ther-in-law, in turn, promised a dowry, a certain amount of
property that accompanied his daughter into marriage. Th e
dowry was, aft er the marriage, available to the new husband
for his use but nevertheless belonged in a certain sense to the
wife. If the husband divorced her, or she divorced him, the
dowry was to be repaid to her father.
Weddings were religious ceremonies, in most Greek
communities involving a triad of goddesses. Artemis was
invoked, as the goddess overseeing a young woman’s transi-
tion from girlhood to womanhood. So, too, were Hera, the
goddess overseeing the institution of marriage, and Aphro-
dite, responsible for the sexual and erotic aspects of marriage.
Weddings usually took place at the house of the bride’s father,
ending with a public procession to the husband’s house; the
procession was oft en accompanied by a crowd of celebrants
shouting bawdy jokes. At the husband’s house was a cer-
emony of katachusma, a “uniting” of the bride with the new
household. Th is ceremony was also used when new slaves
were brought into a house, which may shed some light on as-
sumptions about marriage. Th e age of marriage diff ered in
diff erent communities, but the general practice was for young
women to marry between the ages of 16 and 23 and men to
marry in their 20s or 30s. Marriages between much older men
and much younger women were relatively common.
Childbirth was generally left in the hands of women, ei-
ther relatives of the mother-to-be or midwives. Male doctors
seem to have been involved only rarely, though the ancient
medical writers, all of whom were male, left some treatises
on childbirth. Soranus, writing in the fi rst century c.e., de-
scribes childbirth as taking place on a birthing chair or on
a hard bed (the latter when the woman was too weak to sit).
Given the limits of ancient medical knowledge, his treatise
is responsible and humane, emphasizing the importance of
breathing, of having the midwife reassure the mother, and of
taking care not to embarrass the mother. Estimates vary as to
how many women died in childbirth, ranging from a high of
25 of every 1,000 women to a low of fi ve of 20,000. Th e fi gure
surely varied according to the prosperity of the family, if only
because more prosperous women would likely be better fed
and therefore stronger.
Aft er a baby was born, the midwife laid it on the ground
to assess its health and vitality. If it was deemed worth rear-
ing, it would be given to the mother or a wet nurse for feed-
ing. Later, sometimes days later, the father displayed the baby
to the members of the household, thus acknowledging it as
legitimately his. If a baby was not deemed worth rearing, or if
the husband refused to accept it, it might be exposed, that is,
left outside to die or be taken away. Th ere is no good evidence
regarding how frequently infants were exposed. Th e practice
fi gures frequently in literature, which may refl ect how com-
mon it was but also may refl ect merely a cultural anxiety
about the practice.
Mothers generally breast-fed their children themselves,
for this was considered the duty of a responsible woman of
the house and most wholesome for the child and the mother’s
relationship with it. Soranus recommended the hiring of a
wet nurse when the mother could not produce enough milk
or was too sick or exhausted to nurse her baby herself. Th e
status of a wet nurse could vary, but evidence suggests that
wet nurses could be valued members of the family. An Athe-
nian woman of the fourth century b.c.e. named Hippostrate
had this inscription carved on the tomb of her wet nurse: “I
loved you while you were alive, nurse, I love you still now even
beneath the earth, and I shall honor you as long as I live.”
Divorce was possible, at the initiation of either a hus-
band or wife. Th e community of Gortyn, a small city in Crete
whose laws survive on an inscription from the 450s b.c.e.,
required that in cases of divorce a wife retained all property
she brought into the marriage, as well as half of any profi ts or
proceeds that came from that property, with provisions for
judgment in the case of disputes. Existing children remained
in the father’s household in cases of divorce. Children born to
a woman aft er she was divorced were to be brought to the fa-
ther; if he accepted them, they would be reared in his house-
hold, but if he rejected them, the mother was free to rear them
or expose them herself.
Aft er the death of either spouse, the survivor was free to
remarry. In the case of a widowed woman, she brought her
own property into her new marriage, but any property she
had held in common with her former husband belonged toFragment of an archaic Greek stelae, with the heads of a mother
and child. (Alison Frantz Photographic Collection, American School of
Classical Studies at Athens)family: Greece 455