Women in Classical Athens

The study of the lives of women in Classical Athens has been a significant part of classical scholarship since the 1970s. Our knowledge of Athenian women's lives comes from a variety of ancient sources. Much of it is literary evidence from various genres, such as tragedy, comedy, and oratory. Other pieces of evidence are archaeological, for instance epigraphy and pottery. What links all of this evidence is that it was produced by, and largely for, men: there is therefore no direct ancient testimony by Classical Athenian women on their own lives.

Classical Athenian girls were not formally educated; rather, their mothers would have taught them the skills they would need to run a household. They married young, often to much older men. When they married, Athenian women had two main roles: to bear children, and to run the household. In elite families, there was an ideology of seclusion, and wealthy women would not have been permitted to socialise with unrelated men. However, in most families this ideology would have been impractical: women were needed to carry out tasks such as going to the market and drawing water, which required taking time outside the house where interactions with men were possible.

Legally, women's rights were limited. They were barred from political participation, and Athenian women were not permitted to represent themselves in law, though it seems that metic women (a metic was a resident alien; free, but without the rights and privileges of an Athenian citizen) could. They were also forbidden from conducting any economic transactions worth more than a nominal amount. However, it seems that this restriction was not always obeyed. Especially in poorer families, women would have worked to earn money, and would also have been responsible for household tasks such as cooking and washing clothes. Athenian women had limited capacity to own property, although they could have significant dowries, and could inherit.

The area of civic life in which Athenian women were most free to participate was the religious and ritual sphere. Along with important festivals reserved solely for women, they participated in many mixed-sex ritual activities. Of particular importance in Athens was the cult of Athena Polias, whose priestess held considerable influence. Women played an important role in the Panatheneia, the annual festival in honour of Athena. Along with the city-level religious rituals, women also played an important role in domestic religious ritual.

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