Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

82 Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks
represent herself, the law afforded her no protection from further
abuse, as we learn from an anecdote told by Plutarch about
Hipparete, Alkibiades’ wife, who became so distressed by her
husband’s philandering that she went to live with her brother.
When she lodged a complaint against him in the courts, Alkibiades
“seized hold of her and dragged her back home through the
Agora, with no-one daring to stop him or rescue her” (Plutarch,
Life of Alkibiades 8. 4). If a divorce was granted, no formalities were
required other than the return of the dowry to the wife’s oikos. The
husband, too, was free to claim back whatever he had contributed,
as the following deed of divorce from Hellenistic Egypt indicates.
Although the document is dated to the beginning of the fourth
century c.e. , contracts of this kind may well have been drawn up
in earlier times as well. It is interesting to note that the responsibility
for the marital breakdown is ascribed to an evil spirit
(daimôn )—the ancient equivalent of irreconcilable differences.
Soulis, gravedigger, of the region of Kusis, to Senpais, daughter of Psais
and Tees, grave-digger, greetings. Because it has come about as the result
of some evil spirit that we are estranged from one another in respect
to our common life, I, the said Soulis, hereby admit before sending her
away that I have received all the objects that I gave her . . . and that she
is free to depart and marry whomever she wishes.
I, the said Senpais, acknowledge that I have received from the said
Soulis all that I gave him by way of dowry. (Select Papyri 1 no. 8 in Loeb
Classical Series)
Widows
Because of the large age difference between men and women at
marriage, many wives became widows by the time they reached
their late twenties or early thirties. Young widows were expected
to remarry, whereas older widows probably enjoyed considerable
freedom. In view of the fact that the dowry that a wife brought with
her had to be returned to her natal household (i.e., to the head of
the family into which she was born) in the event of her husband’s
death, widows, like divorcees, were guaranteed some degree of
economic security.
Common-Law Wives
Athenians could also enter into a less formal and less binding
arrangement than marriage with a pallakê, a term that approximates