The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c17.s1.7

c17.s1.7

It may be pointed out that women in the age of Homer (*c.* 1000 B. C.) occupied a much more honorable position in Greek society than they did in the days of Pericles (*c.* 500 B. C.). Causes were more or less similar. In the Homeric age women were productive and valuable members of society. They worked as hard as men, and managed the household without much co-operation from their male relations or slaves. The whole process of garment making was under their supervision in Greece, as it was in India. They brought water, they washed clothes, they cooked food. In the age of Pericles slavery had become an established institution and all manual work in the household was done by slaves. The wife lost nearly all her occupations. She became a parasite and society ceased to respect her.