Did you know Athenian girls married at around 15 years old, while males married at 30?
Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia! My name is Kelly, and today's video is all about
the lives, rights, and roles of women in ancient Greece. Don't forget, the easiest
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Women in ancient Greece had very few rights compared to men, and due to our lack of specific
information on most Greek city-states, we know most about women and their lives in the two
city-states best chronicled overall - Athens and Sparta. In general, we have more information about
some professions and roles held by women, such as women in the home and prostitutes, and courtesans
(or hetaira), than others. We know that some women worked in shops (as crafts women), or bakeries,
but our knowledge is slim. Bear in mind that not only is our knowledge of women in
ancient Greece incomplete but the ancient accounts are not unbiased, and we don't
necessarily know how the rules were applied and followed in the everyday lives of Greek women.
Overall though, Athens was known for its distrust towards women and extreme misogyny, as women
were seen as good for only one thing: child bearing. With this being said, there were some
women who broke through the social and cultural restrictions placed upon them in ancient Greece,
including Sappho of Lesbos; the lyric poet, Hipparchia of Maroneia; the Stoic philosopher,
and Agnodice of Athens, who was the first female doctor in Athens,
or Telesilla of Argos who led the women of Argos in battle against the Spartans,
just to name a few. But today, let's have a look at the women who stayed within their restrictions,
and what the roles, rights and lives of the everyday women in ancient Greece looked like.
When a girl was born in Athens, she had a higher chance of being abandoned at birth than a boy.
Daughters of citizens would be educated in writing, reading and mathematics,
and then they would learn music, poetry, and physical activities in the form of gymnastics.
A girl's education wasn't intended to increase her intellect and knowledge,
but was to prepare her for motherhood and running a home. Girls were expected to marry as a virgin
and the typical marriage age for girls was 13 or 14, compared to a man's average age of around 30.
Their marriage would be organised by their father or another guardian known as a kurios, a title for
the father or another male relative. All women were expected to marry, since there was no place
in Athenian society for an unmarried woman, and love had very little to do with the whole thing.
Once married, a woman's life was all about having children, rearing them,
and managing the household, although wealthier families had slaves to aid the women at home.
Interactions with males who weren't relatives were discouraged, and women took up quiet indoor
activities such as weaving. They could visit the homes of friends and participate in some
religious ceremonies and festivals, but other than that, maidens, wives and mothers were
expected to stay at home and stay quiet, under the control of their male guardian.
We still aren't quite sure whether women were present at the theatre, but if they were,
they were more than likely separated from the men. Women in Athens couldn't attend assemblies and
married women were under the complete authority of their husband. As if it wasn't already bad enough
to be female, women were expected to be faithful to their husbands, to protect the legitimacy of
the male line, but the same expectation did not apply to men, who could and were expected to,
freely enjoy the company of prostitutes, concubines and courtesans - both female and male.
The laws around inheritance in ancient Athens did its best to keep any potential inheritance
out of the hands of women. If a woman's father died and she had brothers, the inheritance
would go to her brothers, and if she was an only child, it would go to her husband or guardian.
If a female inherited the estate of her father, she then had to marry her closest relative,
which was often an uncle, to keep the property in the family. If a woman became a widow, she
would once again have to marry the closest male relative for the same reason. Women could have
personal property like jewellery and clothing, but since she couldn't make a will upon her death,
all of her property went to her husband. In ancient Athens, marriage could be ended in three
ways - apart from the death of a spouse - with the first way being repudiation by the husband;
he didn't need a reason to end the marriage but he had to return the dowry. The second way
was a rare occurrence, and it was the woman leaving the family home. She would then be
legally represented by her new guardian, and her social reputation would be damaged in the process.
The third way was the bride's father asking for his daughter back, probably to marry a man with a
more attractive dowry. In this instance though she could only go if she hadn't had any children yet.
The women in Sparta lived lives of greater autonomy and far more rights;
they could inherit land, owned property, make business transactions, and were better
educated than most other women in ancient Greece. In the 9th century BCE, Lycurgus
reformed the Spartan law and emphasised the importance of equality between men and women.
Girls were given the same physical fitness training as boys - minus the
combat training - and their education at home was at the same level as the boys at public school.
Motherhood was a big deal in Sparta as well, but women were fiercely proud of their children.
While men were away at war, women managed finances, ran farms and estates, and operated
businesses. Women could take male lovers in order to have strong children if necessary,
and they could participate in most of their city's political and social life. The women's work
of Athens, such as weaving, cleaning, and child rearing were the work of female helots in Sparta.
'Helots' weren't slaves but they also weren't respected as equals either.
Sparta was considered by the Spartans as the best of all the city-states, as they felt
a society operated at its best when men and women were regarded as equals. Unlike Athens,
the profession of prostitution was considered by the Spartans as demeaning to both women and men.
There is evidence for lower class women holding other roles like potters, merchants, and craft
workers, but the source material available is scarce. Women were expected to stay indoors,
but the women you would often see outside of the home were the slaves, the foreigners,
and the prostitutes. The two professions that have been well-documented though were the
'pornē' and 'hetaira' of Athens. In Athens, prostitution was legal and state regulated;
it was the only way to make a living for many women, and Athens as a hub for trade,
saw many boys and men come through the city with money to spend.
What we call a prostitute today was known as a 'pornē' in ancient Athens, and they were the women
and men who could be found in taverns, brothels, street corners, private parties and by city walls.
Many pornē were slaves - some freed and some not - and they were forced to work by their masters or
had no other way to make a living. The statesman Solon, introduced a set price with the cost of a
pornē at one oval. Six ovals equalled one drachma, which was a day's wage for a labourer in Athens.
Pornē could earn extra money performing tasks defined as 'women's work', such as weaving and
spinning wool, when not with a client. If a pornē had a child, it would not be considered a citizen,
and neither would its mother for that matter. If the child was a girl, she would be raised to carry
on the same profession, and if it was a boy, he could be sold to an upper-class infertile woman,
or be abandoned. The pornē were the cheap option for sexual entertainment, which most men went for,
but there was also the 'hetaira' who were upper class women who were educated and skilled in music
or poetry. Hetaira were more expensive than pornē and their name translates to 'companion', which
explains their roles well, as they accompanied those who could afford them to various events as
a kind of friend - not a date. To be a hetaira, for some, was a chosen profession which allowed
them freedom to live their lives how they wished, and allowed them control over their finances.
Hetaira, or female companion, could be hired by a wealthy client to accompany him to a
social engagement or a festival, and didn't necessarily have anything to do with sex.
Intercourse for money was only one of the many services they offered.
Despite the way women were viewed in Athens and elsewhere in ancient Greece,
strong and important women featured regularly and prominently in their religious beliefs. Up
front is Athena, the goddess of wisdom, war, and crafts. Athena is the patron goddess of Athens,
she is powerful, intelligent, and often depicted as a helper and guide to heroes like Odysseus,
Jason and the Argonauts, Heracles and Achilles. She's a respected goddess who helped men succeed.
Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, and an excellent archer. Demeter, the goddess
of grain and the harvest, and Persephone, the goddess of spring, are fertility goddesses whose
significance is apparent, since agriculture was so crucial for ancient Greek communities. You also
have women like the goddess's Hera and Aphrodite causing trouble and making men lose their wits.
There are powerful witches like Medea and Circe, and the lovely, yet deadly, Sirens. The Amazons
were formidable, mythological female warriors who fought in the Trojan War. You have the Muses
who were celebrated for both their beauty and their inspiration of the arts, and Penelope,
faithful wife of Odysseus, who is considered a role model as the 'ideal' Greek woman. With so
many male-created famous women, it is really quite interesting that women were so limited in freedom
and so thoroughly dismissed and distrusted. One sphere in which women could exercise more freedom
and even escape the male gaze altogether, was the cult and religious festivals of ancient Greece.
The most important festival for women was the Thesmophoria, a fertility festival honouring
Demeter. Only married women were allowed to attend the Thesmophoria, although some ceremonies were
performed by maidens. The cult of Athena offered women positions of power and autonomy which
allowed them to fully participate in the life of the city from the time they were young girls.
Some women continued on as Athena's clergy while others left active service once they got married,
but either way, they continued to participate in the festivals honouring the goddess,
and were able to enjoy positions of respect and considerable power. Perhaps the most famous
religious position for a woman was the Pythia, who relayed the prophecies of the Oracle of Delphi.
In general, women could participate in rituals and ceremonies, and perform as
priestesses for certain deities like Demeter, Aphrodite and Dionysus.
Unfortunately, they were denied the same authority in their personal lives and were continually
subjected to the laws created and enforced by men, which were often then justified by the
patriarchal religious tales, known today as Greek mythology. Why do you think there are so many
powerful and intelligent women in Greek mythology, when opportunities for women in ancient Greece
were so limited? Let us know what you think in the comments below! If you enjoyed this video, make
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