Prostitutes In Ancient Athens

The marriage of an Athenian woman and man is hard to define exactly because there has not been an exact word translated that is equivalent to the word, “marriage.” The Athenians have words that translate as physical acts for a marriage for the sake of having a child, they also have words that translate as “cohabit” or “live together.” This leads to the conclusion that our traditional connotation of marriage as a bond is not the way it was in Athens. The reasons for a man and a woman to be joined in marriage were nor for love, as we would expect, it would be for profitable and more pragmatic reasons. Usually most beneficial to the male’s in the bride’s life. Since the women were not supposed to be unattended they are assumed to have accepted what was decided for them in terms of a husband. “…A husband normally addresses his wife as “woman.” The Greek word for woman, is

Women were unable to own land property. They were only allowed to own small personal possessions. Women were not allowed to voice their opinions about public issues. Men were the only ones who could participate in political events. Women were only permitted to participate in festivals, religious events, weddings, and funerals. Women were given free time in which they were permitted to go visit a female friend only for a short period of time. All females were also not permitted to watch the Olympic Games because the contestants did not wear cloths. Chariot Racing was the only event that women were allowed to compete in. However, this was very rare because they had to own a horse. The only way women were able to attain any sort of power is when they became the wife of a prominent man. Women were socially inferior to men.

Women were considered to be the “weaker vessels ,” not as strong physically or mentally as men and less emotionally stable. Legally they could neither vote, hold public office, nor participate in legal matters on their own behalf, and opportunities for them outside the home were frequently limited .

Women have played important roles throughout history. They have been responsible for the rise and fall of nations, sustaining families, and have been the focal point of worship in ancient religions. Moving forward in history, women's roles have continually changed. Their status as matriarchs changed as the more advanced ancient civilizations rose. The patriarchal societies of ancient Greece and Rome viewed women differently from some societies of past eras. The study of the economic and political status of women, their rights, and their contributions to both these ancient societies reveals how views change throughout history.

Gender roles and relationships of Greek were not equal. Women were seen as weaker begins and men had most of the control over the women. Women born of two Athenian parents were considered citizens with partial legal protection. They had the responsibilities for performing certain religious rituals of great important for the state. Unfortunately, like slaves, they were excluded from attending meetings of the assembly, holding annual public offices, serving

On the contrary to life of women in Athens, the women of Sparta had considerable freedom. They were allowed to leave their houses when ever they pleased. They were required per the state policy to have education both from physical and educational perspective. The reason for physical education was because they could make and nourish babies that would be healthy for the children to be capable of being good warriors and if the baby was not fit as they would be judged by the elders, as mentioned before they would be left to die outside the city.

Unlike their husbands, Athenian women were forced to stay indoors at all times. They were controlled by their fathers through childhood and by their husbands after marriage. Mostly uneducated, except for learning how to read, they spent their time managing the household and slaves. They were only allowed to leave the house to attend certain religious festivals.

“Virtue can only flourish among equals.” - Mary Wollstonecraft. In Athens, all citizens were equal, therefore a strong community thrived. Starting in 500 BCE a new idea of citizenship was starting to form. This idea was used by Athens and Rome, and included giving citizens a balance between rights and responsibilities. This paved the way for modern day citizenship in our countries and many others. Athens had a better system of citizenship because they chose government offices by lottery, to keep a strong democracy they made sure no one had too much power, and citizens in all social classes could participate in government.

Only men could be citizens. To be a citizen, you had to not only be a man, but also be financially secure as well as you had to be born in Athens and so did both of your parents. Women were forbidden to be citizens, along with slaves, foreigners and children, or anyone else who did not meet the proper criteria. To be a citizen meant you had the right to vote, since Athens was a democratic society. However a woman not being able to vote does not make Athens a true democratic society. Sadly this was not the only right women did not have.

The Greek society was all about Man. The woman was not considered as the citizens, there was a no Tracy of any female scholar during that era. The Female voice was considered totally invaluable. The Things got getting better as and when the years passing by.

Women in classical Athens could not have had an extremely enjoyable experience, if we rely on literary sources concerning the roles of women within the Greek polis. The so-called Athenian democracy only benefited a fraction of the entire population. At least half of this population was female, yet women seem to have had very little influence and few official civic rights. `The position of women...is a subject which has provoked much controversy.'

            Before comparing the women of the Odyssey to those of Athens, it is beneficial to take a look into the lives of the latter.  A respected woman was to have characteristics including obedience, virtue, refinement, productivity, honor, beauty, talent and intelligence (social consciousness).  Sarah B. Pomeroy has studied this aspect of ancient life and

The groom’s choice in bride was largely determined by the amount of dowry the bride would bring with her. Although the wedding was a happy ceremony, it was only the beginning of a woman’s loss of independence. Not only did women possess no independent status in the eyes of the law; she always remained under the supervision of a male. If her husband died, she was returned to her father’s or brother’s home where they would take charge of her. After the wedding, the wife’s duties were centered on the management of the home. She would overlook the slaves, mend and make clothing for her family, usually done by spinning or knitting, weave rugs and baskets for the home, or just fold and refold the clothing kept in the family chest. The wife was also responsible for maintaining her attractiveness for her husband. A proper Athenian wife would adorn herself with jewelry and use rouge upon her husband’s arrival home. Sometimes she might spend an entire evening sitting next to the couch where her husband lay reclining. Most importantly the Athenian women were seen as “fine upstanding matrons” fit to bear a race of excellent athletes” (Everyday Life in Ancient Greece, pg. 86). An Athenian man married primarily to have children. These children were expected to care for him in his old age, but more importantly to bury him with the “full appropriate rites” (Daily Life in Greece, pg. 57). Moreover, Athenian men married to have male children in order to perpetuate the family

The title of Sarah B. Pomeroy's book on women in antiquity is a summary of the main categories of females in the literary imagination and the societies of ancient Greece and Rome, over a period of fifteen hundred years. Beginning with goddesses, Pomery retells some Greek myths, outlining the social functions of female Olympians – the goddesses are archetypical images of human females, as envisioned by males. Desirable characteristics among a number of females rather than their concentration in one being are appropriate to a patriarchal society. Demosthenes states in the fourth century B.C. this ideal among mortal men, "We have mistresses for our enjoyment, concubines to serve our person and wives for the bearing of legitimate children (Pomery 1995)." Pomery’s goal in writing this book was to detail and outline the true significance of women in all other their roles in antiquity.

In Athens, Ancient Greece, it was hard to be a woman because women were not only considered the weaker sex next to men, but also had very little rights, “Our noble magistrate, why waste you words on these sub-human creatures…” (Aristophanes 199). The women of Athens around 400 B.C.E. were mainly seen as sexual objects and housewives, not by only the men, but the women themselves. This shows in Aristophanes writing: