The position of women in the society of Gortyna (7th–5th centuries B.C.)

A.A. Pochernina

Kazan Federal University, Kazan, 420008 Russia

E-mail: a.a.pochernina@gmail.com

Received Match 15, 2021

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

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DOI: 10.26907/2541-7738.2021.3.116-125

For citation: Pochernina A.A. The position of women in the society of Gortyna (7th–5th centuries B.C.). Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki, 2021, vol. 163, no. 3, pp. 116–125. doi: 10.26907/2541-7738.2021.3.116-125. (In Russian)

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the status of women in the society of Gortyna during the period from the 7th to the 5th centuries B.C. Owing to the growing popularity of the gender approach, this problem is thought to be of particular research interest. It is often believed that the Cretan society was matriarchal, because the women of Crete, Gortyna in particular, enjoyed their full rights. In order to verify this hypothesis, the laws of Gortyna that shed light on the social position of women among other important issues were thoroughly investigated. As a result of the analysis of the sections concerning the family and property relations in Gortyna, it was found that the above-said hypothesis does not apply to the society of Crete and Gortyna in the 7th–5th centuries B.C. It was revealed that men and women in Gortyna had different rights. Changes in this situation were traced. The general history of research on the laws of Gortyna and the position of women over the period under consideration was reconstructed.

Keywords: Crete, Gortyna, ancient law, archaic laws, laws of Gortyna, ancient society, social structure, ancient family law, ancient property law

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