Freedom Of Spartan Women

Sparta was a very unique society which could be defined as Utopian Militaristic State. Spartan boys all were devoted their entire lives from an early age to the Spartan army. This heavily militarist society was also unique in terms of women's position in society. They had much more rights and freedoms than other Greek women, but in terms of family life they were not so lucky. Women were living separately from spouse during their whole lives. Their husbands were only coming to home at night, they were secretly removed after a short time. And also they were separated from their sons for military training. Women had to be strong in family and social life. Spartan lawgivers wanted girls to receive a good education in order to prepare them to their womanhood duties.

In no other city-state did women enjoy the same freedom and status as Spartan women. As a military-driven society, the Spartans realized that “regardless of gender all Spartiates had an obligation to serve the militaristic end of Sparta.” With this focus in mind, women were allowed more freedom, rights, and independence. Spartan women were

All Women got to own their own property, In addition, Spartan women could move around with freedom without their husbands, and wear whatever clothing they’d like. And Finally, Homosexuality was very common in Sparta. Many people believed that this happened in all of Greece, but it was only spread in a small number of Greek states.The men of ancient Sparta were largely homosexual, or bisexual. This may be because men grew up with the same group of males throughout their entire life. From when they started training at the age of 7, to when they died in battle alongside them in war.Bisexuality was also fairly common among women. And these are the three reasons why I would love to live in

On the contrary to life of women in Athens, the women of Sparta had considerable freedom. They were allowed to leave their houses when ever they pleased. They were required per the state policy to have education both from physical and educational perspective. The reason for physical education was because they could make and nourish babies that would be healthy for the children to be capable of being good warriors and if the baby was not fit as they would be judged by the elders, as mentioned before they would be left to die outside the city.

Life in Athens and Sparta evidently shows Spartan women held more freedom and authority than their Athenian counterparts.

First, besides their strong military, Sparta was known for providing women with a decent amount of rights. In these rights, education was provided. According to Plutarch(Document E), women had to be educated and trained in order to produce healthy offspring. Women were trained in many things such as “wrestling running, and throwing the quoit*, and casting the dart”(Document E). These activities were meant to strengthen women in order to produce “healthy and vigorous offspring”(Document E). By producing healthy and vigorous offspring, Sparta had a better chance at winning battles. Therefore, women being provided with an education had highly contributed to the strengths of a Spartan education.

If you built a time machine and I had to choose between being sent to Sparta and the Salian Franks, it would be a tough call, but in the end I would have to choose to live in Sparta. There are many reasons behind that choice, but most of them tie back to me being a female and how each society treated their women, both Spartan and Salian cultures treated women better then Roman society that being said Spartan culture, according to Xenophon women were treated very similarly to the men in many ways.

But in the Spartan society, the woman had a dignified position just because they were the mother of the famous Sparta worriers. The Athenian women were also not allowed for education or to educate themselves. Men were the only ones allowed in the schools. They also wore clothing that completely covered their bodies and was not able to walk where they

The freedom and greater respect for Spartan women began at birth with the fact that there were more girls than boys, because they were not victims of the state program of infanticide as was practiced in Athens. There were laws setup that required female infants and children to be given the same care and food as their brothers in contrast to other Greek cities where girls were frequently given less and lower quality food. The reason for this was because it was thought that if the girls had more food then their bodies would be better prepared for producing a healthy child for the Spartan society.

During the early era of the Golden age and late of Classical age of Ancient Greece, from the years 520-321 BC womens roles were significantly different between the two mainly Greek city state Athens and Sparta. These roles that the women presented had huge differences in a way women were portrayed in their societies. Both cities were very different in many ways, the females were raised very differently, and had different duties they had to perform. For example if you commit adultery by Spartan women it was considered tolerated and encourage in their society on the other hand adultery in Athenian women was not even considered and substantially have very few consequences. Unlike the Spartan women Athenian women were treated as unimportant citizens in a lot of ways. They were classified into three different classes. The lowest class which were considered as slaves, the citizen class, and the Hetaerae which were considered as prostitutes, but they were allowed to have education and go to marketplaces, and have rights. With Spartan women they were taught to read and write, also were expected to protect themselves and the children since men were barely around. They were definitely different from other Greek cities and were mainly raised to act as warriors because of the responsibility of owning and protecting their homes. These womens had three considerable lifestyle differences how they were raised , How were their marriages, and what responsibilities they had. These will serve

They couldn't leave the house with out their husbands permission like they could not visit the temple with out their husband permission.Unlike in Sparta, women had more freedom. They didn't need husbands permission, they could run a business , trained as a warriors, and they also attend military

They had a great amount of influence despite not having a vote within the assembly. Daughters could inherit as much as a son or brother could and could inherit property. They acquired land through inheritance from their families and through marriage. The income from her own lands, she said with her husband and his income, he shared with her. Since men spent most of their time training or at war, they were granted full access and stake in the husband’s estate. Writing in the fourth century B.C., Aristotle indicated that, by the fifth century B.C., Spartan women owned two-fifths of the land (Jones, A.H. M., 136).  Her independence allowed her to express herself, be assertive, and had much more expected of them than other Greek women. Women’s tunics were worn in a way to give them a little more freedom of movement and the opportunity to reveal a little leg and thigh if they desired to (Michell, H., 47). Spartan women dominated the household, offered opinion on public matters, and held power in and outside the home. They were the forefront of society behind the man.

Even being from the same time frame in history, the Roman women from Sparta and the Greek women from Athens were completely different. Their ideas, habits, and daily activities were majorly impacted by the community they lived in. Some of the main differences between the lifestyles of these women include the rights they were given under the government, the daily and professional attire of the women, and the marital and divorce rituals of each of the women. Though they had many different things about them, they also had some similarities that connected them together. Both the Athens and Sparta have two completely different statuses for their women in the society, in many different aspects as well.

The women and common meals custom contributed to the decline of citizens. From the above narrations, in order to encourage Spartans to give birth to a child, the lawgiver established some welfare policy, however, it resulted an upsurge that people were crazy to chase the exemptions. Nevertheless, the Spartan men were control by women obviously because when asked why women ruled their men, the women said that: “Because we are the only women who give birth to (real) man!” (Cartledge The Spartans: an epic history p.156) The power of a woman was immense and the control of women was slightly, according to Aristotle(Politics 1269b12.), women were living freely and indulging in luxury. It is apparent that a woman will not be willing to marry a poor

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.