Motherhood and the Law in Classical Athens

What was the role of mothers in classical Athens? Some statements in ancient Greek literary and scientific sources about the biological position of the mother seem to assert a substantial marginality, if not irrelevance, of mothers as a cultural premise for defining their role in the polis. However, the evidence from legislation and some case studies offers a more complex and articulated picture of their situation, not only in terms of respect for the maternal function, but also in terms of the agency that mothers might enjoy. The analysis of the relationship of mothers to the definition of citizenship, through the laws that imposed the condition of astè and gametè on the mothers of citizens; the significant presence of married women, often mothers, in the priestly offices; the obligations of gerotrophia; and the ways in which women were sanctioned in the moicheia, indicates how Athenian women were to be considered not only as 'mothers of citizens' but also as truly ‘citizen-mothers’. The term πολῖτις implies a set of prerogatives, duties, rights and protections that make it pregnant with meaning, allowing for the recognition of female citizenship in the democratic polis and the assignment of a female τιμή that demands to be respected: a τιμή that was fully achieved when women became mothers. Even in relation to the domestic sphere of the oikos, in terms of inheritance and patrimony, women were given titles that are often underestimated by modern scholars, indicating an active participation not only in the formation of the family group (through marriage and descent) but also in the management of personal, - 260 - patrimonial and financial affairs, as some relevant case studies seem to imply. Motherhood was not the ultimate goal of free Athenian women: it was rather the starting point for the acquisition of a recognized and respected identity in the civic community, based on, but not limited to, the maternal role.