Supervisors info:
Eπ. Καθηγήτρια: κα. Eυρυδίκη Κεφαλίδου
Α΄ Μέλος επιτροπής: Δρ. Δέσποινα Τσιαφάκη, Ερευνήτρια Α’, Ερευνητικό Κέντρο «Αθηνά». Παράρτημα Ξάνθης.
Β΄ Μέλος Επιτροπής: Aναπληρωτής Καθηγητής κ. Δημήτρης Πλάντζος
Summary:
According to the ancient written sources and the prevailing perception of the position of woman in antiquity, the women of the archaic and classical era were strictly limited within the house. Archaeological findings, however, often overturn both the ancient sources and the perception that prevails today, which is mainly based on literary testimonies.
This thesis aims to study the outdoor activities of women, as they are depicted in the pottery of the archaic and classical period. This study analyzes representations in pottery in which women are portrayed to work or to have fun outdoors. This study has excluded women's outdoor activities that have been adequately studied by researchers, such as women's participation in ceremonial events and women's work at the fountains.
The first chapter of the paper includes a presentation of women who circulate at the Agora, either as professionals or as clients, always on the basis of archaeological data. The written sources illustrating the intense female occupational activity in the marketplace are also presented, and at the same time the vases depicting women who not only sell but also visit the specific area to buy the necessary products for the care of their body and for their house. The second chapter analyzes vases showing women who are active in the countryside, either by performing purely domestic tasks, such as washing clothes, or purely agricultural, such as fruit harvesting. Female work in the countryside, though not a favorite subject of ancient writers, is depicted in a large number of vases, mostly in the black-figure pottery. In the third chapter, women's outdoors games are presented and analyzed, based on iconographic criteria that demonstrate that they are in common view. Although the surviving examples in pottery are scarce, they give us an insight into the ways that girls enjoyed themselves during the archaic and classical period. The fourth chapter explores women bathing, always outside the house, in places like the gymnasium, rivers and mysterious idyllic landscapes. The paper ends with the conclusions, an extensive list of ancient texts and an appendix with the ancient vases and other more modern images concerning the matter discussed.
Keywords:
Archaeology, Classic, Pottery, Women
