Growing Up Fatherless in Antiquity

Download or read book Growing Up Fatherless in Antiquity written by Sabine R. Hübner and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-02-19 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the changes in the traditional family accelerated toward the end of the twentieth century, a great deal of attention came to focus on fathers, both modern and ancient. While academics and politicians alike singled out the conspicuous and growing absence of the modern father as a crucial factor affecting contemporary family and social dynamics, ancient historians and classicists have rarely explored ancient father-absence, despite the likelihood that nearly a third of all children in the ancient Mediterranean world were fatherless before they turned fifteen. The proportion of children raised by single mothers, relatives, step-parents, or others was thus at least as high in antiquity as it is today. This book assesses the wide-ranging impact high levels of chronic father-absence had on the cultures, politics, and families of the ancient world.