The Study of
Women & Gender in the Ancient World

Joy Donahue

Dress and appearance

I would like to tell you a little about the women who lived in Ancient Greece and their daily lives. The women of that time did not have the freedoms that women have today. We must remember that unless a woman had artistic or literary talents that were able to win her fortune and fame she was excluded from politics and intellectual life.

Women's situation was improving with time and the reforms of the sixth century. Some cities, including Athens, even gave women the right to own land. Many girls who were orphans without brothers or fathers and with no social position were protected by the right to own land.

The women of this time kept small homes with not a lot of style to them. What we see in the works of vasepainters and poets from that time is many lively banquet scenes with female musicians and dancers. The lawful wife would not attend these festive gatherings