Spartan Women Vs Athenian Women Essay

Women in Sparta were educated and most were physically fit, even though they were not citizens. Spartan women also studied the arts as some surviving statues show women playing instruments. They were allowed to compete in running races such as the prestigious Heraean Games. Spartan men also wanted their wives to be physically fit so that they could bear strong sons to fight for the Spartan army. Spartan babies were left outside to die if they were sick or weak. Even though they were not citizens, they could still own land and represent themselves legally. Another perk of being a Spartan women was that Sparta had a very good army. Therefore the women would have very good protection, without needing to risk their own

Females had to give birth to strong children. Women also had to wear plain clothing, cut their hair short and did not wear make-up, perfume or jewellery. They trained to keep fit, and exercised and danced naked, they did not have that much freedom, but unlike other city states they could vote, where as the men had to fight in the military and be brave warriors. At the age of 7 Spartan boys where taken away from there mothers and trained as loyal and disciplined soldiers for military uses, they were hospitalised in dormitory's, the boys were deprived and endured harsh punishments in order to raise them strong. The Spartans were very selective over there choice of baby's and infants and if they were born with disability or of Ill health they were to be

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.

When comparing power levels and women’s rights, Sparta was a leader in its time. Athens and Sparta, though both Greek city-states were different in the way they operated. More specifically, Sparta was different in the way that they treated their women. Athenian woman were treated quite appallingly compared to the standards of today’s women. The stem of this difference seems to lie in how these two city-states were governed. Sparta, known for its’ militaristic ways, was an oligarchy and Athens, known for its’ philosophers and thinkers, was a democracy. Sparta’s oligarchy was ruled by a counsel of 5 men, on being a lawmaker or giver. The lawgiver’s name was Lycurgus. Lycurgus was

In ancient Greece, there was one dominant city-state, or Polis as the ancient Greeks called it, and this was Athens. It was a beautiful society that enjoyed art and literature very much and valued things like wholeness and excellence. However, one thing the Athenians did not value was women. They were deemed inferior by men, and treated more as a decoration rather than a human being.

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

Most of the information we have today about the women of ancient Greece was wrote by well educated, higher class men that were considered the experts of the time but naturally did not know what it was like to live as a woman. These men depicted the women as emotional, less rational, impulsive, and weaker than men, lacking knowledge of the world and dependent solely on them. But that idea did not hold true for the Greece city/state of Sparta.

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

In the ancient Greek world, Spartan women had the most rights and power of all the women during this time. These women were allowed education, becoming a wife was important, they were also depended on to produce strong and healthy offspring, and they were independent. Spartan women were superior compared to any other women of ancient Greece. Women played a huge role in society. To begin, young girls in Sparta had the freedom to mature on their own while growing up.

Studies concerning the lives of women in classical Athens have sparked much controversy because, despite the apparent fascination with femininity manifested in art and drama, we have no evidence voicing the opinions of the actual women themselves. This presents a

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

The Spartan social roles and government were very exquisite, proper and always knows their positions. At the bottom of the scale there where the Helots. The helots had so little to no rights that it was okay if their owners killed them. The helots were usually obtained or captured by the Spartans when out in battle. Helots were used as property and served their masters. Except they were not following what the man said. They followed what the women said due to the fact that men were fighting in wars and boys were training. Citizen males over the age of thirty were allowed to vote. The women were allowed to become citizen; as well they just did not receive the same rights as the men might have. Though the women in Sparta did have the most freedoms. They were allowed to own their own properties, they did not need permission to go out of the house; all because of the respect the Spartans had for mothers, also because the men were always in war. Lastly there was the Gerontes. They were the citizen males who were rich and over the age of sixty who had the most rights. One could only become a Genonte after surviving war. So, women could not become a Genonte due to the fact that they were not allowed to join the military and because they were not male.

In Athens, there was a lot of opportunity for a male. An Athenian male could become a scholar, poet, politician, or pretty much anything they wanted; but females on the other hand, didn 't have that power. Men was under the understanding that females were incapable of making reasonable decisions in the political world. The idea of gender equality was non-existent in the Athens society. As said by Historian Don Nardo “throughout antiquity most Greek women had few or no civil rights and many enjoyed little freedom of choice or mobility.” He also stated “aside from poetry, women’s writing survives only in private letters written on papyrus preserved by ancient of nature, only from Hellenistic and Roman Egypt.” (O’Pry 2012) Women in the Athens society that were in an upper class were

Most people think of ancient Athens as the city of freedom and democracy, while they think of Sparta as a highly restricted society. The schools teach us that modern democracies are modeled on Athens, while military dictatorships are modeled on Sparta. However, history shows us that women had much more liberty in Sparta than in Athens. In fact, the democracy of Athens was available only to free men who were citizens of Athens. Moreover, to claim citizenship, an Athenian had to prove that both his parents were "astoi." For the father, being "astos" meant that he was an Athenian citizen, but the mother could not be a citizen. Women were never citizens, but only able to transmit the rights of citizenship to their sons (Perry, et al, 1992,

Respectable Athenian women seldom left their homes. Only men could purchase goods or engage in soldiering, lawmaking, and public speaking. The societies of ancient Egypt and of the Greek city-state of Sparta provided a rare contrast. Both Egyptian and Spartan women could own property and engage in business. According to Dr. Peter Picone, the author of “The Status of Women in Ancient Egyptian” states “the Egyptian women seem to have enjoyed the same legal and economic rights as the Egyptian man”. Also he states that legal rights were on a class boundary more than a gender boundary. The Women of Sparta on the other hand were quite different from the women of their neighbor, Athens. As you well know, the women of Sparta were bold, freer, and well educated. Also with the Sparta women, everything depended up money, which would determine your rank in society. While some of the Spartan citizens have quite small properties, others have very large ones; hence the land has passed into the hands of a few. And this is due also to faulty laws; for, although the legislator rightly holds up to shame the sale or purchase of an inheritance, he allows anybody who likes to give or bequeath it. Yet both practices lead to the same result. And nearly women held two-fifths of the whole countries; this is owing to the number of heiresses and to the large dowries that are customary. The Women of Sparta on the other hand were quite