Greek women traditionally moved into their new husband’s home upon marriage. In Olympos, the opposite takes place.
And women’s prominence is also reflected in their names. “The eldest daughter took the first name of the maternal grandmother, unlike the rest of Greece, where it was that of the paternal grandmother,” said Tsampanakis.
“Many women still call themselves by their mother’s surname and not their husband’s,” he added.
The role of women in Olympos was further strengthened in the 1950s when the village men began to emigrate for work – mainly to the United States and European countries – leaving their wives and daughters behind to manage families and farms on their own.
“WE HAD NO CHOICE”
“We had no choice but to work in the absence of the men. It was our only way of surviving,” recalled 67-year-old Anna Lentakis as she picked artichokes in the hamlet of Avlona near Olympos.
A few years ago, Lentakis ran the Olympos tavern. This has now passed into the hands of her eldest daughter Marina.
“I don’t know if we were early feminists… but I like to say that the man is the head of the family, and the woman the neck,” said Marina, who is in her 40s.
Marina’s daughter Anna is only 13 years old, but she knows that one day she will take up the torch. “It’s my grandmother’s legacy and I’ll be proud to take care of it!” she said.
But the “feminist” inheritance system only benefits the eldest children, said Alain Chabloz of the Geographical Society of Geneva, who has studied the subject.
“The youngest sons were forced into exile, and the youngest daughters had to stay on the island at the service of the elders. A kind of social caste was created,” he said.
Source: CNA
