The status and characteristics of ancient and modern-day women in Greece evolved from the events that occurred in the history of Greece. According to Michael Scott, in his article "The Rise of Women in Ancient Greece" History Today , "place of women" and their achievements in ancient Greece was best described by Thucidydes in this quotation: that The greatest glory [for women] is to be least talked about among men, whether in praise or blame.
In , they received their right to vote, [5] which led to their earning places and job positions in businesses and in the government of Greece ; and they were able to maintain their right to inherit property, even after being married. Although mostly women lacked political and equal rights in ancient Greece, they enjoyed a certain freedom of movement until the Archaic age.
Attic red-figure kylix, 5th BC, Stoa of Attalos ]]]] Women in Classical Athens had no legal personhood and were assumed to be part of the oikos household headed by the male kyrios master. In Athenian Society the legal term of a wife was known as a damar , a word that is derived from the root meaning of "to subdue" or "to tame".
While the average age to get married for men was around 30, the average age for women was This system was implemented as a way to ensure that girls were still virgins when they wed; it also made it possible for husbands to choose who their wife's next husband was going to be before he died.
Later, it was common for most of the women to marry a close relative of her father if she became adjunct to that that property. The only permanent barrier to citizenship, and hence full political and civil rights, in ancient Athens was gender. No women ever acquired citizenship in ancient Athens, and therefore women were excluded in principle and practice from ancient Athenian democracy.
