The Role of Women in Athens

The role of a Athenian woman may be more complex than their legal status might suggest. Some scholars have begun to question this overly schematized view of Greek society. The ideology of seclusion for the ideal Athenian woman would only have been practical in wealthy families, where slaves would have enabled free women to remain in the house. Even in antiquity it was not recognized that an ideology of separation could not be practiced by many Athenians.