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Life in Ancient Greece: Spartan men and women Bernice Gelin Professor Shepardson November 18, 2008 World History The ancient city of Sparta has had a lasting impression on the world today. Sparta was a model of discipline, conformity, militarism, and virtue. It was a prominent city state, but its society was unique from typical life in Greece. Sparta was a military state, believing in having only the strong and not the weak to maintain the army. At the time of birth, every child considered a property of the state, especially males. If a male child appeared deformed, the infant was left on a mountain at a place called the Apothatae.
Spartan values of the state led them to develop uncommon roles of its people than typical Greek life. The Spartan system astonished and puzzled other Greeks who didn’t understand it and either saw it as barbaric and disapproved or commended them (Michell, H. , 41). To begin with, Spartan women were unlike any other Greek woman of her time. They can be similarly compared to modern day women. They were famously known for their beauty, grace despite not wearing jewelry or ornate fashion and also the liberties they shared with their men counterparts.
Spartan women were more dominant in their society than Athenian; women and lived lives away from men due to the Spartan social construct. Reared from childhood, females were taught to read write, arts, the customs and tradition of Spartan culture to insure the continuation of the Sparta’s system. Girls were encouraged to be physically and emotionally strong to serve the state by marriage and be able to produce strong healthy male soldiers. Spartan girls competed in athletics at the same time as the boys and may have done so in the nude before a mixed audience.
All aspects of education were important because women needed to oversee domestic responsibilities, control property, agriculture needs, and business investments. They served the men by procreation thus serving the state which in turned served them. Women were truly independent and considered equal to men. Spartan women married at a much later age than other Greek women, marrying at age 18. “The custom was to capture women for marriage???not when they were slight and immature, but when they were in their prime and ripe for it” (Plutarch, 2nd century A.
D. , Life of Lycurgus, 15. 1-5 translated in Fantham, 1994, 62). She was then taken to her mother-in ???law who cut her hair to look like a boy as men were accustomed to intercourse with men and it might be his first time with a female. Her duty to her husband was to provide offspring to become future Sparta citizens. Marriage in Sparta did not mean love, its pure purpose was to procreate and carry on society. In fact, if a husband and wife could not conceive children, he could sleep with another man’s wife with his permission to have a child.
It was considered a service to state and promoted Spartan allegiance. And a woman whom had three or more sons was given special privileges. Women spent their youth and much of their lives maintain physical fitness for the sole purpose of bearing children and surviving the ordeals of pregnancy and childbirth. For a woman in ancient Sparta, motherhood was central to society deemed important and significant. If a woman died in childbirth, a grave marker would be placed on her tombstone equivalent to that a man who died in battle.
When pregnant or nursing, they were allotted the same types of foods as men. The care of children was for the most part left in the hands of mothers since as husbands served in the military. Women raised their sons until the age of eight at which they were then sent off to the military school. Women taught their sons to be strong and not to show emotional weakness. They encouraged them to have bravery and did not mourn their loss in battle. A remark said to have been used by a Spartan mother is to have been Come home with your shield or upon it (Plut. , Moralia, Sayings of the Spartan Women, 16).
While men were away from home, women managed the household affairs and were free to have public and active lives. They had a great amount of influence despite not having a vote within the assembly. Daughters could inherit as much as a son or brother could and could inherit property. They acquired land through inheritance from their families and through marriage. The income from her own lands, she said with her husband and his income, he shared with her. Since men spent most of their time training or at war, they were granted full access and stake in the husband’s estate.
Writing in the fourth century B. C. , Aristotle indicated that, by the fifth century B. C. , Spartan women owned two-fifths of the land (Jones, A. H. M. , 136). Her independence allowed her to express herself, be assertive, and had much more expected of them than other Greek women. Women’s tunics were worn in a way to give them a little more freedom of movement and the opportunity to reveal a little leg and thigh if they desired to (Michell, H. , 47). Spartan women dominated the household, offered opinion on public matters, and held power in and outside the home.
They were the forefront of society behind the man. Men were to dedicate their life to the state. Every young male Spartan was the property of the state. If they proved strong and healthy, they were raised as warriors. From infant to age seven, they were educated at home in literature, gymnastics, and told stories of courage and bravery. It was ingrained in them to be disciplined, the lessons of endurance, and the future skills to be a soldier. At the age of seven, every male Spartan was sent to a military and athletic school, the Agoge.
They marched without shoes, went without food all to have the necessary skills of being a soldier who could endure pain, be physically and mentally strong, and have survival instinct. Older boys whipped the newcomers in order to toughen them. Men were soldiers and expected to do with little and like it, training hard and vigorously. Spartan men under lived with their families until age 16, once they passed this age they lived together in a barracks, whether they were married or not, until they were 30 years old.
Before leaving military school, the boys would be forced through a second gauntlet. Sorted into groups and abandoned on the countryside with no food, weapons or protection, the boys would be tested and have to rely on their survival skills. Known as a hearer, the Agoge male students at age twelve were expected to take an older male sexual partner known as the inspirer who instructed him as a mentor, fostering education of life of Sparta. They were reared of the customs and traditions of Sparta society.
At the age of 18, members of the Agoge were now considered fully-fledged warriors and servants of Sparta and subjected to a harsh system of selection to pick out those who would become officers, members of the royal guard, and future members of the Spartan council. Spartan men were encouraged to marry at the age of 20. If they were unmarried by 35, they had to pay a fine. The wedding consisted of a ritualized physical struggle, kidnapping which resulted in the man slinging the woman over his shoulder and taking her off. However, men remained on active military duty until the age of thirty.
They were encouraged to periodically sneak out of their barracks and have sex with their wives. It is possible because they married women nearly the same age, a sense of excitement and longing was experienced between husband and wife though love was not made evident in Sparta (Jones, A. H. M. , 136). They were allowed to live with their families after this, but still ate together in the communal area to the age of 60, when their spell of military service was ended. Older men were considered models of endurance, frugality, and sturdiness.
By eating in the messes rather with their families, it distanced them from family loyalty and placed emphasis on collective or private interests. Classes of distinctions were avoided in many ways. Men ate at common meals and the same amount as any other male. “Also, unlike in other states where men of the same age gathered together, Spartans gathered in mixed ages so that elders could influence the younger members, and direct conversation toward the great accomplishments of the state. “(Xenophon, Constitution of the Spartans, 5, 5) If a man died in battle, they would honor his death by inscribing their name on their tombstone.
Above all, the greatest life a Spartan could lead would be to die in battle for the glory of Sparta. Men lived their lives and behaved in the interests of the state. Men held dominion over military affairs and exhibited bravery and resourcefulness. In conclusion, Sparta focused on its military strength and its citizens lived different from other Greeks. Men did not spend their days working for political or economic gain. The men of Sparta focused their lives on training for the physical and mental aspects of warfare. Unlike the women of Athens, the women of Sparta were outspoken and held power in their hands.
With fathers and husbands constantly away on military campaigns, the women of Sparta were responsible for everything else in Spartan society. Spartan men commanded all things military, Spartan women commanded all things domestic, property, and even business ventures. Bibliography Jones, A. H. M. Sparta. Cambridge: Harvad University Press, 1967. Michell, H. Sparta. Cambridge: Unversity Press, 1952. Warfford, Anita Angeline. “The Development and Impact of Gender Roles in Sparta. ” The Catacombs. 12 Oct. 2008 ; http://home. triad. rr. com/? warfford/? ancient/? spartagen. html;.