WOMEN IN ANCIENT SOCIETIES Research has substantiated the belief that, in the ancient world, Western women had far more opportunities and power with lesser restrictions than Eastern women. Undoubtedly there were a number of very strong willed women who disregarded custom and ruled their families with the sheer force of their personalities, but they were the exception. Cleopatra, one of the most famous women of all time, tried to find a balance between independence and …showed first 75 words of 2120 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2120 total…there are other like-minded women who through fair means, or foul, attempted to achieve goals and status that were not the norm in their particular society. Women such as Cleopatra, Boudicca and Lü were all powerful in their own right but their degree of power and the purpose for which they used their power differ because of the extent to which their society enforced certain customs, laws and traditions along with their attitude towards women.