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kurios · Lit. “master,” “lord,” or in certain contexts “sovereign.” An Athenian woman had to be represented in legal transactions by a male relative, who was described as her kurios: in the case of an unmarried girl or widow who had returned to the house of her family, this would normally be her father or (failing him) her brother or paternal uncle, but it could even be her adult son. A married woman was represented by her husband, but it appears that her agnatic kurios did retain certain rights: for instance, the reversion of her dowry. Confusingly, the term kurios was also used to denote the owner of property or the master of a household, and there are contexts in which the two uses might conflict: a married son, for instance, would be kurios of his wife; but his father may still be kurios of his household.

Greek: κύριος.

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page 37 of 50