phratry
American Heritage Dictionary:
Top
phra·try
(frā'trē) 
n., pl., -tries.
n., pl., -tries.
- A kinship group constituting an intermediate division in the primitive structure of the Hellenic tribe or phyle, consisting of several patrilinear clans, and surviving in classical times as a territorial subdivision in the political and military organization of the Athenian state.
- Anthropology. An exogamous subdivision of the tribe, constituting two or more related clans.
[Greek phrātriā, from phrātēr, phrātr-, fellow member of a clan.]
phratric phra'tric adj.Related Videos:
Top
phratry
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
Top
phratry
In ancient Greece, tribal subdivisions of households or families claiming a common kin relation. At the apex of each phratry were aristocratic clans that had certain hereditary rights, such as the right to hold priestly offices. Both phratries and clans were patrilineal. The Athenian phratry is well known. Every native Athenian male belonged to a phratry; they were concerned with such matters as legitimacy of descent and inheritance.
For more information on phratry, visit Britannica.com.
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Top
Phratry
In ancient Greece, a phratry (phratria, Greek: φ(ρ)ατρία, "brotherhood", "kinfolk", derived from φρατήρ meaning "brother") was a social division of the Greek tribe (phyle). The nature of these phratries is, in the words of one historian, "the darkest problem among the [Greek] social institutions."[1] Little is known about the role they played in Greek social life, but they existed from the Greek Dark Ages until the 2nd century BC; Homer refers to them several times, in passages that appear to describe the social environment of his times.[2]
In Athens, enrollment in a phratry seems to have been the basic requirement for citizenship in the state before the reforms of Cleisthenes in 508 BC. From their peak of prominence in the Dark Ages, when they appear to have been a substantial force in Greek social life, phratries gradually declined in significance throughout the classical period as other groups (such as political parties) gained influence at their cost.
Phratries contained smaller kin groups called gene; these appear to have arisen later than phratries, and it appears that not all members of phratries belonged to a genos; membership in these smaller groups may have been limited to elites. On an even smaller level, the basic kinship group of ancient Greek societies was the oikos (household).
|
Contents
|
Anthropology
 |
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2010) |
In anthropology, the Greek term is used to describe a kinship division consisting of two or more distinct clans which are considered a single unit, but which retain separate identities within the phratry. Among Native Americans, a phratry is often identified by a nature sign. In some cultures, such as the Tlingit, and the Lenape, intermarriage between phratries was mandated.
References
Sources
- Fine, John V. A. The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History. Harvard University Press, 1983. ISBN 0-674-03314-0
Further reading
- S.D. Lambert, The Phratries of Attica (University of Michigan Press, 1993, 1998), limited preview
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
Mentioned in
clan
(in sociology)
Scrape the Summer
(2007 Album by Caterpillar Tracks)
Delaware Indians
(American history)
» More