In the Eyes of Men: The Treatment of Women in Ancient Greek Life

“Again, the male is by nature superior, and the female inferior; and the one rules, and the other is ruled; this principle, of necessity, extends to all mankind…A husband and father rules over wife and children, both free, but the rule differs, the rule over his children being a royal, over his wife a consitutional rule. For although there are many exceptions to the order of nature, the male is by nature fitter for command than the female… The relation of the male to the female is of this kind, but there the inequality is permanent… The freeman rules over the slave after another manner from that in which the male rules over the female” – Lefkowitz.

In the Bible, even today, we read about how God created heaven and earth, man, and from the rib of man, woman. Since that point in time, men and women have been two seperate entities with seperate roles in the pursuit of a successful society. Although God might not have intended for a seperation between man and woman to occur, it has undoubtfully. Aspects in the character of each have done so, causing men to be dominant, in most cases, over women. This can be traced through the ages, from times such as the age of the Greeks, to today. This paper will examine the change in the treatment, being the equality compared to that of a man, of women by men in society in terms of marriage, citizenship, and mythology.

“In Athens, the wives of citizens enjoyed no more political or legal rights than did their slaves”. In the times of Homer, there was a brief period of preservation of the importance of women in society, but it quickly passed and became something quite different than Homer had intended. Women had very little say so in any matter, even in matters that directly effected them, such as marriage. “It was, in fact, the girl’s kyrios (that is, her father, or, failing him, a blood-brother, or a grandfather, or, in the last resort, her legal guardian) who chose a husband for her and decided when she was to be married. Doubtless in many cases her own wishes were ascertained; but we have no evidence to suggest this, and her consent was not in the slightest degree necessary” . As if this isn’t a violation of rights in itself, it is also a fact that women could be married off and have children as soon as they reached the age of puberty, this being around twelve or thirteen. “A man should marry at about thirty, choosing for his wife a girl of sixteen”.