Spartan women essay. Namrata Gupta To what extent do the sources provide us with a reliable picture of the lives of Spartan women? (45 marks) 'In no other Greek city-state did women enjoy the same freedom and status as Spartan women.' - Helena Schrader, Sparta Reconsidered. The essay will be discussing how sources from different historians such as; Plutarch, Xenophon, Herodotus and Aristotle helps us as ancient historians create an image and opinion of the everyday life of a Spartan women. By comparing several authors, it will be shown how their lives were different from the women of surrounding Greek states and how their powers of a Spartan women were more or less than others. The essay will focus on; the family lives of women, their …show more content…
powers as women, the agoge, as well as their social values and involvement. The primary role for Spartan women was to bear strong children, preferably males and to be the ideal mother and wife. Many saw the acquirement of a wife strictly for the purposes of producing a legitimate heir and for sexual pleasure. However, there was more of a mutual respect between the sexes in Sparta as it is said that the women were not afraid to freely voice their opinions which their husbands, to much surprise for some, would choose to listen to. In Plutarch's Life Of Lycurgus, chapter 14, it is said by Leonidas' wife; Gorgo, a member of Spartan royalty that it is only the Spartan women who have the ability to 'give birth to men'.
Therefore stating that Spartan men are more manly than men of other Greek city-states as they are able to receive criticisms and speak to a women on equal terms, which other men would simply refuse to do. The reliability of this particular quote can be argued; in chapter 14, Plutarch is discussing the education of Spartan women, however it is unknown where he had gotten the quote, supposedly by Gorgo, as there is nothing within the source which states that Plutarch himself heard Gorgo say this or that he got this information from another source. Despite this, the quote itself is useful as it gives us an opinion of the point of view of a Spartan women, who happens to be Spartan …show more content…
royalty. Spartan women typically married at the age of 18, where as other Greek women married at the age of 14. However, like them, it is possible that Spartan women were put into arranged marriages. Women had to get married in order to claim any inheritances etc. Aristotle says; 'something like two-fifths' of Spartan land is possessed by women and that 'the position of women is wrong'. Essentially saying that women are unnecessarily being given too much power and that, rather than fixing the 'lack of control over Spartan women' the Spartan men were simply allowing themselves to be 'ruled by their wives'. Only in Sparta did women possess economic power and influence and in effect controlled the wealth of the family and agricultural economy. Aristotle believe this is a mistake, however Plutarch states that he believes 'Aristotle claims wrongly' and that the powers women have are what Lycurgus, the supposed Spartan lawmaker, has decided is best. It is unknown whether Lycurgus existed or not, however Plutarch and several other writers reference him within their works. Herodotus however, disregards the existence of Lycurgus and states how women are simply treated as objects and a mans 'own possession' and have a lack of genuine power, furthermore the women mentioned in Herodotus' works are not ever named; showing a lack of importance. Would 'Lycurgus' really allocate such powers to women if they were seen as insignificantly as Herodotus describes? It is possible that by giving the women some roles in society such as managing money, caused some people such as citizens and authors like Aristotle to be mistaken and misjudge and think they had too much power. When compared to other Greek women yes, the Spartan women did have more power, but when compared to other Spartan citizens i.e the men, did Spartan women really have so much power that they became uncontrollable and 'ruled' their husbands? It was a mothers duty to raise children who were physically strong, fit and healthy. As all people of this era, the Spartans preferred to have sons who will grow up and fight in the name of the city-state. However, it was Spartan law to make sure that female infants and children received the same care and food as their brother; in contrast to other Greek city-states, where girls are a lot more likely to be rejected and killed at birth. The ideal Spartan warrior was the pride and joy of a Spartan mother and to have a son who has 'nobly' died in battle was an extreme honor. On the contrary, a son who has shown cowardice and, for example fled a battle, would bring shame to the family and a mother would simply disown the son. There are several quotes to back this up, for example in 'other Spartan women to Fame unknown' it is said that one Spartan women killed her son with her own hands whilst claiming 'for never I bore Sparta's unworthy son.'. She is easily able to sever the bond of mother and son as he has disgraced one; the family and their honor and two; the expectations of Sparta which are absolute. This source has no author, making the reliability questionable, as well as the fact it is not said who has been quoted here, however from prior knowledge of the topic of Spartan women, it can be said that Spartan women did want for their sons to be strong warriors hence allowing the possibility of this source being accurate. 'The most important job of free women was to bear children, he (Lycurgus) therefore decreed that women should take as much trouble over physical fitness as men.' - Xenophon Only in Sparta did girls engage in sports and receive public education. women took pride in themselves for the education and training they received which is shown in Aristophanes' Lysistrata. An extract from the play shows some Spartan women complementing each other on their appearance due to their training. From this we can gather that they prioritized their training and took pride in the regime of exercise. As Lysistrata is a play, its main purpose is to entertain, not inform. The content may not be historically accurate or overly exaggerated as well as censored. However, as Aristophanes is an Athenian, it gives us an idea of how Athenians perspective of Spartan women was like and gives us an insight into the priorities and values at the time. In Life Of Lycurgus, chapter 14, Plutarch discusses the training women did.
Firstly Lycurgus 'toughened' them up by 'making them run and wrestle and throw the discuss and javelin'. It is later said that this is so that their children would develop better and so that their pregnancy would be 'successful' and 'relaxed'. The women were educated in some of the same ways as the men, which shows some sort of equality but for what purpose did they receive such training? According to Plutarch, it was in order to produce strong children; strong warriors to fight for Sparta. It is know that Spartan women received some sort of education, however it was for the greater good of Sparta, not specifically for the women, but for the production of strong, capable warriors. Despite this, women took pride in the education and training they received and preformed the tasks required to the best of their
abilities. 'Not only men but also women pride themselves on their intellectual culture.' Spartan women, unlike women of other Greek city-states took part in events. For example Cynisca, the daughter of Archidamus II was the first woman to breed horses and win an Olympic victory. It is likely that she did not even see her victories as the ancient Olympics was almost entirely male only. Furthermore it is highly possible that she was only even allowed to enter her horses due to her high status. According to Xenophon, she was encouraged to compete by her brother Agesilaus II, in an attempt to discredit the sport. This is showing a lack of respect as well as inferiority to Cynisca and other women who wanted to compete in such events. The sources somewhat give us a reliable picture of the lives of Spartan women. It is hard to say whether a women truly had power or not as different authors inform us on different points of view. It can be said that the society they lived in was patriarchal and misogynistic as; 'women were deemed a curse to mankind' - Euripides. Overall they were treated better than women of other Greek city-states and were given a lot more freedom.
The one thing we know for certain about Spartan society is that we don’t know much about it. Very few documents and artifacts about the Spartans have been discovered, but the ones that have tell us everything we know. Two of these works are Plutarch’s On Sparta and Xenophon’s Spartan Society. One of the main things these two accounts focused on was the Lycurgan reforms. Through their stories and writings Plutarch and Xenophon had both some similarities and differences when talking about the political, economic, militaristic, and social reforms. One of the main differences when comparing these two writings is how Plutarch gives a historical account of Spartan society and tries to keep objectivity
Spartan women were allowed to own and control land. “Yet it does seem to be the case that Spartan daughters received as dowries one-half the amount of their parents’ property that their brothers received as inheritance.” (Pomeroy, Sarah B., Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan, and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts. "Becoming a Spartan Woman." Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. 143. Print) Whereas Athenian women only received one-sixth the amount that their brothers inherited. Spartan women inherited three times as more than their Athenian sisters. Spartan women were also allowed and even encouraged to be educated, whereas the education of Athenian girls was almost nonexistent. In Athens the majority of girls “… received merely a basic training in how to run the household, generally from their mothers. Girls may even have been discouraged from becoming literate in order to keep them “unspoiled.”( Garland, Robert. "The People." Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. 103. Print.) Whereas in Sparta the girls were educated at the state’s expense. “Specific lines of development were prescribed for Spartan girls as much as they were for boys. The educational system for girls was also organized according to age classes. (Pomeroy, Sarah B., Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan, and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts. "Becoming a Spartan Woman." Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. 141. Print) Spartan women were also allowed more freedoms in the way that they dressed than their Athenian counterparts. “In earlier times Athenian women wore the peplos, a long heavy woolen garment which revealed little of the figure beneath. In the middle of the sixth century B.C., the peplos was replaced by a lighter and finer garment made of linen called
Hellenic culture in the Spartan community was that of a humble elite. True Spartan culture is well captured in Xenophon’s work, Spartan Society, as he wrote of how this elitist society viewed not only themselves, but the other countries around them. This work shines light into the three-part worldview of the ancient, Hellenic Spartans of: humanism, idealism, and rationalism. As Xenophon begins to write over the whole of the Spartan society it can be seen how the Spartans lived out the worldview of this Hellenistic society. This living out of the worldview recorded in Xenophon’s, Spartan Society, illustrates their worldview through the noting of Lycurgus’ accomplishments and the contrast of the “other.”
The book then talks about viewpoints of women, both real and those who face tragedy. Women during this time were very secluded and silent, but the heroines contradicted that. This chapter talks about the images of women in the classical literature in Athens, and the role they had in society. Many tragedies were ones that formed by mythes during the Bronze Age. It showed the separation in what made women heroic, rather than average. While viewing other Scholarly sourcese, Pomerory writes her own theory, she used others
The main summary of the book is “Plutarch's vivid and engaging portraits of the Spartans and their customs are a major source of our knowledge about the rise and fall of this remarkable Greek city-state between the sixth and third centuries BC.” “Through his Lives of Sparta's leaders and his recording of memorable Spartan Sayings he depicts a people who lived frugally and mastered their emotions in all aspects of life, who also disposed of unhealthy babies in a deep chasm, introduced a gruelling regime of military training for boys, and treated their serfs brutally. Rich in anecdote and detail, Plutarch's writing brings to life the personalities and achievements of Sparta with unparalleled flair and humanity.” This is only a small summary of
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
The most significant fact on women of ancient Greece, primarily fourth century B.C. and earlier, is that there aren 't many facts at all. There is a limited amount of information known, and women were rarely written about or spoken of. For example, in Carl J. Richard’s “Greeks & Romans Bearing Gifts”, very little is written
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.
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.
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.
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.
of the book. USA: Simon and Schuster, Inc. 2000. The.. Print. The.. Blundell, Sue. Women in Ancient Greece.
Greek women, as depicted as in their history and literature, endure many hardships and struggle to establish a meaningful status in their society. In the Odyssey, Penelope’s only role in the epic is to support Odysseus and remain loyal to him. She is at home and struggles to keep her family intact while Odysseus is away trying to return to his native land. The cultural role of women is depicted as being supportive of man and nothing more. Yet what women in ancient Greece did long ago was by far more impressive than what men did.
“No man ever proves himself a good man in war unless he can endure to face the blood and the slaughter, go against the enemy and fight with his hands.” The preceding was quoted from “The Spartan creed” by the poet Tyrtaeus. There are two authors in this primary resource reading which include Tyrtaeus as well as Xenophon, whom authored “The laws and customs of the Spartans”. These two works give great detail to the Spartan society. As history has presented it, Sparta was a smaller polis and yet was one of the most, if not most, influential societies in history. What we know of this culture comes to us from excavation of its heritage as well as literary works such as these. But are these “eyes” into history factual and creditable enough to base our own interpretations of such a masterful race? These writings are great resources for Spartan’s war enhanced values and societal customs, but lack in evidence of governmental affairs and religion. This lacking may have been due to both writer’s motives for their work.