Athenian Women Research Paper

Women in Athens and Sparta “Men are free to roam outside, but the women must stay inside.” (Unknown Athenian), this was true for most of human history, and Ancient Athens was no different. However in Ancient Sparta it was much different from the rest of Greece, and for that matter a majority of civilizations. Usually when people think of Athens they think of the Golden Age of Athens (480-322 B.C.) and think that men and women are prospering throughout Attica and it was more like the Roaring 20s of the 20th Century. And when people think of Sparta they see a society hell bent of taking over Athens and crush anyone who stands in their way. In either case nobody really takes much time to ask what were the women doing during this time period
The Greek historian Xenophon in Oeconomicus described women as things important for “…the production of children.”1 And “…offspring to support them in old age…” Women were always controlled by men, whether it is her father or her husband, and would be expected to keep the house clean and be in control of the slaves and care for the children. This meant that Athenian women had little to no freedoms, and weren’t allowed to leave the house except for religious festivals, funerals, or religious cults. She wasn’t to be seen inside or outside the house by the public, and if her husband had guests over she would be confined to her bedroom.2 If a household had no slaves though then a women would have more freedoms but they were limited to the chores that the slaves would have done like farming and cleaning the property.3 If a household had slaves then she would also be in charge of the slave’s children. The life of an Athenian woman was a harsh one and seems unreal to modern people from a1st world
The Greek Philosopher Aristotle said regarding Spartan women “…nearly two-fifths of the whole country is in the hands of women…”4 and Plutarch said “…For he exercised the girls’ bodies with races and wrestling and discus and javelin throwing, so that the embryos formed in them would have a strong start in strong bodies and develop better…and would cope well and easily with childbirth.” The way that the women of Sparta are described paints a very different picture of women in Greece. Spartan women had many freedoms and are loosely compared in rights to that of modern women. Since Sparta was a military society the women were expected to produce perfect babies and develop their intellect.5 Since the Spartan men were always away the women were in charge of running everything that didn’t involve the army. Women were also allowed to participate in sporting events and feats of strength just like the men, and were actually encouraged to. Women were also very strict and if a son came home from battle and he wasn’t on his aspis (shield), then he would be forever in shame. This is evident in Plutarch’s Sayings of Spartan Women which depicts accounts of women in normal Spartan society. Examples are “Damatria heard that her son had been a coward and unworthy of her, and when he arrived, she made away with him.” “Another Spartan woman made away with