[Photo Montage of Gortyn Code, photographed and put together by Volker Brandt]
[Source: Wikimedia Commons]
Women in Gortyn could own property in their own right and dispose of it without the permission of a kyrios or guardian. Gortyn and Sparta provide our only examples of Greek cities in which this was the case. A woman’s “dowry,” amounting to one half the amount her brothers each inherited belonged to her, not her husband. In the event of her divorce or widowhood, she kept “her property, whatever she brought to the marriage, and one-half the produce (if there is any) from her own property, and half of whatever she has woven in the house; also she is to have 5 staters if her husband is the cause of the divorce.”
[Gortyn Law Code, 6th & 5th centuries BCE, photographed by Olaf Tausch]
[Source: Wikimedia Commons]
* If your first reaction to this word was, “What,” you’re in good company. That was my reaction too. It comes from βους (bous, meaning “ox”) + στρεφειν (strephein, meaning “to turn”). Consider it your new word for the day and use it to impress somebody. Or just to sound smart.
**For more on the function of the kyrios see here.
The Law Code of Gortyn (Crete), c. 450 BCE - Internet History Sourcebooks Project
Laws Relating to Women in Gortyn, Crete - Diotima
Schaps, David M. Economic Rights of Women in Ancient Greece. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press, 1979.
Gortyn Code - Wikipedia
Gortyn - Wikipedia
Boustrophedon - Wikipedia
Gortyn (Images) - Wikimedia Commons