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‘Lighting’ the World of Women: Lamps and Torches in the Hands of Women in the Late Archaic and Classical Periods*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2009

Extract

This paper is concerned with some of the ‘dark’ aspects of the lives of Athenian women of the Archaic and Classical periods. Through a review of images of women with light in hand and of female activities that were illuminated by lamps and torches, the amount and significance of women's activities which required lighting devices may be traced. These may have taken place in private, inside the oikos – for which our knowledge is limited – or outside the oikos, where women enjoyed a restricted participation in certain socio-religious activities. The kind of females under discussion range from ‘respectable’ wives and daughters of Athenian citizens to hetairai, the professional female entertainers. On the basis of literary and iconographical evidence, I shall seek to identify the nature and timing of those female activities, and to assess whether the type of lighting device chosen for a particular action may possibly reveal other aspects of the life of Athenian women, notably age or social status.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 2000

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References

Notes

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20. Although the vase is still unpublished, a brief description may be found: Paul, A. J., AJA 97 (1993), 330Google Scholar.

21. A. J. Paul (n. 20) identifies as hetairai the two women who accompany Eros during the process of depilation, which appears curious since the presence of Eros could well be alluding to a bridal preparation.

22. Latest discussion with references: Petersen, L. Hackworth, Arethusa 30 (1997), 56–7, 60CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For the problem of interpretation of hetairai on Attic vases, see also: Williams, D. in Images of Women in Antiquity (n. 3), 97–8Google Scholar; Kilmer, (1993), op. cit. (n. 18), 159ff.Google Scholar

23. For the modesty of the Greek house, as a further sign of inequality between male and female occupants: Walker, , op. cit. (n. 3), 83Google Scholar.

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25. Berlin, Staatliche Museen 3251 and Florence, Museo Archeologico Etrusco I B49. Add 2 173. Kilmer, , op. cit. (n. 24), R192 (ill)Google Scholar.

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29. Ferrara, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Spina T108 A VP. Add 2 362. CVA i, pi. 27.1–2.

30. Munich, Antikensammlungen inv. 8935. Add 2 152.

31. Munich, Antikensammlungen inv. 2410. Add 2 325. CVA v, pi. 250, 251.3.

32. See p. 19 above.

33. For the seclusion of citizen women in contrast to the open lifestyle of hetairai, see nn. 3–4.

34. Edmonds, J. M., The Fragments of Attic Comedy, IIIA (Leiden, 1961), 384–5, no. 151–2Google Scholar.

35. See nn. 36–41.

36. The Greek Anthology (Loeb), v. 7.

37. Ibid., v. 8.

38. Ibid., v. 191.

39. Ibid., v. 197.

40. Ibid., v. 165.

41. Ibid., v. 166.

42. Rutkowski, B., JDAI 94 (1979), 176Google Scholar; LIMC Aphrodite 30 no. 189.

43. LIMC Aphrodite 20 no. 124.

44. LIMC Aphrodite 17 no. 80.

45. For the outfit and age of the girls on the krateriskoi from Artemis' sanctuaries: Ch. Sourvinou-Inwood, , Studies in Girls' Initiations: Aspects of the Arkteia and Age Representations in Attic Iconography (Athens, 1988), 47–8, 119, 120, 123, 124Google Scholar.

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47. For the attribution of age-groups on the basis of the iconography of the krateriskoi and on literary accounts (e.g., Aristophanes, Lysistrata), see n. 45.

48. Kahil, L., AK Beiheft 1 (1963), 24, A50, pi. 13.6Google Scholar.

49. Sourvinou-Inwood, , op. cit. (n. 45), 123, 119Google Scholar.

50. For pannychides in the cult of Artemis: Page, D. L., Alcman: The Panheneion (Oxford, 1951), 80 n. 3Google Scholar; Dowden, K., Death and the Maiden: Girls' Initiation Rites in Greek Mythology (London-New York, 1989), 33, 103Google Scholar; Pritchett, W. K., φῚλια “EπηB’ (Athens, 1987), 184–5Google Scholar.

51. Ch. Sourvinou-Inwood, , ‘Reading’ Greek Culture. Texts and Images, Rituals and Myths (Oxford, 1991), 107–8Google Scholar. For example: Boston, Museum 33.56, ARV 2 600.12.

52. Dunedin (N.Z.), Otago Museum F 54.48. ARV 2 264.63 (The Syriskos Group).

53. Basle, Market Formerly, ARV 2 720.23 (Lekythos); Münster 586 (Oinochoe); Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum 1.02; Para 465.2 (Small hydria, The Class of Cambridge 1.02), CVA i, pl. 34.2.

54. On the animality of the ἄρκτοι Sourvinou-Inwood, , op. cit. (n. 51), 65–6, 75–7Google Scholar; Dowden, , op. cit. (n. 50) 34–5Google Scholar; Brulé, , op. cit. (n. 15), 214–18Google Scholar; Reeder, E. D., ‘Women and the Metaphor of Wild Animals’ in Pandora, op. cit. (n 4), 299 ff.Google Scholar

55. For example: St. Petersburg, , Hermitage, B 3368, ARV 2556.111Google Scholar, Add 2 259, LIMC II, Artemis 658 no. 454, pl. 482 (The Pan Painter, c.480); St. Petersburg, Hermitage 673 (B1918), ARV 2 678.4, Add 2 279, LIMC II, Artemis 655 no. 408, pi. 479 (The Bowdoin Painter, c.480–470); Athens National Museum 1313 (CC 1425), ARV 2 678.11, Add 2 279, LIMC II, Artemis 699 no. 1021, pl. 524 (The Bowdoin Painter, c.460); Athens, National Museum 18590, Para 405, LIMC II, Artemis 699 no. 408 (The Bowdoin Painter, c.460).

56. LIMC V Hestia, 410 nos 21 and 27 pi. 297; also see 411–12.

57. New York, Metropolitan Museum 16.73; Oakley, J. H.Sinos, R. H., The Wedding in Ancient Athens (Wisconsin–London, 1993), 20 fig. 37Google Scholar.

58. Karlsruhe, , Badisches Landesmuseum 69/78, ARV 2 1102.2Google Scholar, Para451, Add 2 329. Oakley, Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 15 figs. 1619Google Scholar.

59. Athens, National Museum 1453, ARV 2 1127.98, Para 453, Add 2 329.

60. On the duty of dadouchousa: Avagianou, A., Sacred Marriage Rituals in Greek Religion (Bern, 1991), 11 n. 52Google Scholar; Furley, W. D., Studies in the Use of Fire in ancient Greek Religion (New York, 1981), 187Google Scholar; Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 26Google Scholar.

61. London, British Museum B 197, Add 2 77. Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 29 fig. 66Google Scholar. It is also possible to recognize Artemis here as dadouchousa, in view of the divine context of the scene which includes Apollo, and her other black-figure representations as dadouchousa in weddings. In the latter, she retains a place next to the horses of the chariot, holds two torches in hand and faces towards the procession which she often leads. Similar is the posture of a dadouchousa on a pyxis dated to 370–360: Athens National Museum 1630, Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 32, figsGoogle Scholar. 80–1.

62. Berlin, Staatliche Museen F 2372, Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 30–1, figsGoogle Scholar. 72–3.

63. London, British Museum 1920.12–21.1, ARV 2 1277.23, 1282 and 1689, Add 2 357. Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 31, figsGoogle Scholar. 75–7.

64. Apart from the wedding night, little is known about the actual time of the wedding procession or the other rituals in Athenian weddings. For discussion: Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 10Google Scholar.

65. Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum 929.22.3, Add 2 317. Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 32, figsGoogle Scholar. 82–4.

66. Athens, National Museum 1174, ARV 2 1127.15, Para 453. Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 32–3, figGoogle Scholar. 85; Vienna, , Kunsthistorisches Museum 2027, ARV 2 1127. 11, Add 2 332Google Scholar; Baltimore, , Robinson Collection, CVA ii, pi. 491a–dGoogle Scholar.

67. Athens, National Museum 1388, Add 2 363. Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 33, figsGoogle Scholar. 87–9.

68. New York, Metropolitan Museum 56.11.1, Add 2 45. For discussion of the scene: Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 2930, figsGoogle Scholar. 68–70.

69. Berlin, Staatliche Museen F 2530, Add 2 295. Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 33, figGoogle Scholar. 91.

70. The iconographical resemblance of both figures at the entrance of the house to Artemis and Apollo could perhaps lead to their identification with them.

71. Copenhagen, National Museum 9080, Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 33–4, figsGoogle Scholar. 92–5.

72. Berlin, Staatliche Museen inv. 3373, Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 38, figsGoogle Scholar. 115–19.

73. London, British Museum D 11, Add 2 303. Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 34–5Google Scholar.

74. Warsaw, National Museum 142319, LIMC II Artemis 721 no. 1284, Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n 57), 106–8, figsGoogle Scholar. 100–4; Boston, Museum of Fine Arts 03.802, Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 36, figsGoogle Scholar. 105–7.

75. New York, Levy Collection. Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 36–7, figsGoogle Scholar. 108–10.

76. For the feast of 'Eπα⋯λια Palaiokrassa, , op. cit. (n. 46), 68 nn. 156–7Google Scholar; Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 38–12Google Scholar.

77. Brussels, Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire A 1380, ARV 2 841.74, CVA iii, pl. 12.9, 14.2; Copenhagen, National Museum 9165, Para 382.2, CVA viii, pl. 343.a–b. 344; Geneva, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire H 239, Para 386.44, CVA i, pl. 17.5–6, 19.1.

78. See n. 77.

79. Palaiokrassa, , op. cit. (n. 46), 68–9 nn. 156–61Google Scholar.

80. Palaiokrassa, , op. cit. (n. 46), 135 Kα30 Mπ5411, pl. 30aGoogle Scholar; 137 Kα36 Mπ5411, pl. 30b; 137 Kα37 Mπ5411, pl. 36.

81. For a similar possible non-practical function of torches in a prenuptial context see 27–8.

82. Other rituals also made use of the broader context of fire transmission from one place to another, as a symbolic act of unification and continuity. For example, the fire of the oikistes at the founding of a colony, the symbolic fire transfer during torch races, or indeed Plato's linking of the concept of life and family succession with the handing over of a torch in torch races (Leges 6, 776b). Furthermore, transition rituals which marked a symbolic passage from one world to another also required torches (e.g., Eleusinian and Dionysiac Mysteries).

83. For example: Iliad 18.491–3; Euripides, , Ph. 344Google Scholar, Hel. 637–40, IA 733. On weddings without torches ('Aδαιδο⋯χητοι γ⋯μοι) see Euripides, , Ion 1473–5Google Scholar (where the lack of torches and songs is associated with a bastard child). For discussion: Oakley–Sinos, , op. cit. (n. 57), 26, 136 n. 24Google Scholar; Furley, , op. cit. (n. 60), 186 n. 7Google Scholar.

84. West, M. L., Hesiod, Works and Days (Oxford, 1978), 336–7Google Scholar; id., Studies in Greek Elegy and Iambus (Berlin, 1974), 143; Parker, R., Miasma. Pollution and Purification in Early Greek Religion (Oxford, 1983), 76–7Google Scholar.

85. For the text: Masson, O., Les fragments du poete Hipponax (Paris, 1962), 79Google Scholar.

86. Parker, , op. cit. (n. 84), 31–2Google Scholar.

87. Athens, National Museum 1695, ARV 2 1204.2 1687, 1704, Para 463, Add 2 344 (connected with the Group of Palermo 16).

88. The shape of the body and the head resembles other red-figure representations of pigs. For example, Durand, J. L., Sacrifice et Labour en Grèece Ancienne (Paris–Rome, 1986), 135, figs. 58–9, 136, figs. 60–1Google Scholar. For debate about the kind of animal to be sacrificed in this scene, and the religious occasion, see recently: Kron, U., AA (1992), 616–17Google Scholar (she accepts the Thesmophoria as the religious occasion for the sacrifice, but does not recognize the animal as a pig); Simon, E., MDAI(A) 100 (1985), 273 n. 12Google Scholar (she dissociates the scene from Demeter's cult and attributes it to the Hekataia).

89. Blundell, , op. cit. (n. 5), 163Google Scholar.

90. J. H. Oakley et al. eds., Athenian Potter and Painter. Athens, American School of Classical Studies. Catalogue of the Exhibit, Decemder 1, 1994–March 1, 1995 (Athens, 1994), 38–9.

91. For example: Altenburg, Staatliches Lindenau Museum 289, ARV 2 487.62(48), CVA ii, pl. 45.1–2 (Hermonax); Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum 145, ARV 2 727.2, CVA i, pi. 29.9a–b (The Two-Row Painter).

92. For example: Altenburg, Staatliches Lindenau Museum 273, ARV 2 1194.2 (The Painter of Altenburg 273), CVA ii, pl. 48.1–2; Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2363, ARV 2 853.1, Add 2 297 (The Painter of Munich 2363); Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2356 Q258), ARV 2 1130.147(56) (The Washing Painter); Brussels, Musees Royaux A 3094, ARV 2 842.122(63), CVA iii, pl. 12.11b, 14.3a (The Sabouroff Painter); Bourges, Musees du Berry 883.71.91, CVA i, pi. 8.2, 4; Compiègne, Musée Vivenel 1036, ARV 2 212.213(173), Add 2 196, CVA i, pl. 14.7 (The Berlin Painter); Laon, Musée Archéologique Municipal 371043, ARV 2 1130.148, CVAi, pl. 33.4, 7 (The Washing Painter); Syracuse, Museo Nazionale 33502, ARV 2 519.20(14) (The Syracuse Painter); Copenhagen, National Museum 6558, ARV 2 838.31(18), CVAiv, pl. 160.1a–c (The Sabouroff Painter); Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum 985, ARV 2 591.20, Para 394, Add 2 264 (The Altamura Painter).

93. For example: New York, Metropolitan Museum 41.162.117, ARV 2 642.104, Add 2 274 (The Providence Painter); Oxford, Ashmolean Museum 1890.23, ARV 2 641.84, Add 2 274 (The Providence Painter); Paris, Louvre G 202, CVA vi, pl. 36.10–11; Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen T 696, ARV 2 (488.75 bis), Para 380, Add 2 248, CVAi, pl. 32.1–2 (Hermonax).

94. For example: Paris, Louvre G 202, CVA vi, pl. 36.10–11; Laon, Musée Archéologique Municipal 371043, ARV 2 1130.148, CVA ii, pl. 33.4, 7 (The Washing Painter); Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2356 (J258), ARV2 1130. 147(56) (The Washing Painter).

95. For example: Altenburg, Staatliches Lindenau Museum 273, ARV 2 1194.2 (The Painter of Altenburg 273); CVA ii, pl. 48.1–2; Syracuse, Museo Nazionale 33502, ARV 2 519.20(14) (The Syracuse Painter); Copenhagen, National Museum 6558, ARV 2 838.31(18), CVA iv, pl. 160.1a–c (The Sabouroff Painter).

96. For example: Brussels, Musées Royaux A 3094, ARV 2 842.122(63), CVA iii, pl. 12.11b, 14.3a (The Sabouroff Painter); Altenburg, Staatliches Lindenau Museum 230, ARV 2 1283.14(19), CVA ii, pl. 72.1, 2, 4 (The Lid Painter).

97. For scenes of erotic pursuits including ephebes and young women see Sourvinou-Inwood, , op. cit. (n. 51), 6670Google Scholar.

98. Blundell, , op. cit. (n. 5), 43, 161Google Scholar.

99. See discussion on p. 24, with n. 23.