Wives with sabers, returned dowry, divorce because of the bed: What were happy families in ancient times

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

It is generally accepted that in ancient times, among all peoples, the position of a woman was difficult not only in society, but also in the family. But in fact, this is a stereotype, and it was not at all like that. In many cultures, women were the real head of the family and, at the same time, were not always busy with household chores.

Is being a samurai not a woman's business?

Japan is considered a very patriarchal country, but at the same time, all affairs occurring within the Japanese family have at all times been led by the wife, not the husband. It was the woman who made the decisions regarding how to equip the house for them, how to raise children, with whom of the acquaintances to maintain relationships, and with whom not, and so on. The husband decided only external issues related to his work, but if he was going to somehow seriously change his life - to move, to start some new business - then he had to consult with his wife, and all changes were possible only if she did not mind …

In the families of the samurai, in addition, all children were taught martial arts and the use of weapons - not only boys, but girls as well. There was even a special female weapon - the naginata, an analogue of a light halberd.

The main fear of men in China

In ancient China, it was difficult for young women who recently got married, but young men experienced the same difficulties there, because the older generation ruled everything in the family. Both the wife and the husband obeyed their mother-in-law, but over time, as their sons grew up, they began to occupy an ever more honorable position in the family and receive more and more rights. And after the sons became adults and started their own families, their mother became the main one in the house, and the mother-in-law, by that time already elderly, resigned most of the "powers".

A husband in China could not separate from his wife if his mother was against it, but the wife had the right to divorce if, in her opinion, her husband was performing poorly in his marital duties. For this reason, divorce was considered very shameful for men, so they tried to be good husbands in every sense of the word.

Husband owes everything, wife nothing

In general, women in many cultures had the right to divorce. In ancient Egypt, in the event of a divorce, the husband was obliged to return to his wife her dowry, and if they diverged through his fault, then also to pay her a large amount of money as "moral compensation". Even more favorable conditions for divorce for women existed in ancient Judea. There, the wife could also divorce her husband if she was not satisfied with an intimate life with him or if he did not provide for her and the children poorly. At the same time, her husband had to leave her almost all their common property, so that she would not need anything after the divorce.

However, if the Jewish spouses lived in peace and harmony, the husband still had much more responsibilities than the wife, and he was told in detail about everything that he would have to do for his wife during the marriage ceremony. During the wedding, no one reminded the bride of any responsibilities - it was believed (and still is) that she already does too much for the groom, agreeing to marry him.

It's better not to mess with a Kazakh woman

One of the most equal ancient societies can be called Kazakhs. Women in the Kazakh nomadic tribes studied military art on an equal basis with men, and they, like the daughters of the Japanese samurai, had their own weapons: bows that were less tight than men, which were easy to pull, and lighter sabers and daggers. True, men usually went on military campaigns among the Kazakhs, but if neighbors attacked the tribe, women stood up to protect it on an equal basis with husbands and brothers.

“And their men treated Kazakh women with respect,” says the writer-historian Alexander Putyatin. - Who dares to offend a woman who has a saber in her belt? In response, she can lose her temper and hack the offender!

Athletic and educated Greek women

As for female education, it was not available to them in all cultures. For example, although all textbooks say that in ancient Greece there were schools only for boys, in reality this is not the case. There were schools for girls and schools for coeducation, and all children, regardless of gender, were taught in the same way.

In addition, in some Greek cities, girls and women could play sports and participate in competitions. In Sparta, for example, running competitions were popular, including among women. The women also played Episkyros, a ball game vaguely similar to football.

The more rights, the more responsibilities

Finally, our Slavic ancestors with the “female question” were also far from as bad as many modern people think. True, the husband was the head of the family, making all decisions, in ancient Russian society, but the more rights he had, the more responsibilities were attached to them. In "Domostroy" it is written not only that a wife can be punished, but also that she must have time to rest from household chores and raising children, and her husband must provide her with the opportunity to be alone with himself.

In addition, as in ancient Chinese families, the older an ancient Russian woman became, the more power she gained in the family. As a rule, the husband's mother or grandmother ruled the house, and the young wife initially obeyed them, but gradually the older women transferred more and more power to her, and, in the end, she herself began to command the wives of her grown sons.

Tatiana Alekseeva