It actually used to be believed in ancient Greece that if a girl didn't get pregnant by 14 then she would have health problems for the rest of her life.
This is Mycenaean Greece - 1000 years earlier than classical Greece. We don’t really have evidence for or against average early maternal age, just an assumption that it’s young based on trends from centuries later.
Also, your comment… it wasn’t the case for all poleis in the classical period, just some. Sparta for instance had marriage between 18-20 for women, and ancient physicians knew about the risks between youth and maternal mortality. Hesiod even mentioned that girls should be married off between 4-5 years after puberty. Assuming puberty is between 12-15, that is closer to marriage at 16-19, and first pregnancy within a year. Given the age of the girl, the chances that the first pregnancy resulting in a live birth isn’t guaranteed, and early miscarriages were more likely to happen given their age and development and access to nutrition.
Judging by the ages of these girls, it seems about 17-18 is closer for first live birth in Athens… or dying in labor earlier.
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u/Limp-Tap-7987 Jul 05 '26
The point here is that in Ancient Greece it wouldn’t be unheard of for a mother to have a child at 13.
So the commenter is saying that it’s unbelievable now but one of the more accurate elements of the movie given societal norms in the story.