Spartan women had more rights and enjoyed greater autonomy than women in any other Greek city-state of the Classical Period (5th-4th centuries BCE). Women could inherit property, own land, make business transactions, and were better educated than women in ancient Greece in general.
What was unique about Spartan women?
Spartan women were famous in ancient Greece for having more freedom than women elsewhere in the Greek world . ... Unlike their Athenian counterparts, Spartan women could legally own and inherit property and they were usually better educated. The surviving written sources are limited and largely from a non-Spartan viewpoint.
How did Spartan society differ from other states in Greece?
The main difference between Athens and Sparta is that Athens was a form of democracy , whereas Sparta was a form of oligarchy. Athens and Sparta are two prominent Greek rival city-states. ... Athens was the centre for arts, learning and philosophy while Sparta was a warrior state.
What best describes how women were treated differently between Athens and Sparta?
Women were punished severely for adultery and did not have any sexual freedom outside of marriage . Even without any freedoms, they were allowed to be citizens of Athens [1]. Women in Sparta had freedoms that most women did not have in these ancient times. They were too be just as strong as the men.
How did the situation of women in Sparta differ dramatically from other Greek city states?
In Sparta, women had rights that other Greek women did not have . In Sparta women were stronger and they formed liaisons with men as they chose. They could also own property by themselves. In Athens women did chores such as weaving or cooking, but in Sparta the women were free of all such chores.
Was it better to be an Athenian or a Spartan?
Sparta is far superior to Athens because their army was fierce and protective, girls received some education and women had more freedom than in other poleis. ... The Spartans believed this made them strong and better mothers. Lastly, Sparta is the best polis of ancient Greece because women had freedom.
Who won Sparta or Athens?
Athens was forced to surrender, and Sparta won the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC.
What is a female Spartan called?
Known as the Agoge , the system emphasized duty, discipline and endurance. Although Spartan women were not active in the military, they were educated and enjoyed more status and freedom than other Greek women. Because Spartan men were professional soldiers, all manual labor was done by a slave class, the Helots
Who did the Spartans enslave?
Helot , a state-owned serf of the ancient Spartans. The ethnic origin of helots is uncertain, but they were probably the original inhabitants of Laconia (the area around the Spartan capital) who were reduced to servility after the conquest of their land by the numerically fewer Dorians.
What is Sparta today?
Modern day Sparta, the capital of the prefecture of Lakonia , lies on the eastern foothills of Mount Taygetos in the Evrotas River valley. The city has been built upon the site of ancient Sparta, whose Acropolis lies north of the modern city. To the southwest stands Mt. Taygetos.
What did Spartan women think Aristotle?
Aristotle wrote that in Sparta, the legislator wanted to make the whole city (or country) hardy and temperate , and that he carried out his intention in the case of the men, but he overlooked the women, who lived in every sort of intemperance and wealth.
Why did Sparta Not Destroy Athens?
Like the Athenians before the war, the Spartans believed in rule by force rather than cooperation. ... Sparta, however, had another motive for sparing Athens: they feared that a destroyed Athens would add to the growth in influence of Thebes , just north of Athens.
Who benefited most from the oligarchies?
Who benefited most from the oligarchies that governed many Greek city-states? Wealthy people .
Sparta was leader of an alliance of independent states that included most of the major land powers of the Peloponnese and central Greece, as well as the sea power Corinth. Thus, the Athenians had the stronger navy and the Spartans the stronger army.
What was bad about Sparta?
Spartans were renowned for their devotion to physical fitness and proper diet, and they reserved a special loathing for overweight citizens , who were publicly ridiculed and risked being banished from the city-state.
Why was spartan government better than Athens?
Athens focused more on culture , while Sparta focused more on war. The oligarchy structure in Sparta enabled it to keep war as a top priority. The Athenian democratic government gave the citizens in Greece more freedom.
