careful not to be seen and returns to her private rooms within the house after the
event (88–201). Spying on an army of men is not a suitable reason for a young girl to
become visible; she must stay out of sight whilst on the roof. In Aristophanes’
Acharnians, when Dicaeopolis wishes to begin his festival, he sends his wife up to
the roof to watch (262). She may not participate directly but may become visible and
participate indirectly from the safety of the roof. The value of the roof as a vantage
point and visible stage is illustrated in its use by the female servants of a household,
who climb to the roof to alert passers-by to an attack taking place within a neighbor-
ing house (Demosthenes 48.60). The evidence from these occasions and from the
Adonia reflects the male ideology linking women to the house. It shows women
participating in a religious celebration in a way that reinforces the textual connection
between women, appropriate behavior, and the home.
Hearth and Home
The citizen wife is not onlyinthe home but also, in a symbolic sense, sheisthe
home: her presence defines the domestic context. Athenian texts have no clear term
to express the idea of house or home. Characters refer to the place where
they and their family reside as adomos,ategos,oranoikosor they refer to their
hestia, the family hearth. The worddomossimply means a built environment, a
man-made edifice. It can be used to refer to a non-domestic building such as
a temple or to refer to a single room within a building (Aristophanes,Clouds303,
andEcclesiazusae11). The wordtegosrefers to the space under a roof (Sophocles,
Trachiniae492–5). The last term,oikos, famously encompasses the family and all its
possessions, including the places that they own or live in (Menander, Samian
Woman133; Demosthenes 44.2, 47.19.5). Yet again, anoikoscan also refer to a
temple, a single room, or buildings on a farm (Osborne 1985:121). This indicates
that the meaning of a building comes not from the term used to describe it but from
the individuals who use it and the manner in which they use it. No permanence
attaches to the notion of home; it can change or move as the occupants of a building
change or as death changes the dynamics of the family (Foxhall 2000). The citizen
wife therefore plays a vital role in the ideology of ‘‘home.’’ The wife’s presence
defines the home and locates the family. A good wife guards the stores and protects
the wealth and future of the family group (Euripides, Melanippe Desmotis fr.
494.9–11TrGF; Page 1941:112–15).
As the home is defined by the presence of the citizen wife, it too is female. Authors
constantly use the analogy of the female body to describe the home and to indicate its
vulnerability. In the speechOn the Murder of Eratosthenes(Lysias 1.4), Euphiletos
equates the sexual penetration of his wife by Eratosthenes with the physical entry of
this adulterer through his door and into his house. A similar theme of intrusion and
dishonor appears in hisAgainst Simon, where men burst into the presence of the
innocent young female relatives of the speaker (Lysias 3.6–8). Again, in Demos-
thenes’Against Evergus and Mnesibulusthe intruders burst open the door and come
into the presence of a wife and children (Demosthenes 49.53–7). The act of bursting
through the front door constituted more than a mere trespass; it was an act of
penetration and hubris. The door and the dark interior of the house are described
Women, Religion, and the Home 301