Oikos

For other uses, see Oikos (disambiguation).

Oikos (Ancient Greek: οἶκος (pronunciation oi•kos [a]; plural: οἶκοι) was, in Ancient Greece, two related but distinct concepts: the family and the family's house.[b] Its meaning shifted even within texts.[1]

The oikos was the basic unit of society in most Greek city-states. For regular Attic usage within the context of families, the oikos referred to a line of descent from father to son from generation to generation.[2] Alternatively, as Aristotle used it in his Politics, the term was sometimes used to refer to everybody living in a given house. Thus, the head of the oikos, along with his immediate family and his slaves, would all be encompassed.[3] Large oikoi also had farms that were usually tended by the slaves, which were also the basic agricultural unit of the ancient Greek economy.


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  1. ^ Davies, J.K. (2008) [orig. 1992, in The Cambridge Ancient History § Second series]. "Society and Economy". In Lewis, D.M.; Boardman, John; Davies, J.K.; et al. (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History Volume V: The Fifth Century B.C. (Note the publisher describes the new series (1970–2005) - and each volume within it - as 2nd. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 290. ISBN 978-0-521-23347-7. Retrieved 11 October 2023 – via Scribd.
  2. ^ MacDowell, D.M. (1989). "The Oikos in Athenian Law". Classical Quarterly. 39 (1): 15. doi:10.1017/S0009838800040453.
  3. ^ Cox, Cheryl Anne (14 July 2014) [orig.1998]. Household Interests: Property, Marriage Strategies, and Family Dynamics in ancient Athens. Princeton Legacy Library. Princeton University Press. p. 190. ISBN 9780691602042.