New York City ? A woman’s place has never been just in the home — not even in ancient Greece.

The proof is in an exhibit titled “Worshiping Women: Ritual and Reality in Classical Athens” — a collection of artifacts that correct the cliched idea of Athenian women as passive, homebound nurturers of men and children.

In the display covering Greek life, art and religion, women play important, vibrant roles, as do their goddesses — from lover to priestess to political peacemaker to protagonist of public festivals.

“Today’s woman has more in common with the woman of ancient Athens than one imagines,” said curator Stella Chryssoulaki. She pointed to a vase showing a group of women who escaped city life, getting together in the countryside for a three-day festival honoring their beloved god Dionysius. They talked and shared lots of wine, leaving their husbands behind.

Contrary to the popular perception of the Athenian female rituals as wild orgies, “there was no sex.”

It was a religious rite, but also “a way to get out of the house and talk and exchange feelings,” Chryssoulaki said.