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The stories that came from the classical period, from Greece and Rome especially, portrayed women in a singular way, rigidly placing them in certain categories. The most common female archetypes are the virgin, the mother and the femme fatale. If a woman loses her virginity and is not a married women, she is considered to be a temptress and a treacherous woman. The only accepted roles in their society are the virgin and the devoted mother and wife. However, there are examples of even the virgins and mothers morphing into the vamp role. According to the classical writers, a women- whether she is a goddess or a mere mortal- can become unruly if left to her own devises and therefore should be controlled. The writings about the treacherous women were either a warning for men that women should not be trusted or that it was a warning for women to avoid becoming a femme fatale. The treachery of women are often manifested in feelings of envy, revenge, temptation and deception.

Even the goddesses were not exempt from malicious and destructive behavior. The goddesses often wreaked havoc on mortals as result of jealousy. Hera, the first lady of gods and the wife of Zeus, was often overcome with jealousy whenever her husband committed adultery. She sought cruel retribution against the women Zeus had affairs with as well as their illegitimate children. Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, once heard rumors that Smyrna, a mortal, was more beautiful that she. Aphrodite's vanity and jealousy would not allow any other woman to be considered fairer. Therefore, she set upon destroying Smyrna.

Another famous vixen in classical mythology is Medea, who in the name of love commits the most heinous of crimes. Medea assisted Jason, the man whom she fall in love with, retrieve the golden fleece from her father. She escapes with Jason and the golden fleece and in the process, kills her brother in order to delay her father from pursuing them. She also tricks King Peleas' daughters into killing their own father. When Jason forsakes her to marry Creusa, she takes revenge by sending the bride a poisoned robe that kills her. The most unthinkable of all is the murder of her own children to spite Jason. That is the extent of her need for revenge.

Pandora, the first women, is often associated with the theme of temptation just as Eve is in Christianity. In Hesiod's Theogony, men and god lived happily together prior to the existence of women. It was called the Golden Age. However, when Prometheus

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