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Differences and similarities women in sparta and athens
Differences and similarities women in sparta and athens
Historical context of gender inequality
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Sparta was a society built on ideals that set them apart from every other Greek society, for their impeccably unique mentalities. The Spartan people introduced a new society with the focus on creating the perfect soldier. Sparta, which was also commonly known as Lacedaemon, was an ancient Greek city-state. Today, the remains of the society can be seen in a region of southern Greece called Laconia.Sparta was a thriving city-state for a short-lived time; ranging from 431-404 B.C.E. The society of Sparta was especially prosperous due to their unique hierarchy. The population of Sparta was divided up into 3 segments: full citizens known as Spartiates, Helots (servants/slaves) and Perioeci, people who are neither slaves nor citizens. Since …show more content…
The men were constantly off at war, though the rest of the citizens of Sparta still needed to maintain their society, and so it was left to the women to keep order among the household by performing jobs men would usually do. The women were commonly in charge of managing the various amounts of land in Sparta and also controlling how that land would be used. “Spartan women reportedly owned 40 percent of Sparta’s agricultural land”(Fleck). The land was very significant to that time period of ancient Greece, and the fact that women were able to be in charge of such an important possession, and amount of land, was definitely something to be noted. Along with that, the women were of a high enough status that they did not have to perform generic household work and focused more on the financial status of the household and business that was needed to be done. “They did not have to prepare and cook food, make clothes, or do the housework”(Carteledge, 169) shows that the women left the tasks that didn’t require much intelligence to the Helots, while the women spent their time doing more influential things such as trading among the village and working to create an income in the household. These opportunities for the women in Sparta was not found among the other Greek city-states, and without the women to remain in Sparta and keep it functional, the society would have collapsed, thus …show more content…
Although they had more opportunities than most, Spartan women still did not hold enough status to have a role in politics, but that did not stop them. “Spartan women did not only control their men within the confines of the household but also somehow exercised a decisive influence over affairs of the state”(Cartiledge, 170). This shows that the women of Sparta indirectly influenced the men’s opinions of politics, mainly because they are the ones who witness the affairs of the state while the men are at war. Women had the power to speak through the men, and also plan on alternate ways to have their opinions heard, by voicing their opinions informally outside the world of politics. “Spartan women were publicly educated, able to move about freely, outspoken to a degree that made them famous, and even though not formally enfranchised, so politically influential that ancient scholars blamed them for Sparta’s decline as a major power”(Fleck). Thus proving that although they were not officially acknowledged as political powers, the Spartan women had an incredible influence on the society, thus showing that they were the backbone to the society due to their deep knowledge of the
Spartan Women prove the old saying, behind every great man is a great women, to be true. Everyone has heard of the Spartan warrior men and their courageous battles. What about the women that stood behind those men, the ones who birthed those men, married those men? Spartan women helped to shape, protect, and form the society that they lived in.
Spartan women were considered fundamentally more advanced than other women of Athens, due to the way that Spartan women were reared. Spartan women were treated equally to men, and given freedom like the men were. They were given the opportunity to train with men, and were even slightly more educated than their male cohorts. Spartan women were exceptionally more advanced than other women during this age due to these factors, and are a great example of strong women within past civilizations.
Sparta was a key city state which was located on the Peloponnesian Peninsula in southern Greek, which today is referred to as Laconia. Sparta is historically known for their strong military training, warfare tactics, and numerous victories. This city state included full citizens known as the Spartans, the helots, and the Perioeci. The men of Sparta had a main obligation to become strong warriors, fight with their brothers, and protect against any invasions or attacks. The helots where owned by city state of Sparta. They came from Messenia and were forced into slavery after being invaded by the Spartans in c.735. The helot’s responsibilities included farming, being of help if needed during battles, used as nurses, and for any other task that need to be accomplished. Unlike many traditional slaves, the Messenia’s were given certain leeway. They had
James Thompson’s research on women in Sparta is not clear where he got the information. However, he seems to be the only one who does not compare Sparta directly to Athens until the very end, were he provides a chart on why women were more dominant than their Athenian sisters. His main focus of work was explaining what women could and could not do. In the beginning he briefly talks about Spartan boys before beginning to talk about the women. Throughout the article he talks about how having the responsibility of the house, properties and children must have been enormous without the husband there. He mentions some of the responsibilities and explained why marriages were the way they were. He talks about the women having a strong voice in their societies and benign influential in the decision making of the country despise the fact that they could not vote. He often makes reference of other people’s opinions such as saying “some have suggested…”. He talks about women owned a third of the land and could inherited land like the boys too. His work is intended for a general audience and one can argue that it could be aimed towards children.
Archaeological evidence collected in ancient Laconia reveals great insight into the role and status of Spartan women until 371 BC. A compilation of written sources shows the unique treatment of women in Sparta compared with that of other ancient Greek societies. This treatment differs the economic, religious, marital, reproductive and social responsibilities from those of gender archetypes.
Women in Sparta were more dominant in society than their Athenian sisters. Spartan women were given a good education, they were taught how to read and write, and were good in arts and athletics. Spartan women were expected to be smart enough to control their property. Spartan women had different freedoms and advantages than other Greek women; they had to be physically, emotionally, and intellectually strong. Spartan women were notoriously known for their razor-sharp wit and outspoken natures. They were encouraged to develop their intellect, and owned more than third of the land almost two-fifths of the state. While husbands and sons were working in the military, women took charge of everything inside and outside of the household. Spartan women were in control of their sons until the totalitarian society took them over at the age of 7. Being under a totalitarian society, Sparta had a strong military and citizens did not have an easy lifestyle like the Athenians. A totalitarian society meant that the political system had full control of the state, and controlled all aspects of public and private life. Spartan men dedicated their lives to the forces, and other services to the state of Sparta. Leaving their wife to the family wealth, and owning all property. Athenian men were away discussing politics, and when they came home they expected obedience from their wives. Athenian men had to be in control at all times while in public, but no social control behind closed doors. Athenian women never inherited any property, and they were left available to male relatives. Material power led the women of Sparta and Athens to marry a relative for heritance money. Financial power for women in Athens, was unlawful no woman could be in charge of mon...
In the Greek society women were treated very differently than they are today. Women in ancient Greece were not allowed to own property, participate in politics, and they were under control of the man in their lives. The goddess Aphrodite did not adhere to these social norms and thus the reason the earthly women must comply with the societal structure that was set before them. Aphrodite did not have a father figure according to Hesiod, and therefore did not have a man in her life to tell her what to do. She was a serial adulteress and has many children with many men other than her husband. She was not the only goddess from the ancient Greek myths to cause doubt in the minds of men. Gaia and the Titan Rhea rise up against their husbands in order to protect their children. Pandora, another woman in the Greek myths, shows that all evil comes from woman. Aphrodite, Gaia, Rhea, and Pandora cause the ancient Greek men to be suspicious of women because of her mischievous and wild behavior.
Athens and Sparta are both infamous Greek city states. Both could not be more different, yet similar in the way they governed their own city state. Another, main difference was the women’s rights and roles in the system. Athenian and Spartan women both were considered to be second to their male counterparts. Spartan women had more rights than Athenian women. Through, research realizing that the Spartan women were slightly greater role than Athenian women.
Unlike other Greek city states, women played an integral role in Spartan society as they were the backbone of the Spartan economic system of inheritance and marriage dowry and they were relied upon to fulfill their main responsibility of producing Spartan warrior sons. These principle economic systems affected wealth distribution among Spartan citizens especially among the Spartan elite class. Spartan women led a completely different life than women in most other ancient Greek city states, as they were depended upon to maintain Spartan social systems. In a society where the state is more involved in home life women had freedom of movement and they were permitted to communicate with men who were not their husbands. Women had domestic responsibilities including the maintenance of homes and farms when the men were on campaign, while the typical Greek female responsibilities such as weaving were delegated to slaves. Girls were raised much like Spartan boys as they were made to go through physical training insuring their success in fulfilling their most important role in society, child-bearing. The few primary sources on Sparta and Spartiate women, namely Aristotle, Plutarch, Herodotus and Xenophon were historians who lived after the prominence of ancient Sparta; therefore, the facts regarding the women’s influence in social, economic and political issues must be carefully interpreted and analysed with help from secondary sources.
For the most part, women in today's society hold a position equal to that of a man;
Despite common belief, Sparta was not simply a horde of strong, vicious and primitive warriors living on the Laconian plain, on the right bank of the Eurotas River. Though this was the general impression there was much more to the civilization then just the agoge training system and soldiers. Helots and Perioikoi were two o f the most vital aspects of the Spartan empire upon which agriculture and the economy relied.
In ancient Greek society women lived hard lives on account of men's patriarch built communities. Women were treated as property. Until about a girl’s teens she was "owned" by her father or lived with her family. Once the girl got married she was possessed by her husband along with all her belongings. An ancient Greece teenage girl would marry about a 30-year-old man that she probably never met before. Many men perceived women as being not being human but creatures that were created to produce children, please men, and to fulfill their household duties. A bride would not even be considered a member of the family until she produced her first child. In addition to having a child, which is a hard and painful task for a teenage girl in ancient civilization to do, the husband gets to decide if he wants the baby. A baby would be left outside to die if the husband was not satisfied with it; usually this would happen because the child was unhealthy, different looking, or a girl.
Daily life in Athens and Sparta must have been so different from each other, like living in two different worlds. The lives of Athenians are pretty well known from the surviving artifacts, including pottery, architecture, and writing depicting daily activities of the citizens. Of the Spartan life very little is known: Sparta’s focus was on military strength; they did not give much value to writing and the arts. What we do know of them comes from the impressions of outsiders. Four sources: Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, and Plutarch are credited with what information remains of Sparta today (Canadian Museum of History, n.d.). The lives of citizens in each city would depend on their economic status. I have
One of the greatest responsibilities a woman had in Classical Sparta was giving birth to the Spartan males. Through physical training when a young teen with the Spartan boys, the women needed to be healthy and strong to produce healthy children capable of going through the agoge training. “…By athleticism they made sure that their children would be up to the standard of physical fitness demanded by the Spartan system.” (H.Michell, Sparta). The Spartan mother would prepare the young Spartans prior to the agoge; she would have minimal interaction and supply minimal clothing and
Women in the ancient world had few rights, they differed from country to country or, in the case of the women of Athens and Sparta, from city-state to the city-state. The women of the city-states of Athens and Sparta had profound differences in their roles in the political and the daily lives of their families and their cities. When it came to the difference in levels of power and the rights of women, Sparta was a leader in its time. At the same time, their rights as citizens were almost the same. While they did not take an active part in politics, they had opinions and ideas like women all over the world. Their thoughts, deeds, and opinions rarely recorded or if they were, the male historians or philosophers of the time recorded them. What were roles did the women in ancient Athens and Sparta? Were they citizens, did they have personal freedoms? On the other hand, did they in a time when the beginnings of democracy were happening were they less than a second-class citizen? The misogyny and patriarchal societies continued throughout the ancient and classical periods only beginning to change in the Hellenistic era.