Women in a man's world
Lysias: the death of a seducer
A man who has killed his wife's seducer describes their domestic arrangements
Athenians, when I decided to marry, and brought a wife to my house, for a while I was inclined not to bother her, but neither was she to be too free to do as she wished. I watched her as much as was possible, and took my duty as a husband seriously. But when my son was born, I began to trust her, and put all my possessions in her hands, presuming that this was the greatest proof of intimacy.
In the the beginning, Athenians, she was the best of all
wives. She was clever, economical, and kept everything neat in the house.
But then my mother died; and her death was the cause of all my troubles.
For when my wife attended her funeral, she was seen by this man, and,
as time passed, he seduced her. He looked out for our slave who goes to
market and, making propositions, he corrupted her. Now first, gentlemen,
I must tell you that I have a small two-storey house, with the women's
quarters upstairs, the men's downstairs, each having equal space.
When our son was born, his mother nursed him; but in order that she might avoid the risk of climbing downstairs each time she had to clean the baby, I used to live upstairs and the women below. And so it became quite customary for my wife to go downstairs often and sleep with the chiId, so that she could give him the breast and keep him from crying.
This was the situation for a long time, and I never became suspicious, but I was so simple-minded that I believed my own was the chastest wife in the city. Time passed, gentlemen; I came home unexpectedly from the country and after dinner my son began crying and fretting. Actually, the slave was annoying him on purpose to make him do this, for the man was in the house - as I found out later.
I told my wife to go and give the baby the breast, to stop his crying. At first she refused, as though glad to see me home again after my long absence. Then I became angry and told her to go.
"Oh, yes," she said, "so that you can have a try at the littIe slave girl here. You dragged her about before, when you were drunk!"
I laughed. She got up, went out of the room, closed the door, pretending it was a joke, and turned the key in the lock. I, thinking nothing about it, nor having the slightest suspicion, was glad to go to sleep after my journey from the country.
Toward dawn she returned and unlocked the door. I asked her why the doors had been creaking during the night. She said that the lamp beside the baby had gone out and she had gone to get a light at the neighbour's. I was silent, and thought it really was so. But it did seem to me, gentlemen, that she had put make-up on her face, despite her brother's death less than thirty days before. Even so, I said nothing about what she did. I just left, without a word.
From a speech written by LYSIAS (Lysias 1, Against Eratosthenes) for the man, Euphiletus, to use in his defence. Later in the speech he refers to an Athenian law which compelled citzens to kill a man caught committing adultery. The state did not concern itself with the punishment of the woman.
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