Women in Ancient Greece
Women’s position varied by polis, period, civic status and wealth. A free Athenian woman, Spartan woman and enslaved woman lived under different legal conditions. In Classical Athens women did not participate in the assembly and held a legal position distinct from male citizens, while playing important roles in households and religious rites.
Evidence includes inscriptions, images and texts, often written by men. Comedy, forensic speeches and philosophical proposals describe different situations. Plato’s proposals concerning female guardians do not describe ordinary Athenian law.
Marble relief from Mantineia, Greece, fourth century BCE, associated with the workshop of Praxiteles.Women's clothing
The peplos, chiton and himation are important in women’s dress. The peplos is often described as a wool garment with an upper fold pinned at the shoulders; a chiton could have more numerous joins along shoulders and arms. Doric and Ionic labels should not become one cloth-width rule for every period.
The himation formed an outer drape, while a belt could alter fit and garment length. Images show different combinations, not one fashion throughout Greece. Footwear and jewellery should follow a specific monument.
Breast bands should be understood as supporting or shaping the silhouette, not as proven means of preventing breast growth. Their presence does not automatically identify a courtesan or an attempt to conceal pregnancy.
Bronze female statue from Kalymnos, second century BCE; National Archaeological Museum, Athens.
Relief fragment with a woman and infant, from the Troad; Louvre, Paris. A precise date requires a catalogue reference.
Statuette of Aphrodite or a Muse from the Tomb of the Erotes, Eretria, Euboea, 300-250 BC; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.Clothing and footwear: - Chiton - Peplos - Himation - Greek footwear
Jewellery and fastenings: - Rings - Necklaces - Earrings - Bracelets - Fibulae - Hairpins - Diadem
Modern reconstruction of ancient Greek women’s dress.Related topics
Ancient Greece, Chiton, Ancient textiles, Women in ancient Rome, Samnite women
Literature and sources
- Sarah B. Pomeroy. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. 1975.
- Matthew Dillon. Girls and Women in Classical Greek Religion. 2002.
- John J. Winkler. The Constraints of Desire. 1990.
- Plato. Republic, Book V.
- Metropolitan Museum: Women in Classical Greece.
- Metropolitan Museum: Ancient Greek Dress.
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