page_title: Gynaeceum
section_title: Archaeological and textual evidence
hierarchical_section_title: Gynaeceum / Archaeological and textual evidence
caption_attribution_description: English: Gynaeceum scene: women weaving. Detail from an Attic black-figure epinetron. Français&#160;: Scène de gynécée&#160;: femmes filant. Détail d'un épinétron attique à figures noires.
context_page_description: In Ancient Greece, the gynaeceum or the gynaeconitis was a building or the portion of a house reserved for women, generally the innermost apartment. In other words, a women's quarters, similar to the Indian and Muslim zenana. The gynaeceum is the counterpart to the andron, or male quarters.
  The married woman of the household would often join the unmarried women and the female slaves at night when she did not join her husband. The women spent most of their days in this area of the house. These rooms were more remote from those reserved for the men by placing them away from the streets and public areas of the house. When visitors were entertained the women were not present, but remained in this secluded portion of the house.
  A section of the imperial palace of Constantinople during the Greek Byzantine Empire reign was known as the gynaikonitis and was reserved to women. It had its own ceremonial rites and processions as well as political dynamics.
context_section_description: Artistic references may shed some light on the religious, cultural, and economic activities of the aristocratic elements of society. Key to research into the status of women has been the archeological evidence found or implied within the excavated residential structures.  Artifacts such as ceramic vases, looms, cups, and metal hinges found within the excavated sites suggest social, cultural, and economic clues. Looms and olive presses located within the residential excavation zones further suggest the economic role of women within the home. Textual evidence proves the production of textiles and the role that men played in the trade of such products, while women and their slaves created the products to be traded and sold. The writings of Xenophon express Socrates' perception of the role of aristocratic women as that of weaving and managing the slaves of the household, while the men having citizenship rights can move freely in the public sphere. Other social norms found through popularized literature include the idea that the whiteness of the skin of women proved their status. Slaves and prostitutes had access to the areas of the public and privates spheres and often labored outdoors.
  Segregation of the sexes within the household proved very important to the maintenance of the home which was the economic foundation of the city-state, through its production of marketable goods. The culture of surveillance seemed to be evident through the changes of shape of the household, to a radial shape which allowed for better viewing, and the use of symposium in the andron. Cups found in rooms identified as the andron also contained other artifacts like remnants of a wooden bench, also prove similar to the painted depictions of symposium found on the ceramic vases. The metal hinges and indentations on structures that could be said to be load bearing suggest the partitioning of space for possible private functions that required limited view by members of the household.  Archeologists have discussed the possibility of religious acts taking place within the home prior to the creation of temples, these religious acts were usually conducted by women of certain status in the communities.
caption: Detail from an epinetron showing women weaving in a gynaeceum, about 500 BC
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