Gynaeceum

Portion of a house reserved for women in Ancient Greece

In Ancient Greece, the gynaeceum (, gynaikeion, from Ancient Greek γυναικεία, gynaikeia: "part of the house reserved for the women"; literally "of or belonging to women, feminine") or the gynaeconitis (γυναικωνῖτις, gynaikōnitis: "women's apartments in a house") was a building or the portion of a house reserved for women, generally the innermost apartment. In other words, a women's quarters, similar to the South Asian antahpura and Islamic South Asian zenana. The gynaeceum is the counterpart to the andrōn, or male quarters. The married woman of the household would often join the unmarried women and the female slaves at night when she did not join her husband. The women spent most of their days in this area of the house. These rooms were more remote from those reserved for the men by placing them away from the streets and public areas of the house. When visitors were entertained the women were not present, but remained in this secluded portion of the house. A section of the imperial palace of Constantinople during the Greek Byzantine Empire reign was known as the gynaikonitis and was reserved to women. It had its own ceremonial rites and processions as well as political dynamics.

Following text includes personal opinion and is based on a few oriented sources. In sorting through the remnants of residential architectural complexes found in sites such as Zagora and Olynthus, archeologists have been able to explore the social dynamics of Ancient Greek society as it developed into the polis or city state. Archeologists have developed various perspectives on how architectural design was fundamentally utilized in the domination of women and the lower classes through various periods of history. The segregation of women from the public sphere through the addition of doors, limits of sight lines in between rooms, the addition of a courtyard, and even the addition of a second floor parallels the gradual evolution of the city state. Some would argue that the presence of women in the public sphere increased at a certain point through changes to dress and the increased use of the veil or hijab in some Muslim communities. Ancient law books and surviving artwork reveal inheritance and property rights favoring male kin and even male non kin over the women of the household. The practice of exposing new born female babies revealed a society that favored the male sex. It is in sifting through these surviving remnants of the domestic sphere that archeologists have been able to piece together an understanding of women's social, economic, and political realities.

Artistic references may shed some light on the religious, cultural, and economic activities of the aristocratic elements of society. Key to research into the status of women has been the archeological evidence found or implied within the excavated residential structures. Artifacts such as ceramic vases, looms, cups, and metal hinges found within the excavated sites suggest social, cultural, and economic clues. Looms and olive presses located within the residential excavation zones further suggest the economic role of women within the home. Textual evidence proves the production of textiles and the role that men played in the trade of such products, while women and their slaves created the products to be traded and sold. The writings of Xenophon express Socrates' perception of the role of aristocratic women as that of weaving and managing the slaves of the household, while the men having citizenship rights can move freely in the public sphere. The sightlines or the lack of lines of sight also provide a certain amount of privacy between rooms within the home. The addition of a courtyard with a single entrance to the outside also allowed for further privacy for the household and limiting access from those considered outside of kin relationship. The new structure allowed members of the household to control the right of passage through the use of partitions such as curtains and doors, some with locks. Some excavated sites revealed, however, that some multi room residences were designed in such a way that each room connected to the other, suggesting that in order for someone to go to another room, they had to pass through a room and possibly be unable to avoid interaction with other members of the household. The bias of repeating the past research, as well as using the "fill in the gaps" style of interpretation when there is a lack of archeological evidence, can be problematic. However, others suggest cross cultural analysis into the political, social, and economic avenues of society to fill in the missing information.