Module 2 reading selection

Based on Lysias 1.9–1.12: the house of Euphiletos, and the beginning of his discoveries that all was not what he thought.

τὸ τοῦ Εὐφιλήτου οἰκίδιον διπλοῦν ἦν, καὶ ἴσα τὰ ἄνω τοῖς κάτω κατὰ τὴν γυναικωνῖτιν καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀνδρωνῖτιν εἶχεν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὸ παιδίον ἐγένετο αὐτοῖς, ἡ μήτηρ αὐτὸ ἐθήλαζεν, ἀλλὰ οὐκ ἤθελε κατὰ τῆς κλίμακος καταβαίνειν.

ἐν οὖν ἐκείνῳ τῷ χρόνῳ, ὁ μὲν Εὐφίλητος ἄνω διῃτᾶτο , αἱ δὲ γυναῖκες κάτω.

καὶ ταῦτα πολὺν χρόνον οὕτως ἐγίγνετο, καὶ ὁ Εὐφίλητος οὐδέποτε ὑπώπτευσεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἠλιθίως διέκειτο.

ἐν δὲ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇδε, ἧκε μὲν ἀπροσδοκήτως ἐξ ἀγροῦ, μετὰ δὲ τὸ δεῖπνον τὸ παιδίον ἐβόα καὶ ἐδυσκόλαινεν. τὸ δὲ παιδίον ὑπὸ τῆς θεραπαίνης ἐπίτηδες ἐλύπειτο. ὁ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἔνδον ἦν. ὕστερον γὰρ ὁ Εὐφίλητος ἅπαντα ἐπύθετο.

Read along with this passage read out loud on the textbook youtube channel.

Reading in context

Euphiletos’ narrative takes us into the interior of his family’s dwelling. It had two stories, and two distinct areas called the ἀνδρωνῖτις and the γυναικωνῖτις. His text implies that the normal location of the γυναικωνῖτις would be upstairs, and the ἀνδρωνῖτις downstairs, but the two areas have been swapped so that Euphiletos’ wife will not need to use the stairs at night as she cares for their new infant.

Why should this matter? In the last paragraph of this selection, Euphiletos discovers that “the man” (the one Euphiletos has killed, Eratosthenes) was inside. Evidently, this is the sort of thing that can happen when the γυναικωνῖτις is on the ground floor.

What kind of physical control over women’s lives did a Greek house like Euphiletos’ impose? Who could take part in what activities in the γυναικωνῖτις or the ἀνδρωνῖτις?