The testimony of Euphiletus is a significant document, depicting, life during the Greek "Classical" era. The source reveals inner workings of a Greek home as it pertains to husband and wife. From this primary text, written by the speechwriter Lysias (c.440-380B.C.E.), one can reach a decent understanding of the gender roles within the Athenian society and the aspects of domestic life and public justice in ancient Athens. It is a testimony of a man, who claims to have brought just to the society by killing his wife's seducer when he caught him in act.
Euphiletus's speech was directed towards the court of Athens in an effort to present himself as innocent and more of a victim than the man he murdered. He claimed to have killed his wife's lover for the good of the city and expected the Athenians to perceive him as an exemplary citizen carrying out the laws. ".I, who now stand in danger of loosing life, property, everything, because I have obeyed the laws of the State". From this statement one can understand that he knew the law, and that it states that a an adulterer may be put to death by the man who catches him seducing another man's wife. .
A valuable aspect of the text is found in how it presents women in Athenian society. From the story, a wife was seen as more of an object for pleasure. In the diagram of a house on the North Slope of the Areopagus, a rocky hill west of the Acropolis in Athens clearly reveals that women occupy the rooms used for domestic duties. Euphiletus only trusted his wife after their first child was born. Lysias recorded him saying, "When I decided to marry and had brought a wife home, at first my attitude was this: I did not wish to annoy her, but neither was she to have too much of her own way. .
I watched her as well as I could, as kept and eye on her as was proper.after my child had been born, I came to trust her, and I handed all my possessions over to her". From the quote it appears also that he entrusted to her various tasks dealing with his own personal work.
