Greek scholars have produced a vast body of evidence bearing on nuptial
practices that has yet to be mined by a professional economist. By
standing on their shoulders, the author proposes and tests radically new
interpretations of three important status groups in Greek history: the
pallakē, the nothos, and the hetaira.
It is argued that legitimate marriage - marriage by loan of the bride to
the groom - was not the only form of legal marriage in classical Athens
and the ancient Greek world generally. Pallakia - marriage by sale of
the bride to the groom - was also legally recognized. The
pallakē-wifeship transaction is a sale into slavery with a restrictive
covenant mandating the employment of the sold woman as a wife. In this
highly original and challenging new book, economist Morris Silver
proposes and tests the hypothesis that the likelihood of bride sale
rises with increases in the distance between the ancestral residence of
the groom and the father's household.
Nothoi, the bastard children of pallakai, lacked the legal right to
inherit from their fathers but were routinely eligible for Athenian
citizenship.
It is argued that the basic social meaning of hetaira (companion) is not
'prostitute' or 'courtesan, ' but 'single woman' - a woman legally
recognized as being under her own authority (kuria). The defensive
adaptation of single women is reflected in Greek myth and social
practice by their grouping into packs, most famously the Daniads and
Amazons.
