John J. Winkler 
The Constraints of Desire [PDF ebook] 
The Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece

For centuries, classical scholars have intensely debated the ‘position of women’ in classical Athens. Did women have a vast but informal power, or were they little better than slaves? Using methods developed from feminist anthropology, Winkler steps back from this narrowly framed question and puts it in the larger context of how sex and gender in ancient Greece were culturally constructed. His innovative approach uncovers the very real possibilities for female autonomy that existed in Greek society.