Fear of Women? Representations of Women in Demotic Wisdom Texts

In this article the representations of women in demotic wisdom texts are analysed. Although this corpus consists of several texts, they all seem to belong to the same discourse with regard to women. Important aspects of these representations are objectification of women and distrust with regard to women's sexuality and ability to deal with property. Conspicuous are also the recurring warnings for the reader not to seduce a married woman. At last, the concern for male control over women ist confronted with demotic documentary texts from which it can be deduced that women's economic and legal position within society was relatively strong and independent.