As a child I was fascinated by Greek mythology and history and in primary school I made a point of reading as much as possible on the subject, including the most important stories and introducing the pantheon of the gods. I considered them fantastic and supernatural tales with whimsical gods and courageous heroes, and I never stopped considering that the mythologies could be representative of the cultural views and habits of the Greeks, particularly regarding gender roles. One such depiction is Virgil's epic Aeneid, which contains depictions of women in positions of power and also characterizes these women as irrational, emotional to the point of hysteria, and, consequently, unfit rulers. Historically, a lot of information has emerged about the role of women. of Athens, where women were expected to center their lives around the oikos, or “house,” where a woman cooked, managed servants, raised children, and completed other domestic tasks (Frost 1997). The first woman to irrationally transgress this role in the Aeneid is Helen, who is the object of Aeneas' anger in Book II. Aeneas initially describes Helen as "terrified of...her abandoned husband" and feels a burning desire to "...avenge my fallen city and punish Helen's prostitution." He places the blame for the fall of Troy on Helen, and the only reason Aeneas does not harm Helen is the insistence of his mother, Venus, who reminds him that it is "the harsh will of the gods." (Damrosch and Pike, 2009) Another woman who was negatively influenced by the will of the gods was the lovely Dido, queen and founder of Carthage. Upon the arrival of Aeneas and at the beginning of their love story, she is consumed by a love provoked by Cupid which was "...inner fire that devours her" and .... middle of paper.... ..1997), or creatures that are “…Forever unstable and ever changing” (Darmrosch and Pike, 2009). Women are not without strength, as Virgil demonstrates in the Aeneid, since they are rulers of cities and goddesses, as well as objects of passion and objects of war, in Helen's case. We can learn much about the nature of the balance and tensions among ancient peoples from their literature, and see how they have been characterized in the past, and how we can evaluate these characterizations from the perspective of a society that is progressively evolving in our definitions. gender and how we address gender stereotypes and idealizations. Works Cited Damrosch, David and David Lawrence Pike. The Longman Anthology of World Literature.2nd ed. Pearson Education, Inc., 2009. Print.Frost, Frank J. Greek Society. 5th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. Print.