Ancient Athenian Women

Athenian society was very dynamic in many areas while it was strict in regard to the treatment of women. Although Athenian women were protected by the state and did not know a different way of living, they were very stifled and restricted. The only exception was slaves, and heteria, prostitutes, and this was due to the fact that they had no male guardians. Since these women were on there own they had to take care of themselves, and therefore were independent. In a more recent and modern way of viewing the role of a woman, independence and freedom to do as one likes is one of the most important aspects of living. In Athens the wives had none of this freedom and the prostitutes did. Who then really had a “better”

Athenian women spent most of their lives in their home unless they were poor and had to help the husband with work preforming skills such as farming, crafting or a similar trade. In Athens, it was a status symbol for women to have very white, pale skin to show that they were so upscale that they never had to leave their house to make any income. Some women

The ancient city-state of Athens, spawned many of the essential ingredients of modern civilization--democracy, philosophy, science, and drama. However despite these aspects, Athens like many other civilizations throughout history, was dominated by men. Although the role of women in Athens is highly controversial, the examination of Athenian laws, philosophical and moral writings, and information about the conditions of daily life and the organization of society, reveals women were excluded from many aspects of public and private life. While men held a monopoly on every aspect of daily life, women remained secluded in the sphere of domestication.

Women were to roam where they preferred, in contrary to Athenian women, whom were even given specified resting places within the home to “insure that good women were safe within the oikos and that treacherous women would have a hard time sneaking out” (Germain,

Women were responsible for providing the men with offspring and running the household. Women had very few rights and were mostly kept locked up inside their home. “In Athens, women were considered citizens, but they were barred from any political activity. Women were thought to belong in the house, caring for the children and the needs of the household,” (Spielvogel 84). This is how it was in ancient Athens, however unfair. Women should have had just as many rights as male citizens, because they did an equal amount of work, but as we all know, life isn’t always fair. “In classical Athens, a woman’s place was in the home. She had two major responsibilities as a wife—bearing and raising children and managing the household,” (Spielvogel 85). Women shouldn’t just be the property of their husbands only good for chores around their household. The women would barely be allowed outside the house, only to visit

In her own home, a Greek woman was her own boss. Her job was to cook, clean, sew, and raise the kids. The women sometimes had slaves to do there work for them.

With all this in mind, Athenian women were treated badly. They were seen as perpetual children, as a form of property, they were not allowed to hold any legal rights and they were expected to produce son after son. These facts, greatly emphasize Athens value on property, and that property is an aspect of Athenian life that belongs to men and that should be governed by men only. While Athens valued property, Sparta valued war and cohesion. And with these different values comes a different way of treating women; Spartan women were treated considerably better than their Athenian counterparts.

Science always fascinated people regardless young or old, male or female. From the beginning of human development, hundreds of cultures tried their luck with new inventions and scientific explanations. Every one of those developments was founded on the drive to explain the surrounding world in an easy way and try to understand every small part of it. Often it was just luck but sometimes it was the hard work of years and months of calculation and experiments until they finally found a new way. Looking back into history important discoveries were made in almost every period of our history. Like the theory of a heliocentric star system, the invention of the automobile or the discovery of the main laws

Women in Athens had close to zero rights. They lived in a society that was dominated by men who preferred to isolate them. Women could not participate in public and civic matters especially politics. Citizens were the only ones that could get involved in civic issues. At the time, only men could be citizens (O’Pry 8). However, the Royal and a few freeborn women could make a contribution to political issues, a fact that displeased most men. Aristotle writes in On a Good Wife that a woman should not bother with public issues. He goes on to

Women back then weren’t all as different when compared to today’s women. As stated, Spartan women were able to learn and write and even own property, women today can do that. As well, Athenian women stayed back and took care of the kids and did house chores, women today also do that. Which is used commonly in today’s society, the women stay at home and take

There is more equality in Sparta than Athens. In Athens women were not regarded as important. They had to cover themselves in clothes, they weren’t allowed to take part in anything. The women weren’t allowed to be educated only men got an education and women weren’t allowed to vote. Athenian women had very few rights, let alone legal rights. They had no rights to wander through the town, without a reason, and were basically controlled by the men.

Ancient history has proven that the basic structure of humanity and society has practically remained unchanged. There were civilizations, business and trade, currency systems, and various religions. Most importantly, there have always been governments and the written law. Regardless of the time period, societies have always needed boundaries and structure in order to survive. Without this structure, chaos would overtake and living harmoniously would be next to impossible. However, the laws of some lands weren’t as evolved as they are in modern times. Most regions on the earth now consider men and women equal and to one another and each bears the same rights. In centuries past, this was not the case; women

Life for slaves in ancient Greece was often unfair. 30,000 slaves worked in silver mines at Athens. If you were a slave and not working in the mines, you were working in households. Woman as a slave had more freedom and more time outside than the owner's wife, but very often women slaves often helped out with taking care of the children and chores, they helped make beds and clean. Male slaves often answered the doors for visitors and others worked in the kitchen. Male slaves had more freedom than women for they could work as potters and made tools. As you can see, life for slaves in ancient Greece was often unfair.

Over the course of history, women were always looked upon as unequal to men. The Athenians did not consider their women to be citizens and had fewer rights than men. They could not vote, own property, attend the assembly and at times could not even leave the house without an escort. “They were expected to raise the children, supervise the preservation and preparation of food, keep the family’s financial accounts, direct the work of the household slaves, and nurse them when they were ill.” (Martin, 2013, p. 87) Athenian girls were property of their fathers until they were married and became the property of their husband. At the age of fifteen a marriage was arranged by a girl’s father. “Marriage ceremonies took place at home and the bride wore a white dress and a veil like many brides today, and she was expected to give a dowry of money and

Life in the ancient Greece was a little bit different for both men and women. In the meantime, men are in charge of the family and household when they are married, and their job is mostly working as a farmer or a businessman. For those men who are free male, they have full citizen rights, including the political rights of voting and holding public office. For the women, once you are married to a man, she doesn’t have the right to controlled her property anymore, and her husband gets the right to controlled her property. Also, women are being forced to stay home, take care of the household, and manage the slaves. For those who are married, their man was rarely home, so it gives them a lot of control in the household. Women also needed to raise their own children and make their family clothes. Festivals, that women are expected to attend, are Thesmophoria and Haloa. Jobs that women could perform