«Mala aetas nulla delenimenta invenit». Donne, uomini e vecchiaia nella letteratura latina

Abstract

Did in the Roman world exist a gender-oriented representation of old age? A brief survey of the stereotypes commonly used by Latin authors to construct the character of the elderly woman reveals a bias to circumscribe her identity within the horizon of seduction and sexuality, leaving aside her mothering and child care functions. In this context, the main characteristics of old age are perceived, unlike to what happens to men, to be entirely negative for the woman: the physical changes of aging signify the loss of female seductiveness, and the wisdom she obtains through experience is viewed as a dangerous instrument of control and manipulation.