he acknowledges that women are perfectly capable of having the same jobs as men if they are given the proper education, but here he backtracks on that statement a bit. While he states that, for example, guardian men and women have the same natures, one sex is weaker than the other.# It is possible that he was merely talking about physical abilities, but I do not interpret it as so. He has mentioned previously that men surpass women in all things, so I assume that he is talking about more than just the physical. As well, I do not think that he and his companions were thinking very logically here. They have previously acknowledged that with the same education, women in the proposed city would do the same as men. Historically, women in ancient Greece received a very different education from the men: they didn‘t receive one at all. It would be then very hard for them to judge whether men really surpassed women, because one sex would simply not have the education to do so. Plato does not seem to take this into account when he is judging the sexes. I attribute it to the thinking of the times: although Plato’s ideas are feminist for ancient times, he still has been raised in a misogynistic culture. Continuing on, he states that some women will have the qualities of a guardian and so have the same nature as their male guardian counterparts. They then must serve as guardians, and other women of different natures must be assigned similarly. As well, men and women must have the same education, since they have the same nature, and will have the same jobs as their male counterparts, but they will be given lighter tasks.# I interpret this part as meaning physical tasks, since he mentioned previously that women will take part in war as well. He concludes that having female guardians in addition to male guardians will be beneficial to the state, and the discussion turns toward the begetting of children.

    Plato raises an argument that is still hotly debated in many countries today: what is the role of women? Socrates debates this question throughout the fifth book of the Republic, no doubt a very difficult subject considering the culture of the time. They eventually come to a somewhat mixed conclusion They decided that, with the proper education, men and women should have the same jobs. However, nevertheless, the philosopher and those in his company believed nevertheless that one sex is inherently weaker than the other. Modern American society differs vastly from the city that Plato envisioned in many respects. There is greed and lying, and the ruling class are not philosophers nor necessarily the best for the position. People often do not have a job that is perfectly suited to their abilities. However, to some degree, there is a similarity between the role of the sexes in the workforce in America and the hypothetical kingdom that the philosopher built.

    Plato believed that individual women, as well as men, could have the proper nature required for a job, and that they should be educated in the suitable art for their natural skills. He did not feel that one sex alone should have all the burden of work in society. In ancient Athens, women did not typically work outside the home. Females during Plato and Socrates’ time did not receive an education. Most could not read or write. There were, of course, exceptions to the lack of education, such as the Hetaerae, who can roughly be described as courtesans. However, the vast majority of women in ancient Athens were uneducated and did not have careers. The idea that both sexes should hold jobs and have an education was then revolutionary for the time. In fact, that idea would remain revolutionary for many centuries after Plato died. In some respects, women throughout the ages remained in the state of Athenian women for years. In many, if not most centuries, women who could have afforded schooling did not receive the same education as men, or, if they were educated, it was not as extensive. To take an example from more recent times, my grandmother’s education concluded with high school, while her brothers went on to college. The job prospects were few and far between. However, as the centuries went on, the status of women slowly changed and their opportunities increased. In the present day, the status of women in the job market is nearly the complete opposite of women in Athens. To some degree, it is also very much like what Plato proposed. In the current century, women and men alike can attend colleges and universities to receive training in the career they want. This leads to women who are, for example, inclined to be doctors actually becoming doctors. Thus, people with a certain nature can now hold true to that nature and hold a job that suits them, regardless of their sex.

    While I believe that Socrates’ argument that women with certain natures should receive educations and eventually jobs suited for that nature, his argument that women are inherently the weaker sex is a bit more problematic. I think that part of the problem actually lies in the English translation. When translated to English, words get distorted out of their original context and some terms may entirely loose their intended meaning. I find it entirely possible that the original Greek could better clarify what Plato meant by this phrasing. However, as I neither have an untranslated version of the Republic nor possess the ability to understand Ancient Greek, it is necessary to examine the issue in the physical sense and the mental sense. If by saying women are not as strong as men, he meant in the purely bodily sense, then to some degree that is true. In general, women do not possess the same upper body strength as men have and do not typically have the same muscle bulk either. To go by generalizations, the smaller size of women can be an asset in increasing speed. As well, women tend to be more flexible than males. Now, if it can be assumed that by “weaker,” Plato meant so in a mental sense, then the situation becomes murkier. As previously mentioned, he states that women are not as strong as men and that the male sex exceeds the female in all tasks. However, I believe that it is unfair to state that when the odds are heavily stacked against one sex. Women were not educated, so of course they could not exceed or be equal to ancient Athenian men. It is then unwise to compare the two, since they were not on equal footing. Whether men and women are equal remains somewhat controversial today. While many, if not most, people agree that the two sexes are equal, many still believe that is not the case. Among those that do believe in the equality of the sexes, there is still some sexism. In general, men earn more money than women in the same job do, and there are more men in high-level positions such as president of a company. However, the gender gap in terms of the job market is narrowing, if perhaps not as quickly as I would like. Fifty years ago or so, it was still curious to have a female doctor, and now there are thousands. Centuries worth of sexism takes time to heal, but American society is moving closer to Plato’s hypothetical community in terms of the education and careers of women.

    In conclusion, Plato and his ideas concerning women, and their education and jobs have parallels today. Furthermore, his ideas concerning the equality of the sexes still remains a hot-button issue, and will perhaps to be so for quite some time. Plato’s ideas in this section were surprisingly feminist for his time and, in fact, for many time periods. The concept of women’s equality to men in the workforce would surely be a concept bizarre in, for example, the Victorian age. Thankfully, the idea is not so foreign anymore, and American society has become a bit closer to the republic devised by Plato, at least in terms of women’s rights.