Household Management in 4th Century Greece

The Socratic dialogue as depicted hee always suggests a streetcorner discussion between the philosopher and a group of followers, creating an image of Athens and so of a settled social order.

Part of that social order is the domestic household. Running the household is the purview of the wife, and the male, Ischomachus, here says he does not have to stay home because his wife is perfectly capable of taking care of the home. She is capable because she was trained to be so, and this is emphasized as Socrates asks if Ischomachus trained his wife. Ischomachus says he had to do so, for when she came to him, she was only fifteen. Ischomachus says that the most important things a woman should learn, "the soundest education," would be the control of appetite and self-indulgence.

This society is one with a clear division of labor for men and women. The husband is generally older and must teach the wife what she needs to know in order to run the household, or she must learn what she can on the job. A description of what marriage should be is implied by what Ischomachus says to his wife. The wife is raised by her parents and is then entrusted to th

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dren, and this also mens she has a larger share of affection for children than does the man. God has also made woman more timid than man. All of these things fit with the woman running the household. The law has been shaped to fit what nature has already created, so the law also has contributed to the way labor is divided between the sexes. Women have indoor duties, and Ischomachus wants to teach his wife what those duties are and to see that she learns to do them as well as possible. Indeed, it is wrong for a man to remain indoors and run the household, so the woman helps by seeing to it that these tasks are done and that the man does not have to worry about them. Some of the occupations intended for women include receiving the things brought into the home, apportioning goods for daily use, seeing to it that clothing is made, preparing food, and so on. These are tasks that Ischomachus believes may seem onerous, while there are other occupations he says his wife will find agreeable, such as training other women for the same role. Clearly, the society that is illustrated in this dialogue is one that runs counter to our own in many ways and that emphasizes the differences between men and women rather than seeing any equality
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1391
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)