Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

A word for woman?
Sosin, Joshua D
Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Spring 1997; 38, 1; ProQuest
pg. 75

A Word for Woman? 

Joshua D. Sosin 

I
N GREEK LITERARY USAGE the feminine il livepo)1to~ inevita­
bly carries pejorative or diminutive connotations. Women 
referred to in this way are the objects of contempt or 

derision: slaves who give testimony under torture, prostitutes 
who plot to capture legacies, women who commit sexual im­
proprieties. But il livepo)1to~ may also express pity when it ap­
plies to women who are raped or otherwise degraded, who 
suffer from physical or psychological maladies, or who are 
trapped in an otherwise unpleasant situation. The semantic spec­
trum of il livepo)1to~ is already known to a limited degree ( cf 
the sparse entry in LSJ S.v. livepw1to~ II), although it appears 
not to have been the object of sustained study. Athenian ora­
tors referred to wicked prostitutes and pitiable girls with the 
term. Ancient antiquarians applied il livepw1to~ to women who 
have sex with and give birth to snakes and other beasts. But 
how was this aprellation used and received by real people out­
side the world 0 literature? 

I 

Before we address the documentary evidence, a survey of lit­
erary usage is called for. At Pin dar Pyth. 4.96£ Pelias, on first 
seeing Jason's bare foot, attempts to hide his fear (d .. €1t'twv 
eu~ii», but blurts out Kat 'ti~ aVepO)1tWV <JE xa~al'YEv€wV 1tOAUX; 
E~avllKEv 'Ya<J'tpo~; (98ff), as if to ask "What creature bore 
you?" Of the freakishly tall woman whom Pisistratus dressed as 
Athena, Herodotus writes that the Athenians 1tELeO~EvOt 'tTjv 
yuvatKa dvClt au'tTjv 'tTjv 8EOV 1tpo<JEUXOV'to 'tE 'tTjv liv8pw1tov 
Kat EO€KOV'tO I1Et<Jlcnpa'tOv (1.60). Aristotle (£ N 1148b 20) 
refers to a mysterious female creature that gores pregnant 
women and devours their fetuses as 'tTjv av8pw1tllv.1 

1 LS] (s.'!!. II) cites all three instances under the questionable heading, "as 
fern. woman." Pelias imagines a monster; Pisistratus exploits an abnormal 
giant; Aristotle draws analogy with a mythical female monster. These are not, 
in the ordinary imagination, typical women. 

7S 



Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

76 A WORD FOR WOMAN? 

Antiphon refers to a pallake on the verge of delivering a 
deadly draught of poison as il av8pro1to~ (1.17.2f). Lysias' 
defense of Euphiletus describes the pathetic jilted lover of 
Eratosthenes, as she lurks around Euphiletus' house with the 
intent to inform him of Eratosthenes' impropriety; Lysias calls 
her il av8pro1to~ (1.16). Demosthenes recounts how after Philip 
seized Olynthos, the debauched members of his staff required 
an innocent, young, free-born, Olynthian girl to dine with them 
and even to sing at the table. When the captive refused to sing 
she was thrashed; she is called il av8pro1to~ (19.197). A slave 
who is a key witness is also so termed by Demosthenes (47 
passim). This same designation also appears in Ps.-Demos­
thenes for Neaira, the ex-prostitute charged under ypacpil ~Evia~ 
(59.9,21,46,51,54,59,72, and passim). Isocrates names a slave 
who has been drawn into a fraudulent charge of murder 'tilv 
av8pro1tov (18.52). Isaeus so describes an ex-prostitute of ser­
vile descent who insinuates herself into the graces and 
inheritance of the old and feeble Euctemon (6.21, 38f).2 

The meaning does not appear to change over time: il av8pro-
1tO~ is frequently derisive or contemptuous in postclassical 
authors as well. Aclian applies it to an old woman who has sex 
with a slave (NA 7.15), a poor woman afflicted with intestinal 
worms (9.33), an adulteress whose eyes are gouged out by a 
stork (8.20), a lowly hawker who becomes the object of the 
amorous gropings of an elephant (7.43), and a woman who has 
sex with a snake (6.17). Elsewhere he uses il av8pro1to~ to 
describe a woman who has the audacity to propose marriage to 
a man (VH 10.2), a courtesan visited by Demetrius Poliorcetes 
(12.17), and a courtesan who was asked to marry the king of 
Egypt on the strength of the beauty of her slipper (13.33). 
Chariton (2.1.9) describes a slave-girl as il av8pro1to~. Strabo so 
calls a prophetess whom the Boeotian army burns alive under 
suspicion of treason (9.2.4). Pausanias applies the title to a 
mysterious woman who gives birth to a snake and in so doing 
destroys an entire army of Arcadians (6.20.4). Lucian (Ab­
dieatus 7) calls a pitiable insane woman il av8pro1to~. With 
perhaps a greater range of meaning Plutarch uses the term for 
an Amazon (Thes. 27.6), a woman contemplating abortion (Lye. 
3.3), a concubine (Mar. 40.12), Arsicas' wife who is slated for 

2 On usage in the passage from Antiphon, Dcmosthenes (19.197), Isocrates, 
and Isaeus, LSJ (s.v. II) note appropriately: ·contemptuously, of female slaves." 



Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

JOSHUA D. SOSIN 77 

execution (Artax. 2.3), the notorious Aspasia (Per. 24.2), and the 
fearsome mother of Alexander, Olympias (Alex. 2.5). Usage at 
Josephus AJ 5.329 expresses only moderate pity, though 
elsewhere in the same work it is clearly negative (16.194). 
Dionysius of Halicarnassus applies il o.v8pu)1t0<; to good women 
who are victims: Lavinia, hiding out in the woods like a 
commoner (Ant.Rom. 1.70), Ilia, the mother of Romulus and 
Remus, after having been raped by a god (1.78), and Lucretia, 
after having been raped (4.65). 

Moreover, in the medical writers, whose descriptive pre­
cision might lead one to expect use of il liv8pco1t0<; with the 
simple meaning female, the feminine denotes wretchedness. It 
appears in the Hippocratic corpus in two treatises. At Virgo 1.37 
(VIII Littn!) il liv8pco1t0<; is applied to a young girl suffering 
from bloating, fever, and delirium apparently tied to the onset 
of menstruation. In the treatise on feminine ailments il 
liv8pco1to<; applies to women suffering illnesses ranging from 
unpleasant to horrible: one undergoes treatment (Mul. 1.11) for 
what appears to be morning sickness (1. Iff: "Ocrn<n 8£ h:ta'ia 
Kat E~80Ila'ia 'tex a1tO 'tOl> av8po<; Ka'ta(JTI1tOIlEva XCOp£Et, 
'tm'HnO'lV ElKO<; yiVE08at U1tO allCPo'iv E1tlppOn, XOA:T)<; Kat UAllll<;); 
another suffers the grotesque bloating of dropsy (61.3, 18, 20, 
42); another endures uterine ulcers (66.4, 13); and still another is 
juggled and manipulated in an effort to extract the miscarried 
fetus that is lodged inside her (68.18). Similarly Galen so 
describes women consumed by gruesome lethal fevers 
(10.687.5; 17.1.609.9, 788.12, 15 Kuhn) or wracked with sickness 
resulting from miscarriage (17.1.638.5 Kuhn). 

In Greek literature of the Classical period the meaning of il 
liv8pco1t0<; is evident. Its use is reserved for women who are 
somehow unwomanly, as a result of physical, moral, or legal 
characteristics. Pelias can only envision a monster as having 
given birth to Jason. Pisistratus' giant not only towers above 
men, but is instrumental in a political coup. As to Aristotle's 
fetus-eating creature, not even her species is certain. The rest 
are slaves or are treated as slaves. In postclassical literature the 
number of examples of the use of the feminine broadens, but 
the semantic range remains constant: il liv8pco1t0<; is pejorative 
or expressive of extreme pathos. 



Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

78 A WORD FOR WOMAN? 

II 

We are on much less firm ground with epigraphical evidence, 
which provides a single instance of the feminine il liv8poo1toe;. 
The account of the Delian hieropoioi for 279 B.C. records a 
payment of 120 drachmas made 'tlll uv8pomool de; 'tu E1tl'tllDncx 
(lG XI.2 161 A.83). The entry is grouped among payments for a 
builder (83), a hyperetes (83), stonemasons (83f), clothing (84), a 
scribe (84), a herald (84), neokoroi (84f), a krenophylax (85), a 
female flute player (84), etc. ; the list goes on to include building 
materials, statues, carts, incense, oil, and other items. The 
context of the account does not give any hint of the identity or 
status of the woman. The text's original editor, Homolle, was at 
a loss, suggesting that she must surely be a slave.3 If he was 
correct, then she is a comparatively well-paid slave. The same 
account records the wages of a scribe at two-thirds that of the 
woman (84). The herald and one of the neokoroi earn only half 
her wage (84f). The krenophylax commands only three-fourths 
the pay of the woman (85). The female flute player earns the 
same as the woman (85). It is possible that the flute player is 
both a slave and our il liv8poonoe;, but we cannot be sure. 

Homolle (480) noted also that the accounts for 282 B.C. contain 
payments to a female breadmaker (lG XI.2 158.38-57), 
speculating that she might be the same person. This bread­
maker, named Artemisia, drew a monthly wage that ranged 
from 3 drachmas, 5 obols (44) to 6 drachmas, 3 obols (38). 
Payments to her are listed for seven months (Lenaion­
B ouphonion). Artemisia received wages for only six of those 
months; Abittis was the breadmaker for the month of Hieros. 
Artemisia earned an average of 4 drachmas, 5 obols per month, 
if we exclude the month of Hieros; the unnamed woman drew 
more than twice that amount. In light of the two women's 
earnings Homolle's conjecture may be unwarranted. 

But unfortunately the identity and status of this mysterious 
woman cannot be assessed with certainty. There is nothing in 
the text to suggest that she is the object of derision or pity. 
None of the other payees in the account for 279 B.C. is explicitly 
described as slave or free, nor for that matter can we be sure 
that Artemisia, the breadmaker is a slave. It is possible, never­
theless, that il liv8po)1toe; implies 'slave' in this instance as it does 

3 T. HOMOLLE, ·Comptes et inventaires des temples DeIiens en I'annee 279," 
BCH 14 (1890: hereafter 'Homolle') 389-511 at 480. 



Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

JOSHUA D. SOSIN 79 

so often in the Attic orators, though apparently here without 
the contempt. On this point Homolle is probably correct, 
although he does not acknowledge the classical parallels for this 
meaning of il O:v8poo1to~. 

III 

The papyri offer a picture not nearly so clear as that from 
literary sources. il o:v8po)1to~ occurs in the papyri only three 
times and in each instance its meaning is perhaps mildly 
pejorative, if not neutral. In a petition dated to 13 January 218 
B.C., Nicaea, daugh ter of Nicias, asks the king to ini ti ate the 
process. of appointing her a new guardian. Her husband and 
guardian Pausanias died, and then his son, who had been 
appointed as her guardian in accordance with his will, died also. 
In his subscription to the petition the strategos of the Arsinoite 
nome, Diophanes, assigns Dioscurides, an epistates (most likely 
of a village) to the case (P.Enteux. 22.14): 

~tOOICOUp{SU. ltapaMx~rov nvae;; 'trov ElC 't11e;; lCro(~Tle;;) 
N{lCataV 

~1?~<!~'?:~1?0?~ EloeA.ee ltpOe;; 'tltV n iiv9pomov] . 

The editor does not comment on Diophanes' error and subse­
quent correction. In the dozens of extant petitions on which 
Diophanes' subscriptions appear, his words are few, business­
like and impersonal without exception (P.Enteux. passim). 
Diophanes' treatment of the other petitions by women (e.g. 
P.Enteux. 6, 10, 13, 20, 21) differs in no way from the manner in 
which he handles men's petitions, so the appearance of il 
o:v8p«)1to~ cannot be attributed to simple misogynistic reflex. 
Nicaea's petition, moreover, is not intrinsically abrasive or even 
extraordinary. If il o:vepCJ)7tO~ is pejorative here, then we must 
assume that Diophanes has independent cause for disliking the 
petitioner, a cause weighty enough to discourage this bureau­
crat from his otherwise perfect record of businesslike 
subscription-writing. It is unlikely that il o:v8poolto~ is an ex­
pression of Diophanes' pity. Nicaea's request for a guardian is a 
simple legal necessity. Although Diophanes may have shown 
pity for his petitioners, surely it was at their hearings, not in the 
curt subscriptions that served as inter-office memos. We must 
either conjecture a history of ill feeling between Nicaea and 



Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

80 A WORD FOR WOMAN? 

Diophanes or conclude that the phrase 'tllv iiv8po)1tov was 
corrected for its lack of precison, not its tone. 

The second example comes from a roughly contemporary 
petition concerning a dispute over tax collection (P.Hels. I 1; 
194/193-180 B.C.). Asclepiades and two partners who together 
hold the tax contract for collection of the sixth on gardens have 
co-opted a fourth partner, Petaus. The latter has apparently lent 
seven talents of bronze to Asclepiades' wife Aunchis instead of 
producing a proper surety for his obligations as collector. 
Asclepiades claims to have returned the loan, but Petaus 
disagrees. At lines 18f Asclepiades reports that Petaus has 
already brought one suit against his wife, Aunchis: 1(Cl't' AUYXlOe; 
'tile; yuvatKOe; JlOU. In the next sentence, however, Asclepiades 
refers to the loan transacted between Petaus and his wife (22), 
'tllv iivijpw1toV JlOU. Nothing gives the impression that Aunchis 
is lowly or reprehensible; Asclepiades is not maligning his own 
wife. The editor's suggestion (p.22) that the phrase reflects the 
actual words of Petaus (which we are to assume were derisive?) 
is not in evidence. Asclepiades does not make clear exactly how 
this admittedly labyrinthine deal came to be transacted, and it is 
possible that he is attempting to win the sympathy of the peti­
tion's recipient by stressing that his 'poor wife' was swindled by 
Petaus. As with the former petition, this is not explicit in the 
text, but at best a plausible reading. 

A new papyrological example is found in an unpublished 
papyrus in the Duke collection.4 

P.Duk. inv. 315 31.8 x 6.8 cm. early II B.C. 
Oxyrhyncha 
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.ed u/papyrus/records/315.html 

A tall. slender strip of light brown papyrus. complete except for the bottom 
right corner. The text runs with the fibers in a heavy but neat. block ish hand. 

'HcpalO''tlCOV 
'I~l Xa{pElV' 
WtfiA-SoV roto O'Oll 

4 't'lll iCy 'tOll 

Hephaestion 
to Imouthes greeting. 
I left you 
on the 2yd 

4 The papyrus was acquired in 1984 with ten others (P.Duk. inv. 313-14. 
315-23). See D PA, <http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrusltexts/ acquisitions. 
htmi>.1998. Digital scans and catalogue records may be found on the DP A, 
<http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus>.1998. 



Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

JOSHUA D. SOSIN 

TuJh ~ avaKo\vO)­
OO~EVO~ 'till 1ta-
p' E~OU yuvalKI. 

8 1tEPI. 'tOlV A (OpaXJlcDv) 6>v 
EATtA.U91,v 1tP~ 

" '\ 'l , , OE. OU ouv a1tE<p<Xl-
VE~ AtyOlV To 

12 ~ TlJlU<ru olvov 
'to oE aUo i1~uou 

EvtOlCOV 
XaAKOV. 'E~ou oE 
avaKo\v(O(Ja~Evou 

16 OUK EOo~EV 
't1ll av9pO>1tOll. 
Ka90n 0' E~01. ha­
~O) ~h6'tl Aa~E OUO 

::!) ~va~ a'tOKt, Eu~a­
PlO'tcD. KaA~ OUV 
1t0l110El~, rov OOl 
qxxiVTt'tal, Oou~ ~O[l] 

24 'tP'i~ ~va~ 6>v 'to [v ] 
'tOKOV OtOOl E~ E~OU] 
K (Opax~a~). KO~loa'tro [OE] 
?Qpo~ (, 1tapa.O[{Oou~] .. 

28 6>v av OE xpeav [EXTtl~] 
'Yp[a]\jfov EOOU[ ..... ] 
1tpo9u~ [ .......... ] 
~lau ~Ol [ ....... ] 

32 'tcDl Xp[ ......... ] 

Verso: 'I~ou91,l 

of Tybi in order to 
consult with 
my wife concerning 
the 1000 drachmas about 
which I had approached 
you. You had made a 
proposal, saying, 
'"Half wine, the 
other half bronze 
with interest." 
When I 
consulted her, 
it was not agreed to 
by the woman. 
Insofar as you 
proposed to me '"Take two 
minas without interest," I 
accept. Please, 
therefore, if you will, 
give me three 
minas for which I will 
pay from my (own money) 
interest at 20 drachmas. 
Let Horus, the one bringing 
(this letter), deliver them. 
Of whatever you have need, 
write ... 

To Imouthes 

5-6: corr. from aVGlCOlVCOO0J.L£VO\l. 12: read TllLtcru. 13: read TllLtc:ru. 24: read tPE~. 

81 

On palaeographical grounds the papyrus may be assigned to the 
early second century B.C., roughly contemporary with the other 
two texts. This date is consistent with the dates of the other 
texts from this batch of cartonnage. 5 

Hephaestion sought a loan of 1,000 drachmas from Imou­
thes (8ff). After consulting the woman Hephaestion rejected 
Imouthes' initial offer and took up another loan, evidently 

5 P.Duk. inv. 313; III/II B.C. = W. H. Willis, *Comoedia Dukiana,» GRBS 32 
(1991) 331-53; P.Duk. inv. 314; 200 B.C. = J. D. Sosin and J. F. Oates, 
·P.Duk.inv. 314: Agathis, Strategos and Hipparches of the Arsinoite Nome,» 
ZPE 118 (1997) 251-58, esp. 251 n.2 for the rest of the lot. 



Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

82 A WORD FOR WOMAN? 

arranged in advance. Was the woman's advice sound? 
Imouthes' offee of half in bronze coin and half in wine (10-14) 
would be preferable to a loan of 1,000 drachmas in coin from 
Hephaestion's point of view on any of three conditions: (1) 
there is a shortage of currency so that he could not be certain of 
raising enough capital to pay back the loan; (2) the duration of 
the loan exceeded 25 months so that (assuming the standard rate 
of interest of 2% monthly on cash loans)6 the 50% compensa­
tion usual for loans in kind 7. would have time to drop to the 
level of the interest accrued on the cash portion of the loan; or 
(3) Hephaestion expects the price of wine to drop enough to 
undercut the accrued interest on the cash portion of the loan. 
The small amount of the loan renders the latter two scenarios 
unlikely. The duration of the loan is unknown, but, as with 
other loans that are O:toKO~ or (hOKl it was probably short­
term. J {ad Hephaestion's wife agreed to the first transaction, he 
would have owed 25% (50% for the 500 drachmas in wine) plus 
the accrued in':erest on the cash. As the latter rate is unstated, 
we may assume that it was the standard 2% monthly. So for a 
brief loan of, let us say, two months, Hephaestion would have 
owed just undf:r 30% in <interest'. 

Under the terms of the second arrangement, it appears that 
Hephaestion will borrow the 200 drachmas eXtoKl, this is, with 
the interest already reckoned with the sum (pestman [supra 
n.7]), as offered by Imouthes (19f), plus an additional 100 drach­
mas at 20% interest (20 drachmas interest on the remaining 
100). Only the duration of the loan and the amount of interest 
included with the cnOKl portion would tell us for sure whether 
the second arrangement was financially more advantageous to 
Hephaestion, but whether or not the numbers were better, the 
risks were less. It was probably safer for Hephaestion to con­
vert goods to cash than to bet on the wine market and risk 
losing money in order to convert precious cash to wine. 
Hephaestion's wife gave good advice. Once again nothing in the 

6 H.-A. Ruppr~:cht, Untersuchungen zum Darlehen im Recht der graeco­
aegyptischen Papyri der Ptolemaerzeit (=MunchBeitr 51 [Munich 1967]) 
73-90, esp. 74 n.7. See also his Kleine Einfuhrung in die Papyruskunde 
(Darmstadt 1994) 118-21. Cf also CPR XVIII 14, 16,24, with introduction 
45f. 

7 P. Pestman, "Loans Bearing No Interest?" JJurP 16-17 (1971) 7-29, esp. 
9-14; N. Lewis, "The Meaning of oilv itl.lloA.i~ and Kindred Expressions in 
Loan Contracts," TAPA 76 (1945) 126-39; P.Dion. p.183. 



Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

JOSHUA D. SOSIN 83 

text indicates explicitly that Hephaestion insults his own wife in 
calling her il iivepro1to~. It is possible, however, that he is trying 
to salvage his reputation as an agreeable person with his creditor 
Imouthes, by putting the blame for the failed initial transaction 
on 'the old lady', as if saying, 'If it were up to me .... " Again, this 
is speculation. 

il iivepro1to~ in the unique piece of epigraphic evidence is 
unfortunaely equivocal. In all three documents on papyrus, on 
the other hand, one feature stands out: in each case il iivepro1to~ 
indicates a previously mentioned woman. Diophanes applies it 
to the petitioner Nicaea, in his subscripiton to her petition 
(P.Enteux. 22.14). Asclepiades calls his wife yuvTj in his first 
preserved mention of her (P.H els. I 1.18f; note the lacuna at line 
11, where the editor restores il yuvTj !lou), and then il iivepro1to~ 
(22) when he refers to her again. In the same way Hephaestion 
first calls his wife yuvTj (7) and then il iivepro1to~ (17). This 
consistency in all three instances raises an important question: 
did the pejorative or diminutive connotation of il iivepro1to~ 
exist in the Greek papyri in the third and second centuries B.C,? 

Unfortunately a simple answer is not yet forthcoming. We may 
hope only that further epigraphic and papyrological discoveries 
will settle question. 

In the documentary evidence, in contrast to the literary, the 
pejorative connotations of il iivepro1to~ appear to be so mild as 
to raise the possibility that il iivepro1to~ is synonymous with il 
yuvTj, simply meaning wife (P.Hels. I 1; P.Duk. inv. 315) or 
woman (P.Enteux. 22; IG XI.2 161).8 

DUKE UNIVERSITY 

May, 1998 

8 See now P. Sarischouli, ·"Av9poolto<; in Papyri of the Byzantine Period (late 
3rd-mid 7th c.)," in Akten des 21. Internationalen Papyrologenkongresses II 
(Stuttgart and Leipzig 1997) 889-901, who argues that in the papyri of the 
Byzantine period iiv9poolto<; frequently means simply «man" or ·person."