Epikleros
The Epikleros (a feminine adjective acting as noun) is a term usually used in Ancient Greece, referring to the daughter of a man who died leaving no male heir. It means 'attached to the family property', for kleros means estate or family property.[1] In most ancient Greek city-states, women could not hold property.[2] Therefore, a method of keeping ownership of property within a family line was devised wherein the ownership of the property previously held by the woman's husband passed back into the male-defined family line. To enable this, the heiress was required to marry the nearest relative on her father's side of the family. This system of inheritance is described as the epiklerate.[3]
In Athens
Athens is the city-state that is best documented, so Athens is where historians know the most about the epikleroi. Athens' law on the subject of eplikleros was linked to Solon. Women with no brothers had to marry their nearest male relative on their paternal side of the family, starting with their father's brother and moving from there to the next nearest male relative on the paternal side.[4] Solon, however, discouraged the practice of some men being adopted into families with epikleroi in hopes of securing a rich heiress. He also legislated that the husband of an eplikleros must have sexual intercourse with her at least three times a month in order to provide her with children to inherit her father's property.[5] It is unclear whether or not the nearest relative had the power to dissolve an epikleros' previous marriage in order to marry her himself. Pomeroy states that most scholars lean towards the opinion that the nearest relative could only dissolve the previous marriage if the heiress had not yet given birth to a son, but Pomeroy also states that this opinion has not yet been definitely proven.[6] Athenian law also required that if the next of kin did not marry the heiress, he had to provide her with a dowry.[7] Solon may also have legislated that if the new spouse was unable to fulfill his thrice monthly duties to his wife, she was entitled to have sex with his next of kin so that she could produce an heir to her father's property.[8]
Other city-states
Evidence for other ancient city states is more scattered and fragmentary. In ancient Sparta, women had extensive property rights, including the right to inherit property and manage both their own property and their spouse's property.[9] Thus, in Sparta the law of epikleros only applied to unmarried girls.[10] In Gortyn, eplikleroi were called patroiouchoi and were more generously treated than at Athens. If she wished, a patroiouuchoi could free herself from the obligation to marry her nearest relative by paying him part of her inheritance.[11] Also, if her nearest relative did not wish to marry her, she was free to find a spouse in her tribe, or if none in her tribe was willing, she could then marry whoever she wished.[12] Rhegium owed its laws on epikleroi to Androdamas of Rhegium, a law-giver whose laws on this subject were especially esteemed according to Aristole.[13]
Notes
- ^ Grant The Rise of the Greeks p. 31.
- ^ Grant The Rise of the Greeks p. 31.
- ^ Pomeroy Goddess, Whores, Wives, and Slaves pp. 60-62.
- ^ Grant The Rise of the Greeks p. 49.
- ^ Grant The Rise of the Greeks p. 49.
- ^ Pomeroy Goddess, Whores, Wives, and Slaves p. 61.
- ^ Pomeroy Goddess, Whores, Wives, and Slaves p. 61.
- ^ Grant The Rise of the Greeks p. 49.
- ^ Grant The Rise of the Greeks p. 98.
- ^ Pomeroy Goddess, Whores, Wives, and Slaves p. 61.
- ^ Pomeroy Goddess, Whores, Wives, and Slaves pp. 61-62.
- ^ Grant The Rise of the Greeks p. 199.
- ^ Grant The Rise of the Greeks p. 260.
References
- Grant, Michael. The Classical Greeks. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1989.
- Grant, Michael. The Rise of the Greeks. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988.
- Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddess, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken Books, 1995.