The Gortyn Law Code

Based on the questions and the comments posed by William Melton, it can be argued that the judge defines slavery as a circumstance where one party is in the service of a second party and forced to do the bidding of the second party without intending to compensate the one in service and then subsequently called a slave. Evidence for this can be found by referring to William Melton’s questions pertaining to the type of work Abina did, if payment was involved and if Abina could exercise her own free will (85). It can be suggested from the text is that William Melton is trying to gauge whether any crime had occurred based on the values held by most British officials, as alluded by James Hutton Brew (19;20). Questions concerning Abina’s treatment, type of work and physical abuse are the factors that a magistrate like William Melton consider relevant in making a verdict. However, this differs from Abina definition of slavery as it does not account for Abina’s lack of agency in her own life. As she states, “I had been sold and I had no will of my own and I could not look after my body and health: that I am a slave” (88). It can be concluded from the quote above that Abina considered slavery the to be the inability to dictate choices in one’s life while being the property of another individual.

15. If any one takes a male or female slave of the court, or a male or female slave of a freed man, outside the city

The old Greek and Roman realms are two cases of where insubordinate activities now give a premise to advanced law. From the Greeks, we have come to know the narrative of Socrates by Plato, and the Roman age was the season of St. Perpetua, an early Christian lady. The destiny of those people is comparable – a capital punishment passed on by the general public they lived in. In spite of the fact that the closure of their lives is comparable, the distinctions that lie in the reasoning of their demise are more unpredictable, with key variables influencing their individual pre-predetermined future. In this, we will see, these elements influence their connections to the states and time periods in which they existed.

Throughout the ancient world women possessed few rights and privileges. A woman’s freedom varied depending on where she was born, in this case Athens and Sparta. But it can be said that most women were second-class citizens during this time period. Most women had limited social roles, little education, and no involvement in politics. Power and freedom was something that only existed in a man’s world, while women were expected to be submissive, docile, bear children, and take care of the household. Surviving records from ancient Greece show that women’s roles did not differ much from city-state to city-state but there were exceptions that include noble women and most notably, Spartan women. Some civilizations treated women with respect



 Not Criminally Responsible on account of Mental Disorder (NCRMD) is a legal defence by excuse mostly used in countries such as Australia and Canada. It is well stipulated in criminal laws of such countries where a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally responsible for breaking the law on the grounds that they are were mentally ill at the time when they committed the criminal offence (Penney, 2013). The issue of NCRMD may only arise on the following occasions (1) the accused committed the act or omission that formed the basis of the offence without motivation or intent and (2) at the time of the act or omission, the accused suffered from a mental disorder which made him/her incapable of fully being aware of the the nature, character and consequences of the act.

Evidently, women of ancient Greece were subjected to what modern day women may consider harsh and unfair treatment as a result of some irrational beliefs and practices that were given judicial recognition. Because of fear of facing the consequences that may arise from contesting these laws, many women living during that period made no attempt to do so. So they remained as they were considered to be – weak and helpless – because of fear. Sophocles’ mythical anecdote of Antigone, however, shows the apparently unseen characteristics of women, though not all women, in ancient Greece. They were not as weak, helpless and unwise as they were believed to have been but were strong willed individuals, possessing strong characters and competent of making sound decisions.

This ancient Athenian murder trial centralizes around the expectations of marriage, the role of women in ancient Greece, and the dangers a husband faces after failing to properly supervise his wife. Euphiletus stands accused of the murder of Eratosthenes, his wife’s lover. According to Athenian law, if a husband finds his wife in bed with another man, it is the husband’s right to determine what penalty the male adulterer will face. The Husband could demand he pay a fine, or even justifiably kill him. The time period of Euphiletus’ trial had come to acknowledge financial compensation as the common settlement for such offenses. Eratosthenes’ family is having Euphiletus prosecuted for premeditated murder; leaving Euphiletus to convince a jury

Greek Woman was considered to be submissive which means once you are married to a woman, then she is in your full control. The woman in ancient was not allowed to own the property, in one way we can also relate that the woman had fewer rights than the man because they could hardly express their feeling. The woman was not considered as the citizens.

Imagine being a woman in an ancient society. A society where are considered weak and vulnerable, females aren’t allowed to work outside of the house, have no education, and continuously get disrespected by men. This was the reality for all women in Greece no matter their social class. Ideas like feminism, or equality amongst all genders were not heard of. It goes to show that when in Ancient Greece, men had more power within the government, inside the household, and in society compared to women.

A person’s worth and identity in modern culture is not determined solely by the principles of either of the two Greek cultures; rather, both have contributed aspects to the system we have. The

Justice and gender are put into relation with each other in Aeschylus’ Oresteia. In this trilogy, Greek society is characterized as a patriarch, where the oldest male assumes the highest role of the oikos (household). The household consists of a twofold where the father is the head, and the wife and children are the extended family. The head of the oikos is the only one who possesses the authority to seek justice. This is because the father acquires the authority through the inheritance law or male lineage. On the contrary, Greek society seems to transform to a matriarch when Clytemnestra solely murders Agamemnon because she, like primitive males, exercises destructive justice and enters the cycle

Readers of the three Greek plays, Oedipus the King, Antigone, and Medea, can easily gather an abundance of information about the different cultural details within the Greek society at that time. One of the major cultural values that can be picked up from these three plays, is the roles of women in this society. The roles of women can be observed through a comparison between them and their male counterparts.

During this century, women were present, but they weren’t thought to be nor do much where they lived. This idea was common amongst almost every civilization during this time. In Greek civilization, they had this attitude towards women. In Ancient Greece, women had very few rights, especially compared to those of their male counterparts. Women were unable to vote, own land, and inherit things. They were also not allowed to run for any position in office, nor attend public assemblies. Some women during this time were also prostitutes. The

The first section of this piece will attempt to explore the conflicts that occurred between the aristocrats and the peasants in Solon’s Athens on the basis of land and slavery, and the solutions that Solon posed in the form of laws, as well as the effects that they had on the citizens of the time. There were city of Athens was divided into three parts; there was the Hill, the Plain, and the Shore (Plutarch: Solon, 54). Each division contained it’s own people with different political views. The Hill supported an extreme democracy, whereas the Plain supported an extreme oligarchy, and the Shore wanted a government that wasn’t quite an oligarchy, and wasn’t quite a democracy. The Shore wanted a government that was modeled after, and was a mix of both democracy and oligarchy (Plutarch: Solon 54). The presence of this third party made it very difficult for either extreme party to rise above the other (Plutarch: Solon 54). The land quality of the peasants was very poor and it was located in the barren part of the city, however the rich owned vast amounts of good quality land (Trumbach). It was very common to find peasants in debt to the aristocrats because of their bad quality land. Many times, commoners would cultivate on the land owned by the aristocrats, and pay them one-sixth of the produce that was harvested (Plutarch: Solon, 54). It was also apparent that peasants would use themselves as collateral, and were often seized as debt slaves by their

I also feel it is necessary to include a brief summary of Aristotle’s conception or theory of slavery, how he would apply the institution of slavery in his ideal city. The remainder of the paper will include discussion and commentary on the validity of Aristotle’s defense of slavery, including both criticisms as well as limited support for the logical consistency.