Moicheia
With moicheia ( Greek. Μοιχεία) were referred to in ancient Greece the secret intercourse with a free, honest woman. This sexual intercourse always took place against the will of the kyrios , the woman's guardian.
The moicheia was not just about adultery or other illicit sexual intercourse, but more generally about violating family honor. Thus, not only the honor of the woman but also that of her kyrios , the closest male relative, was tainted. In ancient Greek society, only the board of directors of the family ( oíkos ) should decide on the sexuality of the female subjects under it, on family relationships and the offspring in the family. A man who intruded into this private, family realm fell into private vengeance. If he was caught in the act, the head of the house or his closest male relative could kill him as moichos . In general, such an act of revenge was followed by a so-called blood trial for murder, in which the avenging man had to defend himself against allegations that he had not deliberately lured his victim into his home. In Gortyn , an avenger could wash himself clean with the help of four oath assistants.
Aristotle reports that on Tenedos the avenging head of the house was only allowed to have real affect if the deed was committed with an ax and the adulteress was killed in addition to the adulterer. In Athens the dishonored was allowed to hold onto the moichós and extort a ransom. If the person caught did not agree, the dishonored person was allowed to publicly dishonor the adulterer (for example with the radish penalty ). Apparently there were also lawsuits against unjustified arrests. One such complaint has been reported in connection with the Neaira affair . From the grammarians for Athens, the possibility of a pure complaint has been handed down. In Gortyn the amount of the fine was fixed.
The woman involved received honorary sentences in some Greek poleis . In Athens, for example, a man had to separate from an adulterous woman and she was excluded from religious acts. When such an affair became known, unmarried women were no longer easy to marry.
literature
- James N. Davidson : Courtesans and Seafood. The consuming passions in classical Athens . Siedler Verlag, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-833-30199-6 (new edition Berliner Taschenbuch Verlag, Berlin 2002; original: Courtesans and Fishcakes: The Consuming Passions of Classical Athens . London 1997).
- Debra Hamel : The Neaira Case. The true story of a hetaera in ancient Greece . Primus-Verlag, Darmstadt 2004, ISBN 3-89678-255-X .