Ancient Greece Flashcards
What are the qualifications for Athenian citizenship?
- must be male
- must have been registered with the deme and tribe at the age of 18 years
- both parents must be Athenians, freeborn and legally married
- at birth your father had to recognise you as his child by picking you up or you would be left to die
How many slaves lived in Athens in the 5th Century?
One-third of the population
Which types of households would have been able to afford one slave girl
“middle-income”
Which types of households would have been able to afford multiple slave girls?
more affluent households
What was the role of slave-girls?
they would help the women of the house do domestic chores or in more affluent homes they would be housekeepers, cooks or nurses.
What was the personal relationship between a slave girl and their family?
Some were more personal and became their mistresses’ confidantes or the much-loved companions of the children they nursed.
Why did Athens have so many prostitutes?
they were a busy trading port
Who were Pornai?
They were the lower graded prostitutes and were generally owned by the brothel keepers.
Who were the Hetairai
These were female companions and were the higher end prostitues, mainly metic women occasionally Athenians and were at most private events of the city
Who formed the only significant group of economically independent women in Athens?
the Hetairai
Who were Metic women?
They were the wives of Metic men
What was the role of poorer metic women
some were casual farm labourers, market stallholders and so on, alongside poorer Athenian citizens.
What were metic women excluded from?
Some religious events such as Thesmophoria
What happened to independent metic women?
They registered as resident aliens, but after marriage was banned between Metic and Athenian citizen, they would struggle to find a husband and end up working as a prostitute.
What was one of the main ways that Women could leave the house?
Religious events
What were the main religious events exclusive to women?
Thesmophoria, festival of the goddess Demeter, which was restricted to wives of citizens and lasted three days. This was the only time of year that women could spend days away from home, as they camped in huts around the temple of Demeter.
What was the most important role a women could have in Athens
Priestesses to a goddess
Who was the most well-known women in Athens
Priestess to Athena
What god were women important to?
Dionysus, although they were not involved in the sacred rites and mysteries devoted to him
What would happen if male guests were present in a house?
The women of the house ate apart, and the only women who were present were entertainers or prostitutes
Where were the women living quarters?
They did not always have a permanent place, but were often around a internal courtyard
What did women do in the internal courtyard?
In summer and and spring women the women would use this space to work, relax and eat
What was the main job of women in Athens?
To take charge of the internal management of the house, This included looking after and training the slaves, as well as punish them if they are negligent.
Poorer women would have to….
do all the cooking, cleaning, spinning, weaving and washing
