Mary Kate Sprauer

Mrs. Kinsey
History of Women
14 October 2020
Similarities and Differences of Athenian and Spartan Women’s Lives
The life of a woman has evolved and changed throughout much of history, but in Athens

and Sparta the differences are surprising. The two civilizations occurred around the same time,

so it would seem that women in both societies would have similar lives. However, due to the

differences in the values of the two civilizations, women in Athens and Sparta had different roles

and rights in society. Athens valued the family, while Sparta valued the state and the war effort

causing the two civilizations to be very different even when it came to characteristics that did not

deal with women. In classical Athens and Sparta, the life of a woman was very different between

the two civilizations, this essay will compare and contrast the roles of women, the rights of

women, and why historians believe their rights and roles differ in the two civilizations.

Athenian and Spartan women had similarities and differences in their roles in public and

in the household. In Athens, women’s public roles were very restricted, thus confining them to

the household. Due to the high importance of keeping women out of public atmosphere, they

received very little education, and the education they received focused on household activities.

Athenian women did not appear very often in public places, in fact when they were mentioned in

public it was by their husband’s name. When Athenian women appeared in public, they likely

wore a mantel or veil over their face to remain modest. Athenian women were able to participate

in some religious festivals. However, they were not allowed to attend the sacrifice, but they were

able to go to some of the other rituals. In Sparta, it was more common to see women in public.

The importance of the war and state caused men to be gone for years at a time, thus allowing
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women to have more roles in the public atmosphere. Girls attended school with boys, and even

participated in physical activities such as wrestling and discus and javelin throwing. Spartan

women could own land and accumulate large amounts of wealth, which played a big role in the

reforms of the third century. The reforms were an attempt to even out the large disparities in the

distribution of wealth, and women played a large role on both sides of the reforms. Some women

were willing to give up some of their land, while others refused ultimately ending in the failure

of the reforms. Spartan women, like Athenian women were able to participate in religious rituals

and practices. In the household both Athenian and Spartan women held similar roles and

responsibilities such as maraging the household and raising children. In both civilizations, it was

important for women to have children. However, the reasons were slightly different. In Athens,

for someone to be a citizen both of their parents had to be citizens, so Athenian women were

coveted for being able to produce citizens. In Sparta, women were encouraged to bear children to

produce warriors for the war effort, and daughters were valued because they would be able to

have kids one day. In Spartan culture, domestic work such as weaving was not seen as a job fit

for free women, but in Athenian culture free women did such tasks. Overall, Athenian and

Spartan women played different roles in the public atmosphere but had similar roles of having

children in the private atmosphere.

The rights of women in Athenian and Spartan society had similarities and differences

when it came to politics and finances. Athenian women had fewer rights than Spartan women.

Athenian women had no rights to their dowries. Dowries were given at marriage, but the women

did not have possession of them, the husband did. When Cleisthenes took power in Athens

around 508 BCE, he allowed all male citizens to vote, but women were completely excluded.

The only way women could really participate in politics was by influencing their husbands and
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by having male children and influencing their views. Women never went to court, instead they

could have representatives appear for them. The women that seemed to have the most rights in

Athenian civilization were priestesses. Priestesses had legal rights, which meant they could sue

and could handle estate administration. In Sparta women had a few more rights due to their

husbands being away for long periods of time. Women had dowries, but they were able to have

control over them. In both Sparta and Athens, women did not choose their husbands, their

parents, but more importantly their male guardians chose for them. Women in Sparta were able

to own property and inherit. The importance for them to be able to own property and inherit was

clear when the husband or father was gone for years at a time. Women needed to be able to make

financial decisions about the family property with the men gone, so that allowed for Spartan

women to own property. Like Athenian women, Spartan women had no legal authority in

politics. Both Athenian and Spartan women were able to influence politics through their

husbands and by having children. Women could also be priestesses in Sparta, which

automatically gave women more rights and roles when in that position. Priestesses in both

Athens and Sparta were very similar their roles of being religious leaders. In both Athens and

Sparta women were allowed to participate in religious practices. Also, in both civilizations

women got some form of education, however in Athens education for women was very limited

and focused on the teaching them how to do tasks in the household. However, in Sparta, women

were given an education that was similar to men’s education, but women normally left school

once they were married. Overall, women in both Athens and Sparta lacked many of the rights

that men had, but Spartan women had more rights and freedoms than Athenian women.

Historians have long researched why the there are so many differences between the rights

of women in Athens and Sparta, but it seems to always come down to what the society places the
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most importance on. In Athens, they placed the importance on family, whereas in Sparta, they

placed the importance on the state and the war effort. The difference in priorities of the two

civilizations led to vastly different cultures. In Athens, the importance of family gave all the

power to men being that they were in charge of the family and all of its property and finances.

This led women to being resigned to a life of being in the home. Their main role was to have

children and raise them to become citizens. This causes historians to believe that their lack of

rights was due to their lack of being in the public atmosphere. If their role was solely to procreate

to grow the family, it seems that they would not need many rights because their guardians or

husbands would be able to act on their behalf. In Sparta, the importance of the state and the war

effort also caused women’s main role to be having children and raising them, but the lack of the

father’s presence allowed women to have more rights. Normally the father or head of the house

which was always a male would make the financial decisions, but that caused a lot of problems

for the Spartans early on. The lack of a male guardian being present due to his job as a warrior

caused many families to not be able to pay for their property which led to them losing their

property and working to pay off their debts. This led women to gain the right to make some

financial decisions for their family while their husbands were gone fighting. Overall, historians

believe that the differences in women’s rights in Athenian and Spartan societies can be attributed

to the values of the civilizations.

In conclusion, women in Athens and Sparta had different lives, this paper focused on

Athens and Sparta and discussed the similarities and differences of the roles of women, the rights

of women, and the reason as to why the rights of women were different in the two civilizations.

Women’s role in society has evolved over time and throughout many civilizations, but it seems

that in most civilizations that are closely connected in time women have similar roles. However,
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after looking into Athens and Sparta it is clear that the way in which their values differed also

changed the roles and rights that women had in the two civilizations. Athens and Sparta had

differing values which caused differences in the roles of women, but there were still many

similarities such as having children and maintaining the household. One of the overarching

themes throughout both civilizations seemed to be the men still controlled women’s roles and

rights, no matter if they were present or not.

Bibliography

Women and Gender in the Western Past (Volume 1: To 1815). Edited by Katherine L. French

and Allyson M. Poska. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007.

Information also came from the slides given in class.