Apoleipisis (ἀπόλειψις) or Apopempsis (ἀπόπεμψις)

Divorce.

The term for this act was ἀπόλειψις or ἀπόπεμψις, the former denoting the act of a wife leaving her husband, and the latter that of a husband dismissing his wife (Demosth. c. Onet. i. p. 865. 4; c. Neaer. p. 1362. 52, 1365. 59). The only Greek States respecting whose laws of divorce we have any knowledge are Athens and Sparta. In both States the law permitted either husband or wife to call for and effect a divorce, though it was much easier for a husband to get rid of his wife than for a wife to escape from her husband. At Sparta, it seems, a man might dismiss his wife if she bore him no issue; the recorded instances, however, are those of kings, and private inclination was sacrificed to State policy ( Herod.v. 39; vi. 61). The law at Athens allowed a man to divorce his wife without ceremony, simply by his act of sending her out of his house (ἐκπέμπειν, ἀποπέμπειν), upon which she returned to the guardianship of her nearest male relation. (See Kyrios.) The husband was then bound to return the dowry which she had brought him, or to pay her interest at the rate of nine obols per mina per month—18 per cent. per annum; and in addition to this to provide alimony (σῖτος). A husband thus dismissing his wife usually did so, as might be expected, in the presence of witnesses ( c. Alcib. i. 28). What became of the children in such a case is not mentioned, but it is probable that they remained with the father. Adultery on the part of the wife compelled her husband to divorce her, or himself incur the penalty of atimia (Lex ap. Demosth. c. Neaer. p. 1374. 87). When, on the other hand, a wife wished to leave her husband, if both parties agreed upon a divorce no further proceedings were required: mutual consent was sufficient to dissolve a marriage. If the husband objected, she was obliged to appear in person before the archon, and state in writing the grounds of her application ( Alcib. 12). She had to conduct her case quite alone, for, as she was in her husband's power until judgment was given, no one had a right to come forward as her advocate. It has been maintained that she could be represented by her κύριος, but the notorious case of Alcibiades and his ill-used wife Hipparete, in the passage just cited, leaves little doubt that she could not. The action thus brought by a woman was called ἀπολείψεως δίκη. Her right to a separation would depend on the treatment she had received (see Kakosis); but of the nature of the archon's jurisdiction we know but little. The husband's loss of freedom (i. e. by becoming a prisoner of war and being sold into slavery) is mentioned as affording an absolute claim to a divorce.

See also Gamos (Marriage)

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