Women, Marriage, and Sexuality in Ancient Greece

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering social classes, marriage laws, domestic roles, and concepts of sexuality in ancient Athens across all five lecture sources.

Oikos (plural: oikoi)

The household or family unit in ancient Athens, which Athenian citizen wives were duty-bound to preserve by producing legitimate heirs for both the family and the state.

Metics

Resident aliens living in Athens, representing a distinct social class alongside citizen males, citizen females, and enslaved populations.

Epikleros

An heiress daughter in ancient Athens who had no brothers; to keep the estate within the family line, an uncle or male relative of the deceased was required to marry her, and property transferred through her husband to her sons.

Dowry

Wealth or property provided by a father for his daughter upon marriage, which was managed by her husband and had to be returned to her family if a divorce occurred.

Seclusion

The social practice in Athens whereby citizen women were ideally kept confined inside the home to guard against adultery and ensure that all offspring were of legitimate citizen descent.

Courtesans (Hetairai)

High-class, educated female companions described as geisha-like, who were associated with pleasure rather than running a domestic household or producing legitimate heirs.

Concubines

Women maintained within a household specifically for domestic duties and sexual companionship, distinguished from legal wives and courtesans.

Ideal Athenian Marriage Ages

The demographic standard in ancient Athens where the groom was typically around $30$ years old and the bride was approximately $14$ to $16$ years old.

Athenian Wedding Ritual

A ceremony contracted between the bride's senior male guardian and the groom, featuring a feast at the bride's house, a procession to the groom's home, wedding chamber rituals while a crowd made noise to drive away evil spirits, and a gift-giving feast for friends the following day.

Athenian Sibling Marriage Law

A legal custom that strictly banned marriages between full siblings, but permitted marriage between half-siblings who shared the same father but had different mothers.

Erastes

The older, adult male lover and mentor in an idealized ancient Greek pederastic relationship.

Eromenos

The younger adolescent male, or the beloved, who received guidance, affection, and mentorship from an older erastes.

Elite Military Units (Couples in Warfare)

Specialized military forces organized as pairs of male lovers, based on the belief that mutual love and romantic devotion inspired greater bravery and higher moral behavior on the battlefield.