Athenian Democracy: The Role Of Women In Ancient Athens

Democracy means a government ruled by the people. Athens were not a democracy because they only allowed 12% of citizen men to vote nobody else could unless they were citizen men. (Doc C) In a true democracy people would have equal say, but the athens did not let women vote or people that weren’t citizens. In ancient athens people couldn’t express their thoughts, if a majority of others disagreed with the idea they could banish the person.

Democracy is a system of government where the people equally run a country. For example, America practices a form of government where the people have the right to elect those who are in power when they become eighteen years of age. In addition, a citizen of this country can practice a religion of their choice along with several other freedoms. In my opinion, Athens was not a democratic society by today’s standards.

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”

Athens was not truly a democracy. The definition of democracy states that it is a system of government by the whole population. In ancient Athens the only people that were eligible to make decisions were citizen men. Women did not have the right to vote which contradicts the definitions of democracy. Only twelve percent of the Athens population were able to vote meaning that eighty-eight percent were left powerless. Metics were not even eligible to vote and they were a key part of Athens economy.

Women in Athens lived in a society dominated by men. They had very few rights and essentially, there was nothing equal about it. The education of Athenian women was to say the least, lacking. Unlike men, they weren’t taught in school by actual teachers. They were taught at home by their mothers or tutors of some sort. Much of their education focused on household skills and many men viewed women as being inferior. Women were held back from participating in the sports that were ever so popular with the men.

democracy is a form of government in which people come together and make laws for the benefit of the country for example, here in the united states people have the right to vote, have equal rights, pursuit of happiness and practice in any religion of your choice. ancient athens did not have a true democracy. In ancient athens Women, free foreigners and slaves were excluded from voting, the government body could decide if you were a citizen or not. Also, women weren't allowed to vote unless they married a citizen. Therefor there constitution did not favor democracy.

Only men could be citizens. To be a citizen, you had to not only be a man, but also be financially secure as well as you had to be born in Athens and so did both of your parents. Women were forbidden to be citizens, along with slaves, foreigners and children, or anyone else who did not meet the proper criteria. To be a citizen meant you had the right to vote, since Athens was a democratic society. However a woman not being able to vote does not make Athens a true democratic society. Sadly this was not the only right women did not have.

Athens was a Democracy because, sense they created Democracy then it is what they want it to be. For example, if you created the word “Welcome” and that word meant nothing in that point in time, then wouldn't you be able to use that word anyway you want and no one could argue it isn’t what you want to be. So if Athens created Democracy wouldn’t it be what they wanted it to be. I read in Document D all male landowner citizens come together in a small group and vote over future laws.

The Greek society was all about Man. The woman was not considered as the citizens, there was a no Tracy of any female scholar during that era. The Female voice was considered totally invaluable. The Things got getting better as and when the years passing by.

The lives of women in Ancient Greece were often subject to control by men. Women were considered in many ways inferior to men, and they were never granted equal political rights. Not all Greek city-states treated women in the same manner, however. The greatest contrast in treatment of women was between Athens and Sparta. The Athenian view of women was that they were best kept out of the public sphere entirely, with few personal liberties or economic rights, and no direct involvement with politics.

Women in classical Athens could not have had an extremely enjoyable experience, if we rely on literary sources concerning the roles of women within the Greek polis. The so-called Athenian democracy only benefited a fraction of the entire population. At least half of this population was female, yet women seem to have had very little influence and few official civic rights. `The position of women...is a subject which has provoked much controversy.'

Throughout culture, women have gone through various types of adversity as well as treatment. Some cultures, such as Persia, treated women with great respect and gave them social as well as legal freedom. Although they were treated less than men, they were given much more respect in comparison to many other cultures. In Athens, women and slaves were somewhat held to the same standard. “Citizenship was limited to males” (Crash Course) in Greece, so slaves and women were not given much respect and did not have very many legal rights.

Dear Pericles, Athens was not a democracy. This is because Women did not have equal rights when it came to government, Immigration rules and slaves, and that it does not at all resemble a direct democracy completely. In Athens, women were told to stay at home and run the household. Women are prohibited to vote on any political legislative matters.

Since Democracy allows all people to participate, it becomes a peaceful option. The modern world, unlike the Ancient Athens and Rome, allows women to take part in the political process such as voting and legislation. That makes the existent governance system a modification of the ancient Attica governance

This investigation will attempt to answer the question what are the similarities and differences of the role of women in Athens and Sparta. The question is relevant because women’s roles have developed over time and knowing women’s history helps women’s rights to keep moving forward. The issues that will be addressed are the religious, job roles and the expectations of women in their society. Women of wealth and women of lower classes will be included. This investigation will focus on the time period of 600 BC to 300 BC and the places investigated will include Athens and Sparta. This will be accomplished through a thorough examination of academic journals, books and websites.