In every case, both Greek and barbarian, and in all Greek societies, male and female function in separate spheres, and there is a sexual division of labor. Indications of respectability, such as nudity or concealing clothing, and ideas about promiscuity, virginity, and even the exercise of public power by women vary among ethnic groups. Descriptions of gender relations in other societies led some Greeks to realize that such relationships were not biologically determined or inevitable, and inspired them to articulate what was distinctive and original about their own.
Ethnic identities are contingent and change over time. Thucydides (1.5-6) described a progression of customs which were once practiced by both Greeks and barbarians alike, and were to be found in his day only among barbarians and a few unsophisticated Greek tribes. In the classical period some of the primitive practices of non-Greeks were still to be found in north-western and western Greece where the inhabitants did not live in settled political communities. There women could manage families and own slaves and other property without the assistance of a kyrios (Cabanes 1979: 193; 1980: 333-4). Although Thucydides does not mention Macedonia, these were probably the practices of the Macedonians who were migrant pastoralists before Philip II built cities for them. Thucydides does report that Greeks racing at Olympia discovered that clothing could trip them up, and that nude racing was more efficient. Thucydides goes on to contrast less civilized peoples who had not progressed to such knowledge. Thus in the visual arts Greek males are regularly nude, while barbarians are often heavily dressed, wearing concealing garments including pantaloons and caps. Similarly, at Sparta the helots - who were the lowliest members of society - were obliged to wear animal skins and leather hats as visual reminders that they were bestial and subhuman.
Xenophon, who was an eyewitness in Athens and Sparta, gives a picture of the women in both cities. Ischomachos, a wealthy Athenian, instructs his wife who is probably not more than fifteen years old:
(18) ‘‘The gods seem to have shown much discernment in yoking together female and male, as we call them, so that the couple might constitute a partnership that is most beneficial to each of them. (19) First of all, so that the various species of living creatures may not become extinct, this pair sleeps together for the purpose of procreation. Then this pairing provides offspring to support the partners in their old age, at least in the case of human beings. And finally, human beings do not live outdoors like cattle, but obviously have need of shelter. (20) Those who intend to obtain produce to bring into the shelter need someone to work at the outdoor jobs. For ploughing, sowing, planting, and herding is all work that is performed outdoors, and it is from these that our essential provisions are obtained. (21) As soon as these are brought into the shelter, then someone else is needed to look after them and to perform the work that requires shelters. The
Nursing of newborn children requires shelters, and so does the preparation of bread from grain, and likewise, making clothing out of wool. (22) Because both the indoor and the outdoor tasks require work and concern,’’ he said, ‘‘I think the god, from the very beginning, designed the nature of woman for the indoor work and concerns and the nature of man for the outdoor work. (23) For he prepared man’s body and mind to be more capable of enduring cold and heat and travelling and military campaigns, and so he assigned the outdoor work to him. Because the woman was physically less capable of endurance,’’ said Ischomachus, ‘‘I told her that I thought the god has evidently assigned the indoor work to her. (24) And because the god was aware that he had both created in the woman and assigned to her the duty of nourishing newborn children, he had measured out to her a greater share of affection for newborn babies than he gave to the man. (25) And because the god had also assigned to the woman the duty of guarding what had been brought into the house, because he realised that a tendency to be afraid is not at all disadvantageous for guarding things, he measured out a greater portion of fear to the woman than to the man. And knowing that the person responsible for the outdoor work would have to serve as defender against any wrong-doer, he measured out to him a greater share of courage. (26) Because it is necessary for both of them to give and to take, he gave both of them equal powers of memory and concern. So, you would not be able to distinguish whether the female or male sex has the larger share of these. (27) And he gave them both equally the ability to practise self-control also, when it is needed. And the god granted the privilege to whichever one is superior in this to gain a larger share of the benefit accruing from it - whether man or woman. (28) So, because each of them is not equally well-endowed with all the same natural aptitudes, then they are more in need ofeach other, and the bond is more beneficial to the couple, since one is capable where the other is deficient.’’ (Xenophon Oikonomikos 7; trans. Pomeroy 1994: 141, 143,145)
Figure 17.2 In the women’s quarters a mother reaches for her baby boy, the goal of marriage. Attic red figure lebes gamikos. Washing Painter. Courtesy Staatliche Antikensamm-lungen und Glyptothek, Munich.
Xenophon viewed the Athenian woman in terms of her relationship with her husband and his household, but he describes the Spartan in the context of her education in preparation for motherhood.
(1.3) First, to begin at the beginning, I will take the begetting of children. In other states the girls who are destined to become mothers and are brought up in the approved fashion, live on the very plainest fare, with a most meagre allowance of delicacies. Wine is either withheld altogether, or, if allowed them, is diluted with water. The rest of the Greeks expect their girls to imitate the sedentary life that is typical of handicraftsmen - to keep quiet and do wool-work. How, then, is it to be expected that women so brought up will bear fine children? (4) But Lycurgus thought the labour of slave women sufficient to supply clothing. He believed motherhood to be the most important function of freeborn woman. Therefore, in the first place, he insisted on physical training for the female no less than for the male sex: moreover, he instituted races and trials of strength for women competitors as for men, believing that if both parents are strong they produce more vigorous offspring. (5) He noticed, too, that, during the time immediately succeeding marriage, it was usual elsewhere for the husband to have unlimited intercourse with his wife. The rule that he adopted was the opposite of this: for he laid it down that the husband should be ashamed to be seen entering his wife’s room or leaving it. With this restriction on intercourse the desire of the one for the other must necessarily be increased, and their offspring was bound to be more vigorous than if they were surfeited with one another. (6) In addition to this, he withdrew from men the right to take a wife whenever they chose, and insisted on their marrying in the prime of their manhood, believing that this too promoted the production of fine children. (Xenophon Lak. Pol.: 137, 139, trans. Marchant (Loeb))
Athenian artists regularly showed women wearing several layers of clothing, tangible evidence of their hermetic seclusion from the world around them. Concealing clothing tainted barbarians with effeminacy, and Athenian women with barbarism, and both groups were categorized as primitive. Only in rendering a non-Greek mythical figure like an Amazon or a victim of violence did the Athenian artist show a seminude female. At Sparta, in contrast, physical training was obligatory for boys and girls, and athletic nudity was required of both.
World History
