Women In Ancient Sparta

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

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

Sparta became a superior power in the ancient world and maintained the marital lifestyle instilled in all of it’s

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

Throughout the ancient world women possessed few rights and privileges. A woman’s freedom varied depending on where she was born, in this case Athens and Sparta. But it can be said that most women were second-class citizens during this time period. Most women had limited social roles, little education, and no involvement in politics. Power and freedom was something that only existed in a man’s world, while women were expected to be submissive, docile, bear children, and take care of the household. Surviving records from ancient Greece show that women’s roles did not differ much from city-state to city-state but there were exceptions that include noble women and most notably, Spartan women. Some civilizations treated women with respect

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

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

Sparta differed greatly from Athens cities with their ideals of sexual segregation and feminine modesty. Compared to usual Greek standards, the women of Spartan were believed to lead unusual lives. In Xenophon’s Constitution of the Spartans, it is implied that the women of Sparta received more nourishment. Xenophon continues comparing Sparta.” Other Greeks require girls to sit quietly and work wool, whereas at Sparta physical training is arranged for females no less than for that of males; contest of running and of strength exists for each sex.” We may interpret this as modern ideologies of sexual equality; however, this notion of sexual equality is shadowed by the fact that the exercise was merely to produce strong offspring. Oddly, elderly males with young wives were urged to use another man, who was hand-picked by the husband by his physique and character, to impregnate his wife. Monogamy was usually breached in order to produce superior children.

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 of Sparta were able to own property, leave their homes, and were overall respected for their independent minds. The Sparta society wanted to thrive and dominate and supplied all the resources to thrive. Thriving started at birth, when a Spartan child was born, male or female, one question was asked “can he/she thrive?”. If answered no the child would be left to die a practice commonly referred to as _________. Furthermore, the social structure of Sparta broke down into three main classes: Spartans, Perioeci, and Helots.

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

Just as the men of Sparta had a predetermined job to fulfill for the city-state, the women also had obligations and demands that they had to succeed in. The woman of Sparta were highly educated and athletic. They were given the opportunity to go to school and receive an education in what historians believe subjects such history, music, drama, ready, writing, among other subjects. This gave the women of Sparta an advantage over other women in Greece, because at that the time they are believed to be the only ones attending schools. It was simple logic amongst the Spartans, that a strong Spartan couple would give birth to strong offspring’s. Spartan women were competitive and active. They would participate in competitions such as wrestling, dancing, and singing. Unlike your typical housewife, they did not have to worry about chores because of the helots. The women of Sparta were also trained in combat. They were shown how to defend themselves in case they needed to protect the city-state. Women were looked at to have strong male infants in order to raise them for the military and replace those who were lost in battle. Men were pressured into marriage and having children. They were praised for bringing the city state strong children and ridiculed if they delayed it. If a male was unable or failed to bring in strong children who passed the physical, they had to find a fellow Spartan for help. Married couples usually did not live together, because men had to live in the

Despite Athenian and Spartans being associates of the same influential nation, these two states or ‘Peloi’ and denominations of people in Ancient Greece in (400BC) were substantially different. The women in their own distinct societies endured several problematic issues and experienced inequity, demoralisation and condemnation. The notion of women and their purpose was typically conjectured by men in society, specifically Aristotle who claimed that women brought ‘disorder, were evil, were utterly useless and caused more confusion than the enemy’ . However despite misogynistic, biased and loathsome perspectives of women, both Athenian and Spartan women have all played exceedingly significant roles and contributed substantially to the prosperity of Ancient Greek society in their own inimitable ways.

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.

The ancient Greeks made city states that functioned as their society. These were small, usually consisting of a population of around eight to ten thousand people. Some of the famous city states are Sparta and Athens. Sparta imposed many tensions on the individual. Sparta was a highly militarized state and would pull the boys away from the family usually around age seven and put them into a state sponsored training regimen that would make them highly skilled warriors. If the boy was unable to complete the training for any reason they were seen as unable to be a Spartan and were usually seen as an outcast and removed from society. The Spartans, just like most other societies in ancient times, valued boys over girls. “Spartan parents often exposed female babies to the elements and leave them to die they also made decisions on male infants testing them and seeing if they would develop into a mature warrior and if not they would face the same fate as females.”1 This