Ancient Grecian Women

Women throughout history have shared in a common societal inferiority in comparison to their male counterparts, and the women living in Ancient Greece were no exception to this longstanding trend. According to Haland, “A woman’s ritual obligations were threefold: pre-marital, as a new bride, and as the expectant or new mother.” Though given their seemingly secondary place within society, the lives of Ancient Grecian women had their own complex workings creating an almost concealed system of pride and social structure within their communities. This process began early in their lives with a rite of passage, which included a celebration of the approaching prospect of marriage and womanhood. Aside from the expected processes and formalities, Grecian

It is easily seen within the written works of Ancient Grecians like Apollodoros, who said that for Athenian men wives were “for serving as faithful guardians of what’s inside” and Xenophon who suggested that God “prepared woman’s nature for the tasks and concerns to do with the inside.” While taking care of and being a representative of the shared family home, women of course found ways to hold their own personal responsibilities outside of the home. This included involvements in trading in the agora, or marketplace, and assuming roles within secretive women’s cults. Inside of the home, men’s areas (andron) which were the most public, and often used in holding other male company, drinking, and discussing political matters, were highly separate from those of women, and were sometimes even bolted shut to keep women out. The women’s space within the home, the most private areas, could be thought of as a separation. According to Davidson, “the separation of women is often linked to anxiety about moicheia (sex with another man’s woman, not just his wife, but his daughters or wards, or even mistress)” Additionally, women who entered the space of the andron were risking their reputation of well-behaved women in exchange for that of a courtesan of sorts by sharing in an intimate male space. With the idea of propriety and privacy being held in high standards for a women with any decency, veils were held in high standard, essentially creating a private interior space for women while in public. Even the few civic roles that could be held by women, a priestess for example, who is often portrayed as the temple key bearers for various goddesses in Ancient Greece still neatly fits into Apollodoros’ idea of women as “faithful guardians of what’s