Compare And Contrast Spartan And Greek Women

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Around the 400s C.E. Greece was broken up into city-states that were in constant war with one another. Greece was and still remains a patriarchal society. Although today women have equal rights in Greece, they did not in the 400s C.E. Typically, women were confined to their homes, and their marriages were arranged. The women in the society had little to no political influence, and had very few rights. This excludes the women of Sparta, who experienced quite the opposite of the other Greek women. These women had more power and freedom over their households because of their militaristic society while the men were serving in the military. In Greece only men were able to be citizens, and the upper class men were the only ones who received educations. This also excluded Sparta because the …show more content…

Some of the Greek city-states differed socially, politically, and economically. Two very known city-states of Greece where Sparta and Athens. Although the two differed greatly they both were the most powerful of these city-states. Sparta is known for its militaristic society while Athens is known for its intellectual and political attainments. In Sparta their military was highly valued. At the a very young age boys were taken from their homes and trained extensively to be soldiers. This process was called child-rearing. These boys would grow up in poor and abusive conditions that would prepare them to become soldiers, who would serve in the military until they were 60 years of age if capable. The male gender was highly valued in Sparta to the point where women were praised for staying in shape to bear healthy sons, who could eventually serve in the military. The mothers raised their children on the state religion and to be soldiers. The state

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