The History of Women in the West, in five volumes edited by Georges Duby and Michelle Perrault, consists of the works of 75 outstanding historians, presenting readers with a fascinating panoramic chronicle from antiquity to the present. The volume that opens the publication brings women from the margins of ancient history to the forefront. For the first time, a new look is presented at more than two thousand years of history of ancient Greece and Rome and the European cultural space - from the North Sea to the Mediterranean and from the Pillars of Hercules to the banks of the Indus. The authors use varied and numerous sources, including tombstones, architectural plans, papyrus scrolls, vase paintings and literary works, to show how the representation of women evolved throughout this era and reveal an imaginary history of women, as a result of the relationship between the sexes. CONTENTS: A new kind of history (Natalie Zemon Devsh and Joan Wallace Scott) 7 Telling the story of women (Georges Duby and Michel Perrault) 10 Images of women (Paulina Shmit Pantel) 27 PART ONE. Female models of the ancient worldChapter I. What is a goddess? (Nicole Loro) 36Theos, Thea: GoddessFemale Forms of DivinityGoddess: The Question of MotherhoodConstructing GenderChapter II. The Philosophy of Gender of Plato and Aristotle (Julia Sissa) 71Woman as an object of knowledgeThe problem of genderPlato's legacyGender: classification or originAre sexual differences specific?Are sexual differences generic?More and lessWeakness of a cold bodyMatter and bodyThe meaning of symmetryProbability of genderCausal accidentsUnforgivable identificationPlutarch: from identity to inequalityWomen and the lawChapter III. Separation of the sexes in Roman law (Ian Thomas) 109Coercive normWomen, family and the power of transfer of rightsLegalization of maternal inheritance law in the 2nd centuryTransfer of statusA set of rights not available to womenImages and social statusChapter IV. Figures of women (François Lissargues) 167MarriageRitualsSpaceMythical imagesPART TWO. Women in traditional ritualsChapter V. Marriage in Ancient Greece (Claudine Leduc) 251The gift of the bride in the time of HomerEra of city-states, VIII-IV centuries. BC e.AthensThe vicissitudes of biological fateChapter VI. Politics of corporeality in ancient Rome (Aline Roussel) 310Biological destiny of womenDivision of laborChanging social orderFrom cult to ChristianityChapter VII. Pandora's Daughters, or Rituals in Greek Cities (Louise Seidman) 352Young GirlsWivesWomen and the PriesthoodChapter VIII. Religious Roles of Roman Women (John Shade) 389Roman Religion: A Man's BusinessVestals, Flaminics and Other PriestessesMatron LiturgiesDisenfranchised but irreplaceableChapter IX. Women in Early Christianity (Monique Alexander) 420The First Christian Mission: Conversions and ActsPART THREE. Yesterday and todayMatriarchy and mythChapter X. The creation of a myth about matriarchy (Stella Jorgudi) 457Ideas taken from BachofenThe creation of a mythChapter XI. Women and Ancient History Today (Paulina Schmit Pantel) 472From Women's History to Gender HistoryWomen's History and Ancient HistoryEPILOGUEWomen's Voice 480Perpetua, or Self-Knowledge