Women in Athens & Sparta
Women in Ancient Sparta & Athens
By: Tony Knuth
12/9/09
Historians have spent a long time attempting to establish what exactly life was like for women in ancient Greece. Like all studies of ancient Greece, they focus primarily on the two most powerful city-states in the Hellenic world, Athens and Sparta. Since the majority of the primary documents deal with these two cities, historians are only able to decipher a fragmentary view of what life was actually like for the entirety of society, let alone what life was like for women specifically. Nevertheless, researchers have dug through the chronicles of primary sources available in order to provide the most accurate depiction of Greek women possible. Researchers generally start by analyzing both Sparta and Athens separately in order to uncover how they viewed the role of women in their own society. Then, by comparing how these two societies treated women, a more complete image of their experience in ancient Athens and Sparta becomes evident. Modern historians have thus arrived at the general conclusion that Athens was a place where women were second-class citizens, barred from political practices and social events while being confined to the home for much of their time. Sparta on the other hand, was a place where women exercised a good amount of freedom when compared to their Athenian counterparts. All the same, women in both Sparta and Athens fulfilled very similar roles, albeit in differing ways.
As mentioned previously the sources available to researchers on ancient Greek women are relatively scarce. They are not completely unavailable however, and have been provided to researchers by ancient authors such as Aristotle, Plutarch, Xenophon, and Thucydides, just to name a few. Unfortunately, all of these sources do come with their own set of biases. Authors only write to serve a purpose or convey some message, thus their writings -intentionally or unintentionally- are tilted to fulfill their own goals,
By: Tony Knuth
12/9/09
Historians have spent a long time attempting to establish what exactly life was like for women in ancient Greece. Like all studies of ancient Greece, they focus primarily on the two most powerful city-states in the Hellenic world, Athens and Sparta. Since the majority of the primary documents deal with these two cities, historians are only able to decipher a fragmentary view of what life was actually like for the entirety of society, let alone what life was like for women specifically. Nevertheless, researchers have dug through the chronicles of primary sources available in order to provide the most accurate depiction of Greek women possible. Researchers generally start by analyzing both Sparta and Athens separately in order to uncover how they viewed the role of women in their own society. Then, by comparing how these two societies treated women, a more complete image of their experience in ancient Athens and Sparta becomes evident. Modern historians have thus arrived at the general conclusion that Athens was a place where women were second-class citizens, barred from political practices and social events while being confined to the home for much of their time. Sparta on the other hand, was a place where women exercised a good amount of freedom when compared to their Athenian counterparts. All the same, women in both Sparta and Athens fulfilled very similar roles, albeit in differing ways.
As mentioned previously the sources available to researchers on ancient Greek women are relatively scarce. They are not completely unavailable however, and have been provided to researchers by ancient authors such as Aristotle, Plutarch, Xenophon, and Thucydides, just to name a few. Unfortunately, all of these sources do come with their own set of biases. Authors only write to serve a purpose or convey some message, thus their writings -intentionally or unintentionally- are tilted to fulfill their own goals,
Cited: Plutarch, Life of Lycurgas, 14. ii-iv, in The Greek City States: A source book, translated by P.J Rhodes. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) Plutarch, Life of Lycurgas, in The Internet Classics Archive, translated by John Dryden Thucydides, Pericles on Athenian Wives, II. 44. i-iii,45. ii, in The Greek City States: A source book, translated by P.J Rhodes. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) Xenophon, Oeconomicus, vii Xenophon, Xenophon on The Spartans, in The Internet Classics Archive. translated by John Paul Adams <http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/sparta-a.html>, retrieved on Dec. 02, 2009. Pomeroy, Sarah. Goddesses, Wives, Whores and Slaves: Women in Classic Antiquity. New York: Schocken Books, 1995. [ 1 ]. Plutarch, Life of Lycurgas, 14. ii-iv, in The Greek City States: A source book, translated by P.J Rhodes. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), p.165 [ 2 ] [ 3 ]. Xenophon, Xenophon on The Spartans, in The Internet Classics Archive. translated by John Paul Adams. , retrieved on Dec. 02, 2009. [ 4 ]. Plutarch, Life of Lycurgas, in The Internet Classics Archive, translated by John Dryden. , retrieved on Dec. 02, 2009. [ 5 ]. Plutarch, Life of Lycurgas, in The Internet Classics Archive, translated by John Dryden. , retrieved on Dec. 02, 2009. [ 6 ]. Aristotle, Politcs, II. 1270 A 23-9, in The Greek City States: A source book, translated by P.J Rhodes. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) 173. [ 8 ]. Thucydides, Pericles on Athenian Wives, II. 44. i-iii,45. ii, in The Greek City States: A source book, translated by P.J Rhodes. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 167. [ 9 ]. Isaeus, On the Estate of Menelaus, 6-9, in The Greek City States: A source book, translated by P.J Rhodes. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) [ 10 ] [ 13 ]. Pomeroy, Sarah. Goddesses, Wives, Whores and Slaves: Women in Classic Antiquity. New York: Schocken Books, 1995. 5.