Women in Ancient Greece

Athenian Women

• Athenian women who were married to Athenian citizen males.
• Their children were considered legitimate.
• They rarely appeared in public without a male relative or slave.
• Usually poorly educated; spent most of their time secluded at home.

Hetairai

• Generally foreign born and educated.
• Hired as sexual and intellectual companions or hostesses to wealthy men at symposia.
• Their children were illegitimate.

Pallakai

• Owned as concubines (mistresses) or slave girls.

Pornoi

• Prostitutes of the street or brothels.

Spartan Women

• Spartiates were the citizen class of Sparta.
• Expected to be fit and healthy for childbirth.
• Married in their late teens to ensure survival during childbirth.
• Were educated in fitness training, literacy, and numeracy to manage the household during her husband's absence in war.
• Not confined to the home and wore clothing to accommodate movement.

Perioikoi

• Manufacturing class of Sparta
• Had similar rights as the Spartiates, but no formal education.

Helots

• State-owned serfs (agricultural labourers)
• Completed household chores for the upper classes.

City-States (Poleis)

• States in Greece were called poleis (plural, polis singular), which were city-states.
• Poleis did not have a set form of government dependending on the polis and its needs.

Athens

• Known for democracy, philosophy, and the arts.
• Birthplace of direct democracy (5th century BC).
• A strong naval power and key player in the Delian League.
• Cultural and intellectual hub (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle).
• Economy based on trade, craftsmanship, and silver mining.
• Open society with a focus on education and civic participation.

Sparta

• Militaristic and oligarchic society.
• Rigid social structure; ruling Spartiates, Perioikoi (free non-citizens), and Helots (enslaved people).
• Boys trained from childhood in the agoge (military education system).
• Dominant land-based military power and led the Peloponnesian League.
• Minimalist lifestyle with strict discipline and loyalty to the state.
• Women had more rights and autonomy.

Corinth

• Wealthy commercial hub due to strategic location on the Isthmus of Corinth.
• Famous for pottery, shipbuilding, and trade.
• Controlled key trade routes.
• Ruled by tyrants before becoming an oligarchy.
• Known for the Temple of Aphrodite and its religious significance.
• Played a key role in the Peloponnesian War and Roman Greece (rebuilt in 44 BC).

Gortyn

• Major city-state in Crete, known for its law code (5th century BC).
• Prosperous agricultural economy.
• Strong ties to both Minoan and Dorian cultures.
• Played a role in Roman administration after Rome annexed Crete in 67 BC.
• Mythological connection to Europa and Zeus, as well as the Minotaur legends.

Ancient Greece

• Ancient Greece was the cultural, social and political centre of Europe from 500 to 300 BC.
• Ancient Greek culture differed between states; the largest differences were between the Mainland, the Greek Islands and the Ionic Coast (Turkey).
• Greece was not a homogenous state or collection of states.
• The position of women in Ancient Greece was influenced by:
• Patriarchal society
• Religion and Mythology
• Philosophy
• Legal and political institutions
• Economy
• Fear of women (tied to myth, class and philosophy)

Politics

• Plato and Aristotle had similar but different conceptions of the ideal government which impacted on the power of women.
• Plato outlined 5 regimes involved in the life cycle of a republic.
• Plato believed the ideal form of state (a republic) would save society from tyranny.
• Aristotle believed constitutions served the interests of the people or the interests of a particular part of state.
• Aristotle believed that states were ruled by One, the few, or the many.
• Democracy
• Tyranny
• Aristocracy
• Oligarchy
• Tomocracy
• A Tyrant in Ancient Greece was a tyrannos and a king was a basileus.
• Women were constrained in the political and social class system.
• "Queens’ were only empowered by their marriage and association with the basileus.
• Only 4 women were recorded ruling as tyrannos.
• Aba of Olba
• Cratesipolis of Sicyon
• Mania – Satrap of Dardanus (near Gallipoli)
• Nicaea of Corinth
• Prominent tyrannos and their relationships with women produced a lot of evidence on women in Ancient Greece (Cypselus and Periander).
• Periander, tyrant of Corinth, disgraced his wife, Lyside’s body after death in order to gain favour of the gods for the horrors of his tyranny.
• Pisistratus marched into Athens as tyrant with a tall woman dressed as their patron goddess Athena in order to show he was favoured by the Gods

Hesiod

• Hesiod is one of the earliest Greek poets.
• He wrote the Theogony on myths of the gods and Works and Days describing peasant life.
• He was a native of Boeotia in central Greece.
• He flourished around 700 BC.
• The Theogony is older than Works and Days.
• Hesiod lived in Archaic Greece (c. 800 – 479 BC).
• Unofficially, it was the era of tyrants which followed the Greek ‘dark age’.
• In Athens, Draco instituted strict laws which punished women heavily for adultery and not fulfilling their roles.
• Solon, who followed Draco, reformed Athenian society.
• One area of reform resulted in the creation of the ‘inferior female.’

The Oikos

• The oikos (household) was the fundamental social unit, encompassing the family, property, and the oikeus (household slaves).
• The oikos was an economic and social structure that formed the backbone of Greek life.
• Headed by the kyrios (male guardian), who had authority over all household members.
• Women played a crucial role within this structure, ensuring the smooth operation of domestic affairs, child-rearing, and household management.
• Responsibilities, rights, and social status varied across different city-states due to legal, cultural, and economic factors.

Household Responsibilities

• Women were responsible for overseeing the household slaves; ensuring that they completed daily tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and textile production.
• Weaving was both a practical necessity and a symbol of a woman’s virtue and industriousness.
• Women were expected to produce legitimate heirs, as inheritance and citizenship were passed down through male lineage.
• Pericles’ Citizenship Law (451 BC) required that both parents be Athenian citizens for their children to be recognised as legitimate citizens.

Childbearing & Childrearing

• The main responsibility of women in Greece was to produce and raise legitimate offspring.
• This was central to Greek social structures, particularly in Athens, where citizenship and inheritance depended on legitimate birth.
• The Periclean Citizenship Law of 451 BC reinforced this, requiring that both parents be Athenian citizens for their children to have full legal status.
• The "Marble grave stele of a little girl" (c. 450–440 BC) shows a young child with a pet bird, emphasising the maternal role and the bond between mothers and children in Greek society.

Weaving and textiles

• Textile production was one of the most fundamental domestic activities for Greek women; seen as both a necessity and a symbol of their virtue and industriousness.
• Fabric weaving was often carried out in the seclusion of the gynaikonitis (women’s quarters).
• Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, is depicted weaving a burial shroud for her father-in-law Laertes as a symbol of loyalty and cunning.
• Terracotta pottery shows women working at a loom in the gynaikonitis engaged in weaving.

Variations Across City States

• In Athens, women were expected to remain in the gynaikonitis (women’s quarters) of the home, particularly in wealthier households.
• Women in poorer households were afforded more freedom due to necessity of managing slaves and venturing out to shop for the oikos.
• Draco (7th century BC) introduced strict legal codes that entrenched the seclusion of women in Athenian society.
• His laws imposed strict penalties on women who left home without a male relative, were seen in public without covered hair or fully clothed and attended symposia.
• Women in Gortyn had the right to own and inherit property, even in the presence of male siblings.
• Daughters received half the share of a son, allowing them a degree of economic independence.
• In Gortyn, families (oikoi) without a son meant daughters were responsible for perpetuating the family.
• An epikleros (heiress) in Gortyn could pay a sum of money and maintain ownership and control of the family property.

Women in Greek Religion

• Women acted as the main caretakers of household shrines (often in the oikos room), performing daily rituals to honour household deities.
• Common Household Deities: Hestia (Goddess of the hearth and home), Zeus Herkeios (Zeus of the Courtyard), Zeus Ktesios (Zeus of the Storeroom)
• They led ceremonies related to acceptance of births, marriages and ritual farewell of the dead from the home.
• "Amphidromia": On the fifth day after the birth, the household nurse (or mother in poorer homes) would carry the child around the household fire, present the child to Hestia and name the child.
• The house would be decorated with wool garlands for a girl or olive branches for a girl.

Women in Public Religious Festivals

• Unlike political life, women had structured, public roles in Greek society through religious festivals.
• Participation varied based on age, social status, and marital status.
• Some women (as priestesses) as more semi-permanent and permanent religious roles.
• Women’s roles included performing rituals, carrying sacred objects, overseeing sacrifices, and serving as priestesses.
• The Panathenaia:
• The most significant festival in Athens, held annually in honour of Athena Polias, the city’s patron goddess, and celebrated on Athena’s birthday.
• Led by the Priestess of Athena Polias, which was a hereditary position for daughters of the noble Eteoboutadae family
• "Kanephoroi" Virgin priestesses from noble families carried sacred baskets. -Virginity in this regard was connected to purity and excluding a girl from attending usually meant judgement was cast on her and her family
• "Arrephoroi" girls aged between 7 and 11 were chosen from noble families by the Archon (Chief magistrate) and began the weaving of the peplos.
• "Ergastinai (Weaving Maidens)" Four aristocratic young women selected to weave the remainder of the peplos
• Women participated in the Panathenaic Procession, carrying sacred vessels and sacrificial implements.
• The act of weaving the peplos reinforced Athena’s role as a patron of crafts and wisdom. Herodotus on the Festival
• Featured in Herodotus’ Histories and he performed his Histories at early Panathenaic festivals.
• Herodotus recounted the death of Hipparchus by Harmodius and Aristogeiton as punishment for the treatment of women and Athena Polias by the Peisistratids
• Hipparchus, son of Peisistratus, on the eve of the Panathenaia had a ominous dream.
• This dream was interpreted as an omen foretelling Hipparchus's assassination during the festival's procession, illustrating the Panathenaia's political and cultural significance.

The Thesmophoria

• The Thesmophoria was an exclusive 3-day festival for married women, dedicated to Demeter Thesmophoros and her daughter Kore (Persephone)
• Celebrated annually in autumn, it aimed to promote agricultural and human fertility.
• Divided into parts:
• kathodos (descent/going down)
• anodos (rising up)
• nesteia (fasting)
• kalligeneia (prayers and rituals to ensure fertility and childbirth).
• Remained exclusively agrarian throughout Archaic period.
• It was exclusively female and pitched at the patron goddesses of women in Athens (Demeter and Persephone)

The Skirophoria

• The Thesmophoria was replaced in Classical Athens by the summer festival, the Skirophoria, which featured more collegial opposition to men.
• It was held at the end of the calendar year (June before the month of Skirophorion).
• Women would consume garlic for abstinence in order to keep their husbands and family members away from them to promote later fertility.
• Women of the Eteoboutadae would hold up the skiron (ceremonial canopy) and held a central role in the festival.

The Eleusinian Mysteries

• The Eleusinian Mysteries were sacred rites honouring Demeter and Kore (Persephone), open to both men and women.
• Women played a significant role in the ceremonies.
• The mysteries promised initiates a blessed afterlife, making them one of the most important religious experiences in Greece.
• Women could serve as priestesses and initiates, guiding others through the sacred rites of initiation.
• One group of these were the panageis (sacrosanct) were known as melissae or “bees” who were to serve the Hierophantides.
• Hierophantides (Female Priestesses) – Women were head priestesses at the Eleusinian Mysteries were responsible for preparing initiates, leading processions, and overseeing certain rituals.
• The mysteries reflected themes of death and rebirth, closely tied to women’s experiences of childbirth and nurturing.

All-Female Festivals

• Explanations for existence of exclusively women’s festivals: cults were survivors from a matriarchal period or women in early societies were in charge of gardening, and hence involved in fertility cults.
• Women’s connection with birth and fertility made them apply their influence to the crops.

The Festival of the Cult of Dionysia

• During the Festivals of Dionysus, women in Athens were permitted to leave the house without their kyrios but were not permitted to attend the festival.
• There were secret rituals conducted by women away from men featuring kanephoros and other young women.
• Women played the role of bacchants or salacious followers of Dionysus at the dramatic competition during the Festival.
• At the Anthesteria - the wife of the Archon Basileus (basilinna) and fourteen older women (gerairai) conducted a secret marriage ceremony between her and Dionysus.

Women in Religious Authority

• The main positions of religious authority were as priestesses and oracles.
• An Oracle was a mouthpiece or speaker of prophecies, resided at a temple and a priest would pose questions to them on behalf of visitors.
• The Oracle provided prophecies from the gods relating to the request.
• When the Peloponnesian War was about to break out, the Oracle told the Spartans that if they fought with all their might, victory would be theirs, and that he himself would be on their side.
• "The Pythia" was the most important Oracle to the Greeks, at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi.
• Priestesses were selected as virgins or beyond menopause.
• The Pythia was often older than 50, would live away from her husband and in some cases an unmarried virgin (pathenos).
• The Pythia sat on a tripod and would enter a trance-like state due to ethylene gases emerging from a chasm in the floor.
• The prophecies were guided by men but she operated in a “knowledge economy” and presented the prophecies provided agency and power to a single woman consulted by powerful men across the Greek world
• A woman was selected to be the mouthpiece of Apollo (male god).
• Delphi was formerly the site of a female chthonic cult and her role as mouthpiece only.

Priestesses

• Priestess of Hera at Argos: At Argos, the high priestess served Hera, the city's protective deity, at the Heraion sanctuary in civic and cultural rites where the priestesses had to be parthenos.
• Priestess of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis: The high priestess served Demeter and her daughter Kore (Persephone) in the Eleusinian Mysteries where rites revolved around a blessed afterlife.
• Priestesses of Artemis at Ephesus: Women held prominent positions in the cult of Artemis Ephesia at the Temple of Artemis, a major religious centre in Asia Minor.

Athenian legal system

• The traditional narrative suggests women were excluded from public life and the courts.
• Views of women who transgressed these boundaries were drawn in parallels to tragic figures like Clytemnestra.
• Women were not granted the same legal rights as men, particularly in terms of public speech and participation in the courts, this does not necessarily equate to complete exclusion.
• The differences were as a result a complex interplay of legal frameworks, social norms, and traditional practices.
• Before a case reached the dikasterion (jury court), there were several stages involving magistrates and arbitration, where women could participate.
• "Synegoria" practice allowed for litigants to be represented by a supporting advocate.
• "Logographoi" provided legal advice, prepared cases, and even drafted speeches for litigants.
• Magistrates had the power to initiate lawsuits and impose fines, providing women with a means to seek redress for grievances.
• Women could participate in both public and private arbitration, offering another avenue for resolving disputes outside of the formal court system.
• While women's access to the trial before the dikasterion was limited, their presence was mandated in cases where they were accused of a crime.
• Primary source material for understanding the role of women in the athenian legal system comes from a limited collection of surviving speeches.

Aspasia

• Lived in the 5th century BC in Athens and was born in a Greek city in Ionia (modern-day Turkey).
• Partner of Pericles who was known for her intelligence, rhetoric, and influence in Athenian society.
• She played a role in the intellectual and political life of Athens despite being a foreigner.
• Likely a hetaira, a class of educated courtesans in ancient Greece.
• Hetairai had more freedom than citizen-women and could engage in public discourse.
• Her status as a foreigner and hetaira allowed her access to influential men.
• Lived with Pericles but could not marry him due to Athenian citizenship laws.
• Some sources suggest she advised Pericles on political matters.
• Criticized and mocked in contemporary comedic plays for her influence over Pericles.
• Aristophanes and Cratinus accused her of provoking the Peloponnesian War.
• Associated with Socrates and other philosophers.
• Plato, in his Menexenus, attributes a rhetorical style to her
• Plutarch portrays her in a more favorable light, acknowledging her intellect.
• Referred to as a "shameless whore" and mocked Pericles for his relationship with her.
• Seen as both a powerful woman and a target for misogynistic criticism.
• Considered an early symbol of female intelligence and influence in a male-dominated world.
• Later interpretations view her as an example of women’s marginalization despite their intellect.
• Unlike Spartan women such as Gorgo, Aspasia lacked legal rights but still wielded intellectual power
• "Different sources" Herodotus provided historical context but relied on oral traditions, which may contain biases
• Plutarch writing centuries later framed Aspasia in a more favorable light, acknowledging her intelligence and influence.
• Scholarly argument - Her status as a hetaira allowed her a unique space in Athenian society where she could exercise influence although she was constrained by her gender and outsider status.
• Contemporary historians examine how ancient biases shaped Aspasia’s legacy.

Neaera

• A woman from 4th century BC Athens, possibly born in Corinth and raised by Nicarete, a brothel-keeper.
• She was enslaved from a young age and trained to be a hetaira (courtesan) by Nicarete.
• Given the name "Neaera," meaning "Fresh One," a common name for courtesans.
• Nicarete purchased young girls, raised and trained them, then sold them for profit.
• Nicarete called them "daughters" to present them as freeborn and fetch higher prices.
• Neaera was one of these young girls subjected to sexual exploitation.
• Around 376 BC, two clients who co-owned Neaera allowed her to buy her freedom.
• She moved to Athens with a man named Phrynion, but his mistreatment led her to flee and she lived in Megara and resumed sex work due to circumstances.
• She was accused of falsely presenting herself as a free Athenian woman.
• Charged with fraud for living as a common-law spouse to an Athenian citizen which was tried c. 343 BC.
• Stephanus, who lived with Neaera had a history of legal troubles and manipulation.
• Stephanus’ fate was also at stake; if Neaera was guilty, Stephanus would lose his citizenship and rights.
• Apollodorus’ speech is the only surviving account; the defense speech is lost.
• The case highlights factional politics, gender biases, and the exploitation of women.
• Neaera’s story survived because of male-driven rhetoric, despite her own voice being lost.

Gorgo

• Gorgo of Sparta was a Spartan queen (c. 506 BC - ?) and daughter of King Cleomenes I and wife of King Leonidas I.
• Known for her intelligence and political awareness from a young age.
• At age 8-9, she warned her father not to trust Aristagoras of Miletus.
• Marriage to Leonidas I around 490 BC, her father’s half-brother, strengthened her political position.
• Unlike most Greek women, Gorgo was respected for her intelligence and influence.
• Deciphered a hidden message from Spartan king Demaratus warning of Xerxes’ Persian invasion.
• Provided advice to Leonidas before he left for Thermopylae, encouraging him to be a worthy Spartan.
• Because we are the only women who give birth to men" (Plutarch).
• Some regard her as representing early feminism regarding her wisdom and assertiveness.
• Alternative interpretation: her name could be an abbreviation of "Gorgophone," meaning "Gorgon Slayer," referencing Perseus’ slaying of Medusa.
• Herodotus presented Gorgo as a politically astute child whose advice was taken seriously by her father whilst Plutarch highlighted her sharp wit and intellect.
• Gorgo reflects the unique status of Spartan women in society, unlike Athenian women.