ivorce. In early times
the father might sell his daughters and barter his sisters. This was
abolished by Solon, except in the case of unchastity. There could,
however, be no legitimate marriage without the assignment of the bride
by her guardian.[273] The father was even able to bequeath his
unmarried daughters by will.[274] The part assigned by the Athenian
law to the wife in relation to her husband was very similar to that of
the married women under ancient Jewish law.

Women were secluded from all civic life and from all intellectual
culture. There were no regular schools for girls in Athens, and no
care was taken by the State, as in Sparta, for the young girls'
physical well-being. The one quality required from them was chastity,
and to ensure this women were kept even from the light of the sun,
confined in special apartments in the upper part of the house. One
husband, indeed, Ischomachus, recommends his wife to take active
bodily exercise as an aid to her beauty; but she is to do this "not in
the fresh air, for that would not be suitable for an Athenian matron,
but in baking bread and looking after her linen."[275] So strictly was
the seclusion of the wife adhered to that she was never permitted to
show herself when her husband received guests. It was even regarded as
evidence of the non-existence of a regular marriage if the wife had
been in the habit of attending the feasts[276] given by the man whom
she claimed as husband.

The deterioration of the Athenian citizen-women followed as the
inevitable result. It is also impossible to avoid connecting the swift
decline of the fine civilisation of Athens with this cause. Had the
political power of her citizens been based on healthier social and
domestic relationships, it might not have fallen down so rapidly into
ruin. No civilisation can maintain itself that neglects the
development of the mothers that give it birth.

As we should expect we find little evidence of affection between the
Athenian husband and wife. The entire separation between their work
and interests would necessarily preclude ideal love. Probably
Sophocles presents the ordinary Greek view accurately, when he causes
one of his characters to regret the loss of a brother or sister much
more than that of a wife. "If a wife dies you can get another, but if
a brother or sister dies, and the mother is dead, you can never get
another. The one loss is easily reparable, the other is
irreparable."[277] We