We have very little literature and, as far as we know, no art created by women in classical Greece, but women are depicted in many of the works we do have.
Vases may show domestic scenes: women visiting each other , grooming (here, trimming the pubic hair)
This vase shows a family group (mother, father, and baby), with the child's nurse; a loom for weaving stands behind the nurse.
Detail of the loom.
Several vases show spinning and wool-work.
The woman seated in the center of the picture is spinning wool from the distaff in her left hand onto the spindle in her right hand.
Here the seated woman drapes the wool her leg to leave her hands free for spinning it.
This early fifth-century cup shows women combing and carding wool.
This detailed picture of a loom comes from a vase that may show Circe and Odysseus (cf. Homer, Odyssey 10.315ff).
Sculpture is also useful: this gravestone in the shape of a vase shows a woman with a mirror, perhaps dressing.
HTML by AEM, last update 18 September 2001
Return to CL 56 page
Home page
Perseus Digital Library
Department page