ET CETERA ANTIQUA

📝 Classical Civilisation essay, Year 11. Mark: 7/8. Teacher feedback: “Everything you write here is excellent, but we need 4 points of this standard for an 8-marker!”

Source A suggests that the kyria is more important. Xenophon writes “It is delightful to teach spinning to a maid”, which shows that the slave would have had no knowledge of spinning or weaving before coming to the kyria. This suggests that the kyria is more important because she has to teach the slaves how to do the household duties: without her, the slaves would be useless. The kyria is the one who shared her knowledge about their duties, so if she hadn’t, the slaves would have no idea what to do.

In his Oikonomicos, Xenophon also writes about the slaves: “You [the kyria] are in charge of them and all the duties they perform within the house.” This further emphasises the point that the kyria is more important than the slaves because she gives their orders. The kyria has to manage the entire household, but the slaves only obey her orders; if she didn’t tell them what to do and how to do it, the slaves would most likely be lost without her guidance. This also shows that the kyria has to do so much and is in charge of everything, which shows she is more important because she has lots of responsibilities.

However, Source B suggests that the slaves are more important. It depicts 8 women: they are folding blankets, preparing the wool, and actually spinning the wool etc. This shows that the slaves were more important because only one, if any, of the women can be the kyria, while the rest are slaves. This means that the slaves are doing most of the work, showing they are more important because the kyria couldn’t possibly get all the work done on her own, especially considering she has other duties to perform. If the kyria had no slaves, she wouldn’t be able to do her duty as kyria, so therefore the slaves are more important.

In conclusion, while it could be argued that the slaves are more important, because there are many of them and only one kyria, I think the kyria was more important in running the household. This is because she has to manage and teach the slaves, on top of the rest of her duties as kyria.