It is believed that early in the history of Athens that it may have been a matriarchy society. There is a strong argument against this, but there is evidence in some artwork that would back this premise. Whether or not this is true really is not important for the purpose of this essay. What is important is that beginning in the sixth century B. C. rules and regulations began to be put in place that would forever change the lives of women in Athens. The first to take action was a lawmaker by the name of Solon. He began by putting women into two classes: good or respectable women and whores.
As time went by other laws were passed that further restricted women in Athens to what many might call slavery. Respectable women began to be seen only as a way for men to have legitimate heirs. Some believe though, that these rules and regulations were for the betterment of Athenian society. Sarah Pomeroy writes, “The regulations, which seem at first glance antifeminist are actually aimed at eliminating strife among men and strengthening the newly created democracy. “1 She continues, “Women are a perennial source of friction among men.
Solon’s solution to this problem was to keep them out of sight and limit their nfluence. “2 One can see from this that Pomeroy is a member of the group that feels these regulations were intended to help the Athenian society. It is fully possible that this is true, but it is just as possible that the regulations were to lower that status of women. Whatever the case may be, these laws forced respectable women in Athenian society into a lifestyle that is not dissimilar from slavery. In Athenian society only men were allowed to participate in government affairs.
The acts of holding office, serving as jurors and voting were limited to males. Women played almost no part in the political realm in Athens. This is in part because of the poor education women received. Boys were trained in the art of rhetoric and in developing physical abilities in order to deliver strong soldiers to the army. Women on the other hand were taught very little. They would be taught to read and write by either their mothers or perhaps by the families slaves. Women were also taught some skills such as spinning.
This was done because the woman was to be supervisor in the household so it was necessary for her to e skilled in such tasks. Beyond this, women were taught very little and they were not to be involved physical training. 3 What is interesting is that one of the leading philosophers in classical Athens did not agree with this inequality of education. During a dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon in The Republic, Plato writes referring to men and women, “Everything in common,” he said, “except that we use the females as weaker and the males as stronger.
“Is it possible,” I said, “to use any animal for the same things if you don’t assign it the same rearing and education? “No, it’s not possible. ” “If then, we use the women for the same things as the men, they must also be taught the same things. “4 This serves no purpose other than to show that one of the greatest minds of classical Athens was not in agreement with the roles and education of women: that women were treaty greatly unequal. If one were to also look at The Politics by Aristotle it would be seen that he has similar idea to his mentor Plato.
Some would have to say that women did have one political duty, but it is difficult to see bearing children as a political duty. At times in Athenian history the number of citizens dropped to extremely small amounts. It was felt it was the woman’s job produce children that would legitimate citizens. Although at times a child could be a citizen even if his mother was not, for the most part a child, to be considered a citizen, must have both and father and a mother who were citizens. In lies the one political power afforded to women: producing legitimate heir for their husband and the society.
Although, this cannot be considered much of a political role. Even in childbirth the women became more or less a means to an end. The child was bore to continue the fathers lineage, so the child was property of the father. The mother had no real claims to her children. If there was a death or divorce, the children remained in the fathers family. Aeschylus writes, “She who is called mother is not her offspring’s parent, but nurse to the newly sown embryo. “5 The mother becomes nothing more than a womb. Showing the importance of producing male heirs it was also not uncommon to dispose of female babies.
Many times the babies would be left somewhere and would end up being raised by slave families. The practice of nfanticide was also not and unusual practice if there was already a female child. Many times this was the only option for it might have been impossible for the family to provide a dowry for more than one female child. This does show though, the low regard held for women in Athenian society. The idea of Athenian women being merely child bearers also arises when looking at the Peloponnesian War.
During the war the number of citizen males dropped quite severely due to the amount of deaths. There was such a large shortage of males that even slaves were being armed and ent to battle. 6 Due to this it was of great importance that women have children: preferably male. At this time it became acceptable for men to have children with a woman other than his wife. “‘For they say the Athenians, because of the scarcity of men, wished to increase the population, and passed the vote that a man might marry one Athenian woman and have children by another. “7
Once the population of men had been replenished then this practiced was restricted, but as Pomeroy points out during a number of wars this practiced was used to repopulate Athens. This ruly seems to degrade women. They were more than ever only a way to produce legitimate heirs. Marriage was another area in which respectable women had little say. Women were always under the guardianship of a man: first their fathers and then, once married, their husbands. 8 Women were married as young as 14 or 15 to a man as arranged by her family.
He may be as old as 30 and could very well be dead by age 45. 9 A widow was expected to remarry, particularly if she was still able to bear children. To make marriage to a particular women look more attractive, she was given a dowry. This dowry was provided by her family and when she married it then went under the control of her husband. If there was a divorce or the husband died, the original dowry or and equal amount was returned to the woman. Although, while the woman was single, the dowry was under the control of either her father or his next of kin; likely a son.
If the woman was remarried then the dowry came under the control of her husband. Even though the dowry was connected to the woman it was never an actual possession of hers. For the respectable women, the home was the center of private life nd the focus of daily activity. Her main responsibility was to bear children, but she also ran the household. She was responsible for spinning, weaving and sewing in order to make clothing for the family. If she herself did not do the work she was responsible for supervising the slaves who performed the tasks.
If slaves were available a woman would not even leave the house to fetch water, that would be left up to the slave girls. 10 Women lived in almost total seclusion from the outside world and in the house they were even separated from the men; living in different ections of the house. It would seem that ever attempt was made to keep woman segregated. This seems quite a bit like slavery. There are circumstances when even respectable citizen women did work outside the home. Poorer women, even citizens, went out to work,…
Women were employed as washerwomen, as woolworkers, and in other clothing industries. They also worked as vendors, selling food or what they had spun or woven at home…. Women were also employed as nurses of children and midwives. 11 Some poorer women did work outside the home, but for the most part their jobs were same as if they were in their homes. Also, as Pomeroy states earlier in her book, women also did work that would be done by slaves and “since the work was despised, so was the worker. “12 So even leaving the home and working was not to bright of a prospect for women.
If they left the house to work then it was likely they would be despised and if they remained home then they were secluded from society. It truly was a no win situation. There was one area in classical Athens in which respectable women were able to participate. That being religious ceremonies for cults. The cult of Athena is one in which women were involved. Women played a large role in the ceremonies for honoring Athena. What is more amazing, considering all the restrictions on women, is that there were even priestesses in this cult.
The most prominent priestess was held in very high regard in Athenian society. Women were also priestesses in the cult for Demeter,. 13 Many of the priestesses lived separated from men in a communal dwellings. 14 Both Pomeroy in Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves and Jane Harrison in her book Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion make reference to another estival, the Thesmophoria, for the cult of Demeter in which women were the sole participants. This three day event was gave women the opportunity to come together without men.
The women made all decisions, including appointing their own officials. Religion gave women and opportunity to step out of their otherwise secluded lives and be a part of society. It must be said though, that this was the only time in which women could be part of society without ridicule. In all other areas, such as the afore mention work outside the home, women were despised due to the nature of their work. This one instances of freedom, cannot make up for all the other instances in which women are treated as little more than slaves.
In this essay the reader has seen the difficulties of being a woman in classical Athens. Women were merely possession used either for their dowry or for the purpose of producing a legitimate heir. Their lives were ones of separation and seclusion. When they did step out from that seclusion the were ridiculed and put on the same level as slaves. It is true that women were permitted to publically practice religion for certain ults, but slaves in 19th century American were permitted to practice religion, yet they were still slaves.
So it is impossible based upon this one area study to assume women in classical Athens were free. Looking at all the other evidence it should be nearly impossible to come up with any other conclusion than the respectable women of classical Athens were limited in their lives by laws made by the men reducing women to form of slavery. It is hoped that the reader will have seen that they were in essence slaves. Maybe not in the tradition sense, but nonetheless slaves.
