The (a)   position of Athenian women was protected by law

A women’s (a)   remained always separate from that of her husband, though he had the control of the income from it.

Husbands could divorce their wives as they chose, though the (a)   had to be returned with her.

Marriages could be dissolved by the wife’s (a)   , particularly if the marriage was childless.

It was a matter of shame to the whole family if a daughter remained (a)   .

Through the (a)   system girls took money and property out of their families into the family of their husbands and were thus a drain of their family’s economy.

(a)   legislation laid down that unmarried girls who had not been seduced could not be sold into slavery.

The (a)   , or household unit, consisted of family, property and slaves.

In any family it was normal that property be divided between the existing (a)   sons.

When there were no sons, estates were left in the possession of epikleros which means (a)  

Some of the most detailed regulations are found in the (a)   law code from Crete.

The necessity of an (a)   marrying her nearest male relative (such as her father’s brother) could lead to the dissolution of an existing marriage.

The motive behind the legislation regarding epikleroi was to ensure that the (a)   remain within the family group.

Sexual misconduct and (a)   were inadmissible on the part of a citizen woman.

Legally an adulterer could be prosecuted, (a)   or killed.

Women caught in adultery could not however be killed, but they had to be (a)   by their husbands and were not allowed to participate in religious rites.

A woman’s duties and responsibilities in the (a)   tended to keep her at home

Women were responsible not only for the care of the children and management of the slaves but for overseeing all the production of (a)   and materials which contributed very significantly to the household’s economy as a whole.

Women did leave the houses to visit friends, and were permitted to attend (a)   .

There were also priestesses in (a)   who held positions of great social and religious importance, such as the priestesses of Athena Polias and Athena Nike.

Our accounts of Sparta from Xenophon and (a)   are arguably biased in favour of Spartan institutions.

In Sparta (a)   is the concern of slaves and girls take part in physical exercise to toughen them for childbearing.

Spartan women had considerably more (a)   than women elsewhere in Greece, perhaps because the men were so often away at war.

Spartan women tended to marry later and could

engage in activities unheard of elsewhere, (a)   and walking in processions ‘naked’.

Final evidence for the regard in which women were held within the family is given in (a)   such as epitaphs from all over the Greek world.