The role of women in Greek religious rites
Women in ancient Greece were really not well regarded at all they were not often educated and really had a status not much better than slaves. They couldn’t do anything much outside their homes and were really groomed for marriage and child bearing and not much else. So it is not surprising that they didn’t get much of a look in when it comes to religious rites. Most of the priests in ancient Greek religion was men , though there is some evidence of priestesses but the job expected of most women was to be a virgin at a temple or not bother.
Some women ended up as Temple prostitutes, and that role was considered a religious one, and didn’t have the low status a modern reader might imagine.
Religious rituals around marriage is the one area where ancient Greek women had most to contribute though. Marriages were usually arranged by a girl’s father but the ritual surround the girl. She would start with a visit to the temple of Artemis, and then her updo was cut off. All this took place months before the wedding. On the night before the wedding, the bride would have a ritual bath, and religious songs to the goddess of marriage, Hymen. During the wedding ceremony the bride’s father would have a wedding breakfast at his home, and lots of blessings and hymns took place during this part. The bride would walk to her husband’s house and be given a sheaf of barley as a fertility symbol. The consummation of the marriage was also regarded as a religious ritual and the bride did take part in that of course!
The other things that women did were quite secretive so it is hard to know for sure what went on. There were women only rites in Athens for example that were rituals to the goddess Demeter, but because women were rarely educated they could write about it so we don’t know too much about the details.
Some of the goddesses did have female priests and the priesthoods could be bought. The attendants of Dionysus in Athens were women for example and women were called upon to get all frenzied in celebration of the Bacchic cult.
All in all it is not surprising that women did not take center stage in religious rituals because they did not take center stage in life either. But of course women are crucial to a society’s survival, so have to be included at some level!
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Tags: Female Priests, Goddess Demeter, Hymen