In a treatise on domestic matters, Xenophon explains the role of the Athenian wife compared to that of her husband. He describes the duties which should be performed by the man compared to the duties which are appropriate for the wife in the following manner:

"Now in my opinion, wife, the gods seem to have devised the

pair called female and male with particular insight that it

be most advantageous to itself for the good of its common

enterprise. First of all, so that the generations of living things

might not fail, the pair lies with one another in begetting

children. Secondly, from the pairs provided, for humans at

any rate, the means of acquiring those who will attend their

old age. Next, the way of life for humans is not, as it is for

cattle, in the outdoors, but there is need for a roof. That is

clear. Certainly for humans who intend to have something

to bring into the house, there is needed someone to do the

outdoor work. Plowing, sowing, planting, pasturing, all these

are outdoor occupations. From them come the necessities

of life. There is need, in turn, when these are brought into the

house, for someone to watch over and tend to the proper

occupations of the house. the care of new-born children

house, as does the making of clothes from wool. Since both

occupations, those inside and those outside, need work

and attention, the god, as it seems to me, mad nature accord-

ingly : the woman's for indoor occupations and the man's

for outdoor ones. He made the body and spirit of the man

more able to overcome cold, heat, travel, and military service.

Thus he assigned to him the outdoor occupations. Since he

endowed the woman by nature with a body less able to over-

come the rigors of cold, heat, travel, and military service,

the god seems to me to have assigned to her the indoor tasks.

Knowing that he had endowed her by nature and assigned her

the rearing of new-born children, he also apportioned to her

more affection for new-born babies than to the man. Since he

also assigned to the woman the watching over what was

brought into the house, and since he realized that for guarding

it was no loss if the soul be timid, the god apportioned a

greater amount of timidity to the woman than to the man.

On the other hand, knowing that there will be need for the

one who has the outdoor occupations to act in defense of

them, the god apportioned to the man the greater amount of

courage."

(qtd. in A Study of Athenian Mythmaking, by Wm. Blake Tyrrell, pg. 45-46)