| dc.description.abstract | In 1994, Sourvinou-Inwood wrote about the dangers of the direct application of modern
anthropological models to the study of Classical Athens, with a focus on women in religion.
In my opinion, the same holds good for the study of the dowry-system. The use of
anthropological theories like Goody, who sees the dowry as a premordial inheritance (Goody
and Tambiah 1973) and Boserup, who defines the dowry as a financial compensation for the
bride’s sustenance (Boserup 1970), have formed the framework through which we as
historians study classical Athenian society. However, some propositions of these theories,
such as that the dowry is given to the daughter herself, are forced on Athenian society while
they do not necessarily seem to be the case.
Literary sources like the private orations of Demosthenes and Isaeus and the apotimema
πρoikos-inscriptions reveal the social context of the dowry system in Athens. Together with
the social and economic structure of society and inheritance laws these literary sources
indicate the need of a re-evaluation of the traditional anthropological theories. These sources
do show an everlasting connection between the bride and the dowry by defining the dowry
with her name, but that does not indicate her ownership. Lin Foxhall teaches us not to search
for an individual ownership in the oikos-related sphere (Foxhall 1989). However, in the
theory of Goody, the bride’s ownership of the dowry is undisputed. The main point of
Boserups theory is that the dowry is a kind of resource for the life sustenance of women. If
that is the case, it is strange to see suits as Demosthenes’ Against Boeotus II, that show that
the dowry is supposed to end up with the children, which means it cannot be consumed during
marriage.
Inspired by the 2004 re-evaluation of traditional theories for modern India by Srinivasan
and Lee I would like to argue that the old models lack a socio-economic component. The
dowry-system in modern India is influenced by the materialising of Indian society, in which
young couples use the dowry for luxury goods and social status. We should combine some of
the components of the different theories into one. In my opinion the dowry is not just an
inheritance by life or a financial compensation for the bride’s sustenance, but merely a socioeconomic
phenomenon, with juridical implications and strongly connected to the inheritance
laws of Classical Athens. | |
