Women In The Home

Question 1

Parthenos

Answer 1

an unmarried virgin Greek girl

Question 2

Nymphe

Answer 2

A married Athenian woman who had not yet given birth to a child

Question 3

Gyne

Answer 3

A married Athenian woman who had given birth to a child

Question 4

What was the most important duty of the kyria and why?

Answer 4

• producing a male son to be heir to the kyrios’ property
• vital importance because it meant the family and the household could continue itself
• if the kyrios died with no legitimate heir, his property would transfer to his closest male relative and his own household would cease to exist

Question 5

The grave stele of Ampharete

Answer 5

• relief sculpture of ampharete sitting on a chair, draped in a chiton with a garment over her head
• the scene is framed by walls and a roof, implying she is inside
• features emphasise ampharete’s modesty
• holds a baby in a maternal pose - implying they saw her maternal role as her greatest contribution to the family

Question 6

What was the Athenian view on infertility?

Answer 6

• since producing children was the wife’s main duty there was lots of anxiety around infertility (which was always perceived to be the problem of the woman)
• there were a variety of remedies (potions, ointments, fragrances)
• when remedies failed to the gods - especially the god of medicine, Asclepius
• women would spend a night at his shrine in Epidauros and it was believed divine snakes would visit them and cure their infertility
• also evidence of trading in the black market for babies - Aristophanes play tells the story of woman’s friend who had been unable to conceive and tricked her husband into thinking she was in labour

Question 7

Household duties

Answer 7

• when husband went out to run business, make money and participate in the public life of Athens, she was responsible for the running of the household
• kyrios’ responsibility is to bring goods into the household + the responsibility of the kyria to manage these goods
• manage slaves
• careful management of resources - contributing to self-sufficiency
• ## weaving, production of textiles - adding to the wealth

Question 8

What was the gynaikeion?

Answer 8

• a room where female members of the household would work
• where the women other than the kyria would sleep
• often located at the back of the house or upstairs, out of the way

Question 9

What was the andron?

Answer 9

• room reserved for men to relax in and have drinking parties known as symposia
• female members not allowed to attend parties but were expected to help decorate the room to make a good impression on guests
• located by the front door of house so that men could keep track of who entered or left

Question 10

What could the kyria not do?

Answer 10

• not allowed to leave the household without male escort - however likely poorer Athenians who needed all members of the family to work ignored this custom, with poorer kyriae worked as market trader, jewellers and midwives
• restricted to how much money she could spend (not more than a medimnos of barley)
• could not buy or sell land
• could not personally own property - preventing her from doing any severe or lasting damage to the household, if she acted against the kyrios’ wishes or make decisions in his absence
• -

Question 11

Grave stele of Hegeso

Answer 11

• heavily draped in clothing - implying modesty
• elaborate hairstyle - contrasting her slave girl’s simple hairstyle
• Hegeso’s elegance and wealth is emphasised - slave girl holding out a jewellery box for Hegeso + it is believed she would have originally been holding a piece of jewellery

Question 12

What were the laws surrounding adultery for women in Athens

Answer 12

• the husbands had to know for certain that the children his wife bore belonged to him since the main reasons for marriage was to have legitimate heirs
• if a man caught his wife having an affair he was legally allowed to kill her lover
• if the lover’s life was spared he could be made to pay a large fine and/or publicly humiliated
• the husband would divorce her immediately + keep the dowry
• the woman would be barred from joining in public religious festivals due to fear of her corrupting other women by her presence

Question 13

Laws for adultery for men in Athens

Answer 13

• men were free to engage in sexual activity outside of their marriages
• they could not seduce another married woman or the unmarried daughter of an Athenian citizen

Question 14

Could a woman divorce her husband?

Answer 14

• an Athenian woman could divorce her husband by leaving his household and going back to her father’s house
• the husband was able to divorce his wife by sending her back to her father, or expelling her from his house - usually not having to return the dowry

Question 15

How does someone become a slave in Athens?

Answer 15

• captured in war
• piracy - getting kidnapped by pirates
• exposed babies rescued + raised as slaves

Question 16

What would male slaves do in Athens?

Answer 16

• work on master’s farm or in their business
• educated male slaves would be tutors for children
• craftsman if they were skilled
• state-owned male slaves maintained roads or working in silver mines

Question 17

What did female slaves do in Athens?

Answer 17

• prostitution
• domestic slaves - under authority of kyria, could go out in public so would be used to run errands for the housebound kyria
• answer the door
• supervise the children

Question 18

What was life like for domestic slaves?

Answer 18

• quality of life depended on the temperament of their masters + treatment could be harsh
• slaves were not allowed to marry + it was common for their children to be sold
• little defense against mistreatment - they were able to appeal to law courts if they felt they were being treated unfairly - little evidence of successes
• slaves were occasionally freed by their masters - not a common occurrence

Question 19

What was the most important duty of a Spartan woman?

Answer 19

• it was expected for married women to conceive and bear children
• no woman could be commerated with a grave marker until she had borne children - similar to different names for Athenian women (gyne, nymphe)
• monuments of Spartan mothers celebrated their service to the state

Question 20

How were Spartan women educated?

Answer 20

• physical education to prepare their bodies for the pains of childbirth and to ensure they were healthy enough to bear strong babies to be future soldiers

Question 21

What was polyandry in Sparta?

Answer 21

• it was usual for a healthy woman to have multiple sexual partners, especially if her husband was older
• sex with multiple partners was not adultery - it was seen as men and women doing their duty to the state to bear healthy children
• Spartan society discouraged personal wealth + so most citizens led modest lives - therefore no concerns over the inheritance of property + legitimacy of children

Question 22

Duties of a Spartan wife and mother

Answer 22

• women were not expected to work wool + stay indoors —> Spartans believed slaves should do this work
• Spartan women should focus on physical training, managing the household and its farm
• Spartan women were responsible for the management of the family’s Kleros (farm) while men were living and training in communal barracks - directing slaves to do work
• ensure enough food was produced to support the household + husband’s syssition
• they made decisions on what to grow + purchasing equipment + how to sell surplus —> shows they were educated in arithmetics in order to manage the farm as well as the household
• obedience to Spartan system - mothers expected to send seven year old sons to training at agoge

Question 23

What could Spartan women do?

Answer 23

• allowed to inherit property
• nearly 2/5 of the property of Sparta was owned by women
• Spartan women were wealthy + powerful enough to decide how to spend their wealth by themselves

Question 24

How did Spartan women contribute to the state?

Answer 24

• bear strong child for soldiers
• prepare sons for war, making sure that they brought up loving the Spartan state + willing to give anything to protect it
• give advice to sons + husbands when they were about the go to war telling them to return home with their shield or on it - there was no honour in Sparta in surviving in as a result of cowardice
• women instilled Spartan value in menfolk