Cidadania, gênero e ensino de história antiga: discussões a partir da retórica

Abstract

In this research, we discuss the importance of the debate on citizenship and gender in the teaching of Ancient History. Using Jörn Rüsen’s work on Culture and Historical Consciousness (2016) as a theoretical framework, we reflect on the potential of History teaching for shaping a meaningful temporal and spatial orientation in students' everyday lives, based on a dialogue between Antiquity and the contemporary world. Starting from the objections raised regarding the treatment of citizenship in the Base Nacional Comum Curricular (BNCC), which emphasizes men's participation and voting power in assemblies, we aim to analyze the topic from broader perspectives, in order to reveal the dynamics between male and female citizens in the shared life of the polis. This research assumes that understanding citizenship through everyday community relations helps students reflect on their own experiences and their relationship with citizenship beyond the act of voting. To support this argument, we use as sources four judicial speeches by the orator Isaeus: On the Estate of Cleonymus (Is. I), On the Estate of Menecles (Is. II), On the Estate of Pyrrhus (Is. III), and On the Estate of Philoctemon (Is. VI). In these speeches, the arguments are constructed through the characterization of good and bad citizens, and the criteria for such categorization are not related to participation in assemblies or Athenian magistracies, but rather to family relations, community involvement, and religious activity within the polis. Based on this, we aim to demonstrate a dimension of Athenian citizenship that is as fundamental to the polis as the assemblies, also recognizing female citizens as essential to the functioning of the city. In an effort to contribute to the democratization of education and the use of rhetoric in the classroom, we developed a didactic proposal based on Isaeus's speeches for basic education. We conclude in this study that the teaching of Ancient History is essential for promoting a critical and practical education for students' everyday lives.