Oeconomicus

It is one of the earliest works on economics in its original sense of household management, and a significant source for the social and intellectual history of Classical Athens.

[2] Beyond the emphasis on household economics, the dialogue treats such topics as the qualities and relationships of men and women, rural vs. urban life, slavery, religion, and education.

Though Xenophon primarily explores underlying topics such as gentlemanliness,[3] husbandry, and gender roles through Socrates' conversations about wealth and, more specifically household management.

When Critoboulus asks about the practices involved in household management, Socrates pleads ignorance on the subject but relates what he heard of it from an Athenian gentleman-farmer (kaloskagathos) named Ischomachus.

In the discussion related by Socrates, Ischomachus describes the methods he used to educate his wife in housekeeping, their practices in ruling and training slaves, and the technology involved in farming.

Following Foucault, feminist scholars and social historians such as Sarah Pomeroy have explored the Oeconomicus as a source for Greek attitudes to the relationship between men and women, but successive interpretations have differed.

The import of such irony has also been the subject of much contention: are his wife's actions a sign of a bad education or just the inevitable result of the loss of the controlling influence in her life?

This general societal acceptance of the importance of the domestic sphere is represented in Oeconomicus' examination of marital relationships and household management.

This is contrary to misogynistic Athenian ideals of marriage where once a wife birthed the necessary number of children, she was essentially viewed as a consumer.