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What place was there for women in Athenian democracy? - Coggle Diagram
What place was there for women in Athenian democracy?
Thesis
the "place" for women was not defined by political participation or public speech, but by their indispensability as biological and religious anchors of the state
Defining citizenry through the Mother
Ath Pol
Perikles Citizenship Law 451/0 BC, mandated that a man could only be a citizen if both his parents were Athenians
Demosthenes 59
notes that the primary purpose of a wife was to produce true-born children who could sustain the city's political life
significance
Without the Athenian woman, the democracy would literally cease to exist
Religious Authority and State Priesthoods
ML 44
5th century decree records the decision to appoint a priestess for Athena Nike, specifically stipulating she be "appointed from all Athenian women", rather than just the elite gene
Aristophanes, Lysistrata
describes the procession of high-born girls through roles like arrephoros (age 7) and playing the 'bear' at Brauronia
significance
because the polis was a religious community as much as a political one, women's ritual roles were seen as civic service equivalent to a man's military service
the Oikos as microcosm of the state
women were sovereign in the household, which the athenians viewed as the fundamental unit of the democracy
Xenophon, Oeconomicus
the management of the household is framed as a partnership where the wife acts as the guardian of the stores, and overseer of the domestic economy
Aristotle, Politics
defines the city as a community of households, implying that if the oikos was poorly managed by the mistress, the state itself would be unstable
significance
the democracy relied on women to manage private wealth and maintain the domestic order, so that men were free to attend the Assembly and serve on juries
legal protections and the epikleros
the law provided specific protections for women to ensure the continuity of the family and integrity of the citizen body
Demosthenes 21
the law on hubris made it a public crime to commit "wanton attack" against a woman, whether free or slave
Plutarch, Solon
discusses the laws regarding the epikleros, which demonstrate the state's concern with ensuring that a woman's inheritance remained tied to her father's oikos, and would eventually pass to a legitimate citizen heir
significance
while women lacked autonomy (always requiring a kyrios), they possessed legal visibility when their status or the transmission of property was at stake
the limit of "place"
The "place" for women was strictly bounded; the democracy functioned by keeping their influence behind closed doors or within the sanctuary
Isaios 10
records a law that no woman could make a contract for any value above a "medimnus of barley", barring them from the marketplace
Thucydides 2.45
Pericles says the greatest glory for a woman is to be "least talked about among men", showing the democratic ideal of female invisibility