Money, power, and gender: evidence for influential women represented on inscribed bases and sculpture on Kos
Abstract
In this thesis I have attempted to show evidence for a rise of influential women on Kos during the Hellenistic period in the Greek East. I gathered my evidence from sculptural inscriptions and portraits to count the number of females who either were the honorand or the agent in the dedication. I broke these influential females into three categories to facilitate my study: priestess, private, and royal. I use the islands of Delos and Samothrace as comparanda to test if the presence of influential women spreads throughout the Greek East. I also look at the Dodekanesos for comparison and argue for a regional tradition. My research shows that Kos was an anomaly in the Greek world in the number of influential women for a couple of reasons. I believe that the ubiquity of the cult of Demeter on Kos and the Hellenistic queens, especially Egypt, influenced the women who held their own money. Some text in Ancient Greek with English translation.
Degree
M.A.