Passing Signals, Opening Doors: The Enslaved Woman in Euphiletos’s House

Passing Signals, Opening Doors: The Enslaved Woman in Euphiletos’s House
Dr. Sarah Brucia Breitenfeld

The court case On the Murder of Eratosthenes (Lysias 1) depicts an Athenian marital couple in crisis: a wife caught in the act of adultery and a husband accused of that adulterer’s murder. In the background, however, is an enslaved woman forced to participate in the conflict between her male and female enslavers. In this paper, I examine the social dynamics between this male citizen, his wife, and the domestic laborer living in their house. What, if anything, can we learn about an enslaved woman’s experience from the words of her enslaver?

 Please note that this talk will include descriptions of violence, including sexual assault.