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.
This is a credible article; it seems that it is researched thoroughly and thoughtfully. Overall this article highlights my topic fairly well, and did meet my expectations; the author’s conclusion ended strong and summarizes the article greatly. Still, this article is not much different than my other twelve articles with the exclusion of one. In this article and others not all sources have different points of view and only one has done that.
This source was rather interesting because instead of being a web page full of information, this source was a letter written from the young women of Sparta t...
... middle of paper ...
...gh they still had a voice.
This article is credible and reliable; it offers two sets of information for the reader. It is also suitable for any age group. This site is helpful for those wanting to compare Athens and Sparta or simply read about one or the other.
Works Cited
Hailey, Elizabeth. "Spartan Women." People. Web. 19 Feb. 2010
Thompson, James C. "Women in Sparta.”.WOMEN IN THE ANCIENT WORLD. Web. 14 Feb. 2010.
"An Open Letter from the Young Women of Sparta." Fated To Be Friends: Classical Athens.Women in World History. Web. 15 Feb. 2010.
"Women in Athens and Sparta." Women in Athens and Sparta. Indiana UniversityBloomington, 28 Jan. 2003. Web. 15 Feb. 2010.
Alexandros, Kallistos. "The freedom of spartan women came at a terrible price." Ancient Worlds. 15 Jan. 2005. Web. 15 Feb. 2010.
"Women in ancient Greece." Ancient Grecce. Web. 19 Feb. 2010
There isn’t enough literature from this time period from the lower and middle classes of society, and the view of women we have comes from writings of the upper class males. As much of an enigma that the women of Athens were, it is clear that “women were for the most part legal nonentities,” (O’Neal 117) that were denied any association and participation in the intellectual life of their city. The women were not involved in getting an education, and never learned to read or write. O’Neal writes, “The principal spokesmen of fifth century Athens, Pericles and Thucydides, disdained Athenian women.” (O’Neal 117) Based on their writing, and on surmountable evidence, it can be assumed that women had only two roles in Athens - a wife, or a mother. A girl was ideally married at 14 or 15 years of age, and there was necessity that the bride was a virgin, otherwise she was shamed and sold into
Kaltsas, Nikos E. Athens-Sparta. New York, NY: Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (USA) in Collaboration with the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, 2006. Print.
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
Kyle, D. G. (2003). " The Only Woman in All Greece": Kyniska, Agesilaus, Alcibiades and Olympia.
Sparta and Athens were two of the best-known and most powerful city-states in ancient Greece. Sparta was known for its strong military and seemingly insensitive values, while Athens was famous for its democratic government and advanced learning. Sparta valued power and military strength, while Athens was home of the more scholarly, philosophic intellectuals. Though it may seem like Athens was the more advanced of the two, Sparta was ahead in one important aspect: its treatment of women. Spartan women had many rights. They were respected and treated very well. Athenian women, on the other hand, were barely better than slaves. They had little to no rights and received minimum respect, if any. Spartan women led much better lives than their Athenian
Based on Robert W. Strayer’s second edition of Ways of The World, Sparta offers the best life for women, whether it is with regard to her personal finances, physical fitness, or domestic role, Spartan women enjoyed more liberty than their contemporaries did in China, India, Athens, and Rome.
Lefkowitz, M., and Fant, M. (2nd. ed. 1982). Women's Life in Greece and Rome. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.
"The Women of Sparta: Athletic, Educated, and Outspoken Radicals of the Greek World." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 18 Jan. 2012. Web. 03 May 2014. .
One reason is the woman in Sparta had more rights than the people in Athens. Duckworth states,” In Sparta women were stronger and they could form friendships with men as they choose.” The women had more freedom and could choose who they wanted to be friends with; in Athens, woman could not have friendships with men. In other
Farris, Dale. "Shutt, Timothy B.: A History of Ancient Sparta." Library Journal 15 May 2009: 45.
My impression regarding the comparison of the likely daily lives of the citizens of Athens and Sparta is that they were two very different things. The differences hold true for men, women and children alike. In this discussion I have focused on the "average" person with the understanding that the roles of people of higher or lower social elevation surely led different lives.
Women in ancient Greece were expected to be seen and not heard; hence, women were not supposed to hold any places in office or express opinions of political issues. Wives were placed in careful watch by their husbands and any back-handed comment was not tolerated. A woman’s most important life function was to give birth to healthy babies, preferably baby boys. A Spartan or Athenian woman’s role in the household was to make sure it was in order (food was made, children were bathed, etc.). In the Greek comedy Lysistrata, both Athenian and Spartan women decreed that they do not agree with the civil war takin...
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.
Scott, Micheal. “The Rise of Women in Ancient Greece.” History Today 59.11 (2009). History Today. 2009. Web. 09 Jan. 2014.
Youth would not be educated if education did not matter. Because education mattered, Rome and Sparta had a purpose behind educating their kids. In addition to education, children were educated at the age of seven. Another similarity was that education was different for both boys and girls. Girls were expected to be prepared to be mothers and housewifes. As Quintilian explains, “Before all things, let the talk of the child’s nurses not be ungrammatical. Chrysippus wished them, if possible, to be women of some knowledge; at any rate he would have the best, as far as circumstances would allow, chosen” (Paragraph 2, Quintilian). It was preferable for women to have knowledge on how to raise a child properly. Identically, Spartans had the same view, women were expected to be housewifes and caretakers. Plutarch states, “Upon this account, Spartan nurses were often brought up, or hired by people of other countries; and it is recorded that she who suckled Alcibiades was a Spartan woman” (Plutarch , 1). Spartan women were expected to have knowledge on raising a strong and healthy