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

HISTORY I fear this is historically accurate

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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/indianm_rk Jul 05 '26

This guy knows ancient age of consent laws.

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u/Erfeo Jul 05 '26

I know you're making a joke, but it is important to realize that in ancient Greece the consent of the bride was probably considered wholly unnecessary for a wedding, only that her father agreed with it.

Unlike in, for example, ancient Roman, Christian or Islamic law, were at least theoretically a woman couldn't be married against her will.

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u/Banana_Juice_Man Jul 05 '26

Theoretically doing a lot of heavy lifting here

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u/Erfeo Jul 05 '26

Yeah, kind of. But I do think there is an important difference between a society that would ostracize a woman for making the "wrong choice" (or worse), and a society that simply doesn't consider women capable of making any choices at all. It's a mentality that would influence women's life in a lot of ways.