Aristophanes Position Of Athenian Women

The position of Athenian women in the classical period was that they were inferior to the male counterparts. Athens during the classical period was a predominantly patriarchal society, therefore, the division of labour was by gender; women were to tend to household duties while men worked outdoors. Athenian women were also expected to remain silent, they were a muted group which was expected to behave obediently, remain loyal and virtuous to their husbands. The idea of women being equal to their male counterparts, especially in known texts always appears as a joking matter; this is exemplified in Aristophanes’ play where he imagines what it would be like if women were to take over. This paper will examine the freedom of women in classical
The domestic space was also divided by gender, women slept and assembled on the upper floors of the house while their husband slept or assembled on the lower floors. Strikingly, when there were visitors in the Athenian Home they would only meet the males of the family and the women would not be mentioned even by name. Women living in classical Athens were a muted group; they were to remain loyal, virtuous and obedient to their husbands while their husbands were not necessarily expected to do the same. In addition as shown in Lysias’ Murder of Eratosthenes, Athenian women were veiled and only permitted to unveil for their husbands; even when guests arrived to the house they would only meet the male members of the family while the women would not be mentioned by name. The exclusion was not only limited to the home, women in Athenian society were not viewed as citizens and as a result were not permitted to partake in politics nor did they have any political rights which would enable them to own land. In the discourse between Socrates and Ischomachus in Xenophon’s text it is evident that the position of women in Athens was one which confined them to their homes .Women were expected to tend to activities inside the home while their husbands attended to other duties outside the home; Athenian society was patriarchal, therefore, the common belief was that women should remain at home and it was the duty of their husbands to ensure that they knew how to maintain the home. In turn, while men endured the hard labour, they also had a significant amount of leisure time that Athenian women did not; this is evident in the fact that Ischomachus is able to maintain his physique because he is not required to remain indoors and work at home .For women it was more honorable to remain at