Ecos do silêncio: em busca das mulheres filósofas apagadas na história da filosofia grega antiga

Abstract

We understand that the current context of social oppression in which women find themselves was not always like this. There was a time when women were free, revered, respected, honored, adored and in charge of themselves. With the installation of patriarchy, these attributes were lost, taken away, stolen from their essence, until complete erasure occurs. For centuries, we were not told about the existence of this past, giving way to silence. This now appears to be a failed attempt to erase the history of women, especially women philosophers, who contributed a lot to philosophy, but whose names were excluded from philosophy textbooks and history, which continues to this day. In this paper we will return to the historical period before the emergence of philosophy, with the aim of analyzing, through the historical process, female figures in Antiquity: the goddesses present in Greek myths, how they were conceived, how their events were narrated, how they were treated and, above all, how these myths influenced the erasure of women in philosophy; the reflection of these myths in the social context of women in Ancient Greece, when they were treated as second-class beings, living in seclusion in their homes and serving as guardians of the oikos. With the functions of looking after the home and reproducing legitimate heirs, only, these women were totally submissive to the chiefs, their husbands. Their social status was inferior to that of slaves. All these narratives and events have contributed in some way to the consolidation and strengthening of the patriarchal system, the origin of many oppressions suffered by women. This analysis will reveal the reflections – wich are still present today – of these narratives and events. Today, we live in a patriarchal society. Rules are created by men. Culture belongs to them. It's the man who says how a woman should be. Forbidden by him from exploiting her full physical and intellectual potential, there is an attempt to erase the woman philosopher, castrated, reduced and excluded. Then, at last, I will deal with this erasure in the context of ancient greek philosophy, already foretold by the position of the female figure in that mythology and which determined the formation of today's society.