WHY A PATRIARCHY?

A patriarchy was a society in which power was held and later passed down from male to male. If a historians states that Greece was once a "patriarchal society", they are talking about how all the men held the high positions of power.

Most ancient Greek city-states were patriarchal. In Athens men could debate issues in the Assembly, and only men could vote. However this was not unusual, as most societies around the Mediterranean were patriarchal.

The development of polis, which is a kind of democracy in ancient Greece. It gave men more equal rights. It also placed greater restrictions on women and as the middle class arose, household duties became more important in a women's duties. 

If a woman was to fail to perform her duties, she would have serious legal and moral consequences.Women were prohibited from ever “achieving the status of fully autonomous beings”.  A woman was not allowed to inherit her own property or engage in any business activity. She was considered the legal ward of her father or husband, and her children were placed as the husband's property. 

Most Grecian women lived domestic lives and could not even leave their homes without permission from their husband or father.


 Men usually married around their early thirties and until they became married, Greek men were usually having sex with prostitute or young boys. This typically satisfied their sexual needs and desires until they were ready for children. 


Greek men were taught and engineered in such a way during these times, to not pay much attention to women and certainly to not appreciate them in any shape or form.

 The inequalities that women suffered were not only unfair, but imagine what ancient Greece would have been like if women played a larger role? Do you think anything significant would have happened?

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