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An oikos (ancient Greek: οίκος, plural: οίκοι) is the ancient Greek equivalent of a household, house, or family. Note: This article contains special characters. ...
The term ancient Greece refers to the periods of Greek history in Classical Antiquity, lasting ca. ...
The household is the basic unit of analysis in many microeconomic and government models. ...
For other uses, see House (disambiguation). ...
a family of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 1997 Family is a Western term used to denote a domestic group of people, or a number of domestic groups linked through descent (demonstrated or stipulated) from a common ancestor, marriage or adoption. ...
In Ancient Greek literature, the nature of the Oikos was prevalent, and indeed, the cornerstone of this ancient society. However, in the 5th century B.C., ancient Greek writers orientated the nature of the Oikos with the Polis (the city state); the conflict between these two was addressed in Greek Tragic theatre. The conflicting interests with both the Oikos and Polis lead to the structural decay of the society.
An oikos was the basic unit of society in most Greek city-states, and included the head of the oikos (usually the oldest male), his extended family (wife and children), and slaves living together in one domestic setting. Large oikoi also had farms that were usually tended by the slaves, which were also the basic agricultural unit of the ancient economy. A polis (πόλις, pronunciation pol-is) plural: poleis (πόλεις) is a city, a city-state and also citizenship and body of citizens. ...
The Greek "oikos" differed significantly from the Roman "domus" in architectural layout, although Greece was part of the Roman Empire for a long time. It was built around paved peristyles and had very distinct male and female spaces.
The first part of the house consisted of a "gynaeconitis," or peristyle, with the "oecus", the center of domestic activity, beyond. This latter area consisted of bedrooms and dining rooms. The second part of the house, the "andronitides," was the locus of male activity. There one could find more dining rooms, guest suites, and libraries.
The Family
Women The position of women depended on their social status. In contrast to what was written about men, very little was written about women, and most ancient authors were men. Although men were part of both the polis and oikos, women had a role only in the oikos.
As depicted in Homer's poetry, female characters of the upper classes led a relatively independent life. Although women were technically of citizen status, they had no rights of citizenship. Women had no political rights and could take no part whatsoever in government; they had no more rights than slaves. They could conduct only limited business and hold and inherit limited property. All business was conducted on a woman's behalf by her husband or father. For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ...
The word citizen may refer to: A person with a citizenship Citizen Watch Co. ...
Women rarely received inheritances, since the law of inheritance was through the male line. Indeed, written wills were allowed at Athens only if there was no son. At Sparta women were able to own and inherit property. Marriage was arranged for a woman by her father or male guardian. For modern day Sparta, see Sparti (municipality). ...
Marriage is an interpersonal relationship with governmental, social, or religious recognition, usually intimate and sexual, and often created as a contract, or through civil process. ...
In the home women were kept segregated in their own quarters and were virtually unseen. They were responsible for the total control of their household (oikos), including slaves, children, cooking, cleaning, caring for the sick and making clothes (from spinning wool to finishing the garments). Much would be done by female slaves under the supervision of the mistress. The Buxton Memorial Fountain, celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, London. ...
Women rarely left the house, and even then would be accompanied by female slaves. Women did go shopping and to the wells to fetch water, but this was done mainly by slaves and by poorer women without slaves. Older women and widows had more freedom, as did Spartan wives. Poorer women undertook work, including selling goods in the market, spinning, making bread, agricultural laboring, acting as wet nurses or working alongside their husbands. It was not possible in such households to segregate men from women. Poorer widows often had to work, if they had no means of financial support.
Within religion women did play an important role, such as a dominant role at funerals, weddings, and a large number of public festivals. There were many priestesses, and women also had their own festivals. At some festivals, though, it is believed that women were not present; nor may they have attended associated performances at theaters.
In Hellenistic times Macedonian women wielded much power, and contemporary philosophies also encouraged greater freedom for women. Many women, such as in the Ptolemaic world, wielded great political influence.
Men A man was the head (kyrios) of the household (oikos). Men's work was usually outdoors, away from the home. For other uses, see Trinity (disambiguation). ...
Children Childbirth took place at home, with all the women of the household in attendance. A female midwife (maia) may have been present, and a male doctor called in if complications arose, but virtually no information on midwifery exists. Childbirth was regarded as polluting so was not allowed to take place on sacred ground. At birth the guardian (usually the father) had to decide whether to keep the child or expose it. If it was kept a purification ceremony took place on the fifth or seventh day after birth. Parturition redirects here. ...
It was the mother's duty to breast-feed their children, but wet nurses were employed, and pottery feeding bottles are also known. There is evidence from vase paintings for cradles of wickerwork or wood. From the 4th century BCE children appear much more in artistic representations. Children played a number of games, and evidence of toys comes from literature, vase paintings and surviving examples of the actual toys. A breastfeeding infant Breastfeeding is the practice of a woman feeding an infant (or sometimes a toddler or a young child) with milk produced from her mammary glands, usually directly from the nipples. ...
A wet nurse is a woman who nurses a baby not her own. ...
Chinese vase A vase with a sunflower pattern A modern designed vase The vase is an open container, often used to hold cut flowers. ...
The Mona Lisa is perhaps the best-known artistic painting in the Western world. ...
This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ...
For other uses, see Wood (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Literature (disambiguation). ...
It was customary at various festivals to give children toys. When girls were about to marry and when boys reached adolescence, it was customary for them to dedicate their playthings to deities.
Male children were favored for many reasons. They perpetuated the family and family cult, cared for parents in old age and arranged a proper funeral for deceased parents. In addition sons could inherit the dowry. Boys were raised in the female quarters until about the age of six, when they were educated in schools, but girls remained under the close supervision of their mothers until they married. They rarely went out of the women's section of the house and were taught domestic skills at home, though they did attend some religious festivals. In Sparta boys were removed from their families at the age of seven to be reared by the state. a family of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 1997 Family is a Western term used to denote a domestic group of people, or a number of domestic groups linked through descent (demonstrated or stipulated) from a common ancestor, marriage or adoption. ...
For other uses, see Funeral (disambiguation). ...
For modern day Sparta, see Sparti (municipality). ...
Adoption In order to continue the family it was possible for a man to adopt a son, although the adopted son did not have as many rights of inheritance as a son by birth. It was usually a method of providing a man with an heir. By the 4th century BCE in Athens, adoption could be inter vivos (adoptive father and adopted son both alive), or a son could be adopted after a man's death through a will, or assigned to the family after his death if none was mentioned in a will and there was no heir. For other uses, see Birth (disambiguation). ...
Pets Some animals were kept in the home from at least the time of Homer, who mentions dogs. The most popular pet was a small dog, often represented on 5th-century BCE Attic gravestones. For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ...
In modern sociology The term oikos is now also used to describe the social groups and people with whom the most time is spent. Several dozen to several hundred people may be known, but the quality time spent with others is extremely limited: only those to whom quality (face-to-face) time is devoted can be said to be a part of an oikos. Each individual has a primary group that includes relatives and friends who relate to the individual through work, recreation, hobbies, or our neighbors. The modern oikos, however, includes people that share some sort of social interaction, be it through conversation or simple relation, for at least a total of one hour per week. In sociology, a group is usually defined as a collection of humans or animals, who share certain characteristics, interact with one another, accept expectations and obligations as members of the group, and share a common identity. ...
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