Familia, pobreza y vulnerabilidad en la Atenas clásica: Ancianos, viudas y huérfanos de guerra

Valdés Guía, Miriam and Fernández Prieto, Aida ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5894-0869 (2022) Familia, pobreza y vulnerabilidad en la Atenas clásica: Ancianos, viudas y huérfanos de guerra. In: La pobreza en el mundo antiguo. Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona. ISBN 9788491689003

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Abstract

In this chapter we will focus on the situation of the "poorest" households in classical Athens, paying special attention to the way in which certain contingencies, such as military conflicts, specifically the Peloponnesian War, affected these households and, in particular, their most vulnerable members: the elderly, widows and children. To this end, we will first look at the legislative measures adopted by the Athenian polis in an attempt to protect these groups. Secondly, we will look at the situations of vulnerability that they have to face (although with the focus, once again, on citizen households), as well as the strategies for survival and management of certain situations, especially in the context of war and post-war (especially in the Peloponnese). Thirdly, we will turn to the question of marriage practices during this period in relation to situations of citizen scarcity and poverty resulting from the war. As we will argue, the loss of human life in this period led, in a conflictive way, to a greater integration of excluded groups, through unorthodox or mixed marriages, which could also serve as a coping mechanism in the face of poverty.