In ancient Greece, a phratry (φρᾱτρῐ́ᾱ, phrātríā, "brotherhood" or "kinfolk", derived from φρᾱ́τηρ, phrā́tēr, meaning "brother") was a set of groups formed by citizens in some city-states. Their existence is known in most Ionian cities and in Athens and it is thought that they existed elsewhere as well. Almost nothing is known about the functions and responsibilities of phratries outside Attica (the area around Athens). Within Athens, they played a prominent role in social and religious life, particularly in the major festival called the Apatouria. They played an important role in determining eligibility for Athenian citizenship and all citizens (with very few exceptions) and only citizens were enrolled in phratries. Particularly in anthropology, the term is also applied to similar descent groups of multiple clans in other societies. Ancient Greece The origins of the phratry in Ancient Greece are unknown. It is possible that they are Ionian in origin and that their presence in Athens stems from a  migration from Ionia in the late Mycenaean period. This was the origin explanation favored by many of the classical Athenians, including Aristotle. Some scholars also favor this explanation because phratries are known to have been present in most (but not all) of the Ionian city-states, as was the major phratry festival, the Apatouria. However, almost nothing is known about the functions or prominence of the Apatouria and the phratries in Ionian city-states. It is therefore possible that they functioned differently from the Athenian phratries and perhaps even emerged separately. The linguistic origins of the word “phratry” are quite old and date back to the Indo-European period, thus giving rise to the second prominent origin explanation of phratries: that they date back to early antiquity and originated not in Ionia but elsewhere in Greece. The term “phratry” itself is quite similar to a number of words for “brother” in languages derived from Indo-European which makes it more plausible that institutions named phratries emerged independently in Attica (where Athens is) and Ionia. The existence of the Apatouria in both Ionia and Athens complicates the second theory of origin somewhat, but at present scholars are highly uncertain about how phratries actually emerged. What little we do know about phratries from before the 5th century BCE is drawn primarily from Homer and from Draco’s law of homicide, which probably dates to about 620 BCE. Homer mentions phratries numerous times in his works, although never in any detail. However, their casual mention heavily implies that they were well-established by Homer’s time. Draco’s law of homicide, from Athens, details who can pardon a murderer. First, the immediate family of the murderer’s victim has the right to pardon the murderer. If there is no immediate family, the power then passes to the extended family. If the victim also has no extended family, then the power to pardon the murderer passes to members of the victim’s phratry. Since there is no further instruction on what happens if the victim was not in a phratry, scholars have generally interpreted this as meaning that, as early as the 7th century BCE, all Athenian citizens were members of a phratry. Draco’s law of homicide also states that the ten most aristocratic of the phratry members would be the ones to make the decision, implying that, at this early stage in Athenian history, the phratries were dominated by the aristocratic class. This would reflect the aristocratic dominance of the broader city-state at this early stage . Phratries likely reached their peak importance in Athens between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE, when we have the most extant records of them. In this time, they played a prominent role in Greek religious and social life. The number of phratries that existed during this period is unknown. The names of nine phratries are known and there are thought to have been at least thirty. There could have been as many as 140 phratries, which  would match the number of demes. Given scholarly estimates which place the Athenian citizen male population at between 20,000 and 30,000 in the 4th century BCE, this could mean phratries were as large as 1,000 adult males per phratry or as small as 140 adult males per phratry. It is also likely that different phratries were of different size and that phratries split or merged as demographic changes within them required.
In ancient Greece, a phratry (φρᾱτρῐ́ᾱ, phrātríā, "brotherhood" or "kinfolk", derived from φρᾱ́τηρ, phrā́tēr, meaning "brother") was a group containing citizens in some city-states. Their existence is known in most Ionian cities and in Athens and it is thought that they existed elsewhere as well. Almost nothing is known about the functions and responsibilities of phratries outside Attica (the area around Athens). Within Athens, they played a prominent role in social and religious life, particularly in the major festival called the Apatouria. They played an important role in determining eligibility for Athenian citizenship and all citizens (with very few exceptions) and only citizens were enrolled in phratries. Particularly in anthropology, the term is also applied to similar descent groups of multiple clans in other societies. Ancient Greece The origins of the phratry in Ancient Greece are unknown. It is possible that they are Ionian in origin and that their presence in Athens stems from a known migration from Ionia in the late Mycenaean period. This was the origin explanation favored by many of the classical Athenians, including Aristotle. Some scholars also favor this explanation because phratries are known to have been present in most (but not all) of the Ionian city-states, as was the major phratry festival, the Apatouria. However, almost nothing is known about the functions or prominence of the Apatouria and the phratries in Ionian city-states. It is therefore possible that they functioned differently from the Athenian phratries and perhaps even emerged separately. The linguistic origins of the word “phratry” are quite old and date back to the Indo-European period, thus giving rise to a second origin theory for phratries: that they date back to early antiquity and originated not in Ionia but elsewhere in Greece. The term “phratry” itself is quite similar to a number of words for “brother” in languages derived from Indo-European which makes it more plausible that institutions named phratries emerged independently in Attica (where Athens is) and Ionia. The existence of the Apatouria in both Ionia and Athens complicates the second theory of origin somewhat, but at present scholars are highly uncertain about how phratries actually emerged. What little we do know about phratries from before the 5th century BCE is drawn primarily from Homer and from Draco’s law of homicide, which probably dates to about 620 BCE. Homer mentions phratries numerous times in his works, although never in any detail. However, their casual mention heavily implies that they were well-established by Homer’s time. Draco’s law of homicide, from Athens, details who can pardon a murderer. First, the immediate family of the murderer’s victim has the right to pardon the murderer. If there is no immediate family, the power then passes to the extended family. If the victim also has no extended family, then the power to pardon the murderer passes to members of the victim’s phratry. Since there is no further instruction on what happens if the victim was not in a phratry, scholars have generally interpreted this as meaning that, as early as the 7th century BCE, all Athenian citizens were members of a phratry. Draco’s law of homicide also states that the ten most aristocratic of the phratry members would be the ones to make the decision, implying that, at this early stage in Athenian history, the phratries were dominated by the aristocratic class. This would reflect the aristocratic dominance of the broader city-state at this time . Phratries likely reached their peak importance in Athens between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE, when we have the most extant records of them. In this time, they played a prominent role in Greek religious and social life. The number of phratries that existed during this period is unknown. The names of nine phratries are known and there are thought to have been at least thirty. There could have been as many as 140 phratries, which , if the case, would match the number of demes. Given scholarly estimates which place the Athenian citizen male population at between 20,000 and 30,000 in the 4th century BCE, this could mean phratries were as large as 1,000 adult males per phratry or as small as 140 adult males per phratry. It is also likely that different phratries were of different size and that phratries split or merged as demographic changes within them required.
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set of groups formed by
group containing
A
known
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the second prominent origin explanation of
a second origin theory for
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early stage
time
A
, if the case,