Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

The People 81
Gorgo: Is Praxinoa in?
Praxinoa: Gorgo, my love, what a long time it’s been since I saw
you—yes, I’m in. I’m surprised you made it, though.
(To her slave ) Eunoa, go and get a chair and cushion
for the lady.
Gorgo: Oh, don’t bother. I’m quite all right.
Praxinoa: Sit down.
Gorgo: What a silly thing I am! I was nearly crushed alive
getting here. There are chariots, boots, and men in
uniforms everywhere. And the road is endless. You
are always moving farther and farther away.
Praxinoa: It’s that stupid husband of mine. He buys this house
out in the wilds—it’s not even a house—it’s just a
hovel—purely to stop us from seeing each other. He’s
spiteful, just like all men.
Gorgo: You shouldn’t talk about your husband like that
when the baby’s here. You see how he’s looking at
you. (To the baby ) Don’t worry, Sopyrion, sweetie, she
isn’t talking about Daddy.
Praxinoa: Heavens above! The child does understand.
Gorgo: Nice Daddy.
Praxinoa: The other day I told that Daddy of hers to pop out
and get some soap and red dye and the idiot came
back with a cube of salt! (lines 1–17)
The Legal and Political Status of Wives
Athenian women had no political rights. Legally, too, their position
was one of inferiority to men. A law quoted by the fourthcentury
b.c.e. orator Isaios decreed that “No child or woman shall
have the power to make any contract above the value of a medimnos
of barley” (10.10). (A medimnos was a measure of corn sufficient to
sustain a family in food for barely a week.) They were not permitted
to buy or sell land, and, although they were entitled to acquire
property through dowry, inheritance, or gift, it was managed for
them by their legal guardian (i.e., their father, male next of kin, or
husband). Women thus remained perpetually under the control,
or, to use a more benign term, tutelage, of some man, whatever
their age or status. A wife seeking a divorce would most commonly
be represented in the courts by her next of kin. If she sought to