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Western Civilization I / Unit 4   WC1 0304 short lesson, about 20 seconds

Athenian Women as Legal Minors

Captions available

The idea

Athenian women were not citizens: no office, no property, no standing in court, wards of father then husband. Elite women kept to the inner house; poorer women worked without control of earnings. Symposia used enslaved women as entertainers.

In practice

Aspasia, Pericles' companion, a hetaira inside the elite circle.

Where people slip

Every source is an elite man. Sparta, the anchor notes, empowered women far more.

Your place on the trail

Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.

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