Dr. Florencia Foxley, Lecturer of Classical Studies at Dartmouth, delivered a cοmpelling lecture about childbirth and the figure of the bride in Euripidean tragedy, Andromache. Her studies focus on the way motherhood and childbirth are regulated and idealogozied in service of patriarchal social structures. Through a study of Euripidean tragedy and late 5th century vase painting, Foxley argues that childbirth was in fact an essential and final step to the wedding ritual in Athens, without which young women were not considered full adults or wives.
During the talk, Dr. Foxley outlined the steps of the wedding ritual and explained the importance of the ritual’s completion for the bride’s place in her new household. The process and gravity of the ceremony intrigued me. For Athenian women in the classical period, the birth of the first born child marked the proper end point, or telos, of the wedding ritual. Thus, a great deal of pressure was placed on young women to give birth quickly in order to conclude the marriage process. Since young women were considered brides until the birth of the child a successful pregnancy was of the utmost importance for the end of the ceremony and her status. Therefore, their secured position in their new household was contingent upon a full term pregnancy. While the pregnancy itself was of great importance, the gender of the new baby also played a role in the wife’s acceptance. Within Athenian society, male babies were preferred to females. In addition to the weight of conception, young wives also dealt with great anxiety surrounding the baby’s gender. Foxley’s assertion about gender preference in the classical period is a shared desire in most patriarchal societies. Fertile mothers are considered blessed and worthy of praise, especially if they have boys. Whereas, households of girls are considered burdened or threatened.
Dr. Foxley noted that tragedy and vase paintings provide contemporary Classicists with a fuller understanding of the function of Athenian marraige. This statement fascinated me particularly in the way that art from the past holds clues to life in the past. Prior to Dr. Foxley’s statement, I rarely thought about art’s role in preservation and understanding the past. This is illustrated in the drawings on the red figure pottery. Bridal adornments on painted vases offer insight into the stages of the wedding ceremony. Unlike historical treatices or legal documents, other sources of information about marriage, ceramics and theater convey emotion and knowledge. Through its emotional form, modern audiences can discern values and events of importance. For example, Euripides uses his play Andromache to comment on the role of the young bride. The emotion surrounding Hermoine’s infertility and Andromache’s illegitimate child drives the plot. This tragedy offers a glimpse into the beliefs and sentient opinions about marriage through which academics can gain great insight from their depth and connotation.
Following the lecture, I pulled Dr. Foxley aside to ask a few questions about her research. Particularly, I was curious about the role of childbirth in consummation and its prevalence across Greek Tragedy. She theorized that the presence of this topic in Athenian theater was motivated by fear and a desire to better understand young women’s roles in a patriarchal society. Her comment piqued my interest and led me to think about contemporary performance. In our society, our art sheds light on causes of concern or fear and provides the space for audience members to grapple with and work through our worries. Through art, individuals can find relief and reflect. This is not to say that when Euripides wrote about nuptials he was contemplating all of these or intentionally creating the space for impacted folks, but it does highlight that this subject matter was a topic of interest.
