Women and Law in Classical Greece
By Raphael Sealey
216 pp., 6 x 9
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Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8078-4262-1
Published: March 1990 -
E-book EPUB ISBN: 978-1-4696-1024-5
Published: August 2016 -
E-book PDF ISBN: 979-8-8908-6674-5
Published: August 2016
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Sealey demonstrates that, with some local differences, there was a general uniformity in the legal treatment of women in the Greek cities. For Athens, the law of the family has been preserved in some detail in the scrupulous records of speeches delivered in lawsuits. These records show that Athenian women could testify, own property, and be tried for crime, but a male guardian had to administer their property and represent them at law. Gortyn allowed relatively more independence to the female than did Athens, and in Sparta, although women were allowed to have more than one husband, the laws were similar to those of Athens. Sealey's subsequent comparison of the law of these cities with Roman law throws into relief the common concepts and aims of Greek law of the family.
Originally published in 1990.
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About the Author
Raphael Sealey is professor of history at the University of California at Berkeley. His books include The Athenian Republic: Democracy or the Rule of Law?.
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Reviews
"Raphael Sealey understands that it is necessary to read between the lines for the unstated assumptions that explain why women were treated at times like children, but at other times as responsible adults. His methodology should provide a model for further studies of ancient Greek law. His conclusion, though perhaps surprising, is surely valid: that although never the equal of men, women were protected by law, and cared for. Sealey's book should become a standard reference work on the subject."--Mary R. Lefkowitz, Wellesley College
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