La mujer en los epitafios métricos de Creta de época helenística

Abstract

The image reflected of the woman in the Cretan funerary epigrams of the Hellenistic period responds to the concept of the ideal woman commonly accepted in the ancient Greek world. Moral, religious and family virtues, physical beauty, and other aspects such as noble birth and fame, are all praiseworthy qualities in a woman. Mention should be made, however, of the use of the epithet μεγάλαυχος «proud» , said of a married woman, by which the poet appears to express a personal feeling of the deceased motivated by the illustrious family to which she belongs. On the other hand, it is worth pointing out the important role the mother plays in the funeral rites, in which she generally assumes the grief caused by the bereavement of her offspring.