Spartan Women Vs Athenian Culture Essay

Just like most Spartan women. In the Spartan Woman by Emily Gere Mason, she discuses the traits of a traditional Spartan Woman. They were strong and stood up for what they believed in, they even owned property. They were essential in everyday life to men, mostly for their pleasure and the fact they were consider and entry to the gods. But women knew these things and used them in their favor. Using power of your femininity is smart, to a certain extant. I believe that strong Spartan women have also influenced today’s society by the strong roles they played back then. In Kay O’Pry’s Social and Political Roles of Women in Athens and Sparta, she gives more insight into the actual Spartan Woman. How girls who just reached puberty were not married off, allowing them to actual find love and chose for themselves. They also had to be just as educated as the men, so they could be the head of the house when they went off to war. Though they could not be involved in the political world of Sparta, they were still considered to have a huge impact with them. Along with all of these things they could also own property, another responsibility that many women didn’t have

Women in Sparta were treated equal to men and also respected among them. “He insisted on physical training for the female no less than for the male sex”...“He instituted races and trials of strength for women competitors as for men (E).” This quote shows that Lycurgus considered the women as important because the women would compete in races and trials which was also considered as a masculine activity back then, so women were treated equally because they allowed them to

The Spartan way of life for women would not be approved of by Ischomachus. Spartan training for women was to make the females better breeders; Ischomachus’s training of his wife was purely economic. Ischomachus did not think that women should be sedentary, but they should remain in the house. Exercise for women should be relegated to supervising the servants and participating in household chores. This did not necessarily make her more physically fit, but it did make her better able to understand the economics of the home. Ischomachus made his wife, his partner in the marriage, which allowed for growth. Spartan

In the Egyptian society the treatment of women is considered equal, because woman could be citizens, and their court system had equality towards both sexes. An Egyptian in the legal system writes about a woman wanting to be given the property of her husband which was rightfully hers, and the court system said “[the] woman is right” proving that they took the female's point of view into consideration (Doc 1). Also in the Spartan society they believed that if both of the parents were strong, then the offspring would also be strong. In order to find the stronger males and females, the lawgiver would “establish competitions of running and of strength for women with one another, just as he did for the men”(Doc 2).

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.

In ancient societies, the family unit served as the foundation of social organization, wielding enormous power over people's lives and even societal structures. Women played an essential role inside Spartan households in Xenophon's Spartan Society, where they were encouraged to compete in physical fitness and participation contests to ensure

Women have played important roles throughout history. They have been responsible for the rise and fall of nations, sustaining families, and have been the focal point of worship in ancient religions. Moving forward in history, women's roles have continually changed. Their status as matriarchs changed as the more advanced ancient civilizations rose. The patriarchal societies of ancient Greece and Rome viewed women differently from some societies of past eras. The study of the economic and political status of women, their rights, and their contributions to both these ancient societies reveals how views change throughout history.

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

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.'

Spartan men weren’t allowed to have more than one wife so they would, “choose a woman who was the mother of a fine family and of high birth, and if he obtained her husband's consent, to make her the mother of his children.” (Xenophon p. 1). Another practice that was both a positive and negative was women being able to hold property of their own. There was a catch being that this could only happen during times of war (Text book). This was a doubled edged sword because as cool as it is that women were able to hold land at all, I would think that it would cause more strife between husband and wife if he were to take that right back once he returned, why even give it in the first

Daily life was one of the most distinguishable factors of Athenian and Spartan women, and it varied depending on social status. The communal job of Athenian women was confinement to daily life in their domain; the home or ‘oikos’, immersing themselves in domestic activities. This notion was verified by ancient writer Xenophon; “…Thus, to be woman it is more honourable to stay indoors than to abide in the fields…” .They were responsible for various jobs in order to support their families including cooking meals and producing textiles. The majority of affluent women had established slave work in their homes; hence they verified their decadence by not partaking in laborious work

Ancient Greece was comprised of small city-states, of which Sparta and Athens were two. Athens was renowned as a center of wisdom and learning. The people of Athens were interested in arts, music, and intellectual pursuits. Sparta, on the other hand, was recognized for its military strength. A Spartan's life was centered on the state, because he lived and died to serve the state. Although the competing city-states of Sparta and Athens were individually different as well as governmentally diverse, they both managed to become dominating powers in Ancient Greece.

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

Throughout ancient human history, men and women held vastly different roles. Women were often given the duty of bearing and raising children, whereas men were expected to fight, provide an income, and protect the household. Women were seen as totally inferior to men and described by Euripedes as “a curse to mankind” and “a plague worse than fire or any viper.” However, this misogynistic view of women and designated role of inferiority was not apparent in every ancient civilization. The role of the female in ancient Greek history can best be explored and contrasted between two important civilizations: The Spartans and the Athenians. The Spartan women were incredibly advanced for their time, and the Athenian women were drastically far behind. Both the Spartan and Athenian women held roles at home and lived lives far removed from the men of their societies. However, their lives were much different. While the Spartan women were strong and educated, the Athenian women held a status almost equal to slavery. The Spartan women were far more advanced than Athenians in aspects of life including education, athleticism, and independence.

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.