ABSTRACT
Were ancient Greek bastards (nothoi) the children of men, or the children ofwomen? The question is not intended biologically, but sociologically: which relationship was more significant for a nothos, and which contributed more to the definition of his role in society at large-that with his father, or that with his mother? One might have taken the impression from two recent studies that it was the relationship to father that was the more important:
The term almost always defines the status of the relationship towards the father, not the mother, while nowadays we concentrate equally if not more so on the mother of extra-marital children. Ancient authors thought primarily about men; women did not normally interest them. It was from the point of view of the man and his oikos that the status of his various sexual partners and the children resulting from the corresponding unions was viewed.
