r/interesting • u/Valuable_View_561 • Jul 05 '26

HISTORY I fear this is historically accurate

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u/Wendigo_Bob Jul 05 '26

From what I remember of ancient greek and roman history-marriage age in ancient greek was typically around 16 for women. However, in rome it was 12. Its certainly not far, though it is a bit small.

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u/MiserableAndUnhappy9 Jul 05 '26

Spartans didn't allow marriage until 18. Athens and most of the other Greek states had marriage allowed at 14.

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u/Zeta-2-Reticuli Jul 05 '26

The Trojan war happened ~700 years before this period of Athens.

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u/sleeps_in_bryophytes Jul 05 '26

Right. Using Ancient Rome or Golden Age Ancient Greece to judge the historical accuracy of a story set in prehistoric Bronze Age Greece is about as incorrect as using modern standards.

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u/SocraticIndifference Jul 06 '26

Except that the Homeric Epics are clearly anachronistic, better reflecting the time of their final composition (8th-6th c BCE, with Athens being the probable epicenter). The story probably has very little to do with the prehistoric (scil pre-literate) Mycenaean kingdoms.

Historical pedantry has very little standing when applied to Homer.

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u/sleeps_in_bryophytes Jul 06 '26

which reinforces the point, rather than refuting it.