Women of Ancient Greece

Abstract

This book describes every aspect of women's lives in ancient Greece, including their religious, familial and domestic duties; their economic importance; and their social, moral and legal status as wives, cohabitees or slaves. It examines women's sexual roles, what the status of a woman's body was and what her own and others' attitudes were likely to be towards it. The book does all this in the context of the development and achievements of Greek civilisation. Women appear not to have been highly regarded in ancient Greece, with female infanticide a common practice. Strains of misogyny can be heard in Greek literature, drama and philosophy: ‘The most unintelligent people in the world’ is how one character refers to women in Plato's Symposium (which also features Diotima, his best-known female sage). Women had few duties beyond the home, and the evidence that they existed at all is tantalisingly small. Yet, by piecing together fragments and clues, the book gives us a vivid account of women's lives in Greece 2,500 years ago.