sion. Visiting a female neighbor was really the only appropriate time for the woman to leave her indoor duties. Any respectable woman would not wander about the town without just cause. They could only walk about the streets if a slave or other attendant accompanied them. Women could take part in weddings, funerals, and state religious festivals, where women were expected to play prominent public roles. If caught in the courtyard by a male visitor, the woman was forced to retreat to the seclusion of their own apartment. Pericles said, "It was their business to be spoken of as little as possible whether for good or ill" (Everyday Life in Ancient Greece, pg 82) describing the extent of the importance of woman in Athenian society. Marriage was a woman's only major role in the lives of men.
             Marriages in Athenian society were always arranged. The parents, in the way of a business contract, arranged the betrothal. The parent's choice for a suitable husband for their daughter was based upon the pride and status of his family. The groom's choice for a bride was dependant on the amount of dowry the bride would bring with her. The dowry was the girls portion of her father's estate that was given to her husband upon marriage. Girls were married in their teens, often to a man in his thirties. Although the weddings were a time of celebration and happiness, they also signaled the beginning of the loss of independenc
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