The Role of Women in Spartan Society

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN SPARTAN SOCIETY The women of ancient S originatea, those who were born to terrible parents, had compositiony procedures. They were very burning(prenominal) and essential for the stability and running of the ancient warrior c all in aller. The wo mans image in stern baseball club was passing regarded by the state as equal in importance to that of a mans, but they could non rule or h historic periodd unexclusive take awayice. They were stipulation the freedom, mightiness, respect and status that was unheard of in the other polis, on with the rest of the immaculate world.Since the time of Lycurgus, the Spartan lawgiver, the women of Sparta were very very much certain of their role in society. These roles were in regards to maternalism, ownership and maintenance of reach, religion, education, mating and their arduous crook and military unit in society. In Xenophons explanation of the Spartan constitution, the central and most in-chief(postno minal) role in Spartan society for the Spartiate or free woman was to continue Sparta, through child kindred. Spartan women were passing valued as the mothers of warriors and they had to maintain their endureness to ensure good for you(p) maternalism and childbirth.Since Sparta was regularly at war for much of its five hundred socio-economic class history, it was a womans role to be take away and rear healthy children, in particular, strong and brave sons to dish up in the Spartan army. Females were encourage to participate in physical training so that they could give birth o healthy babies. According to Xenophon, Lycurgus decreed that women should take as much trouble over physical opposeness as men on the grounds that if both parents were strong, the offspring would be more sturdy and the women themselves would be able to bear the pains of labour. The role of motherhood was so important that mothers who had numerous sons were given special status and according to Xenophon , Spartans value motherhood so highly that there were only two ways a Spartan would receive their name on a gravestone oddment in battle or death in childbirth. Women were responsible for deliverance up their children in their early years where both girls and boys received a common education. Mothers were responsible for communicating the Spartan values to their children. They encouraged braveness in their sons and did not tolerate cowardice in battle or mourn their sons when they died in battle.Rather than mourn the death of their son, they would take pride in the fact that their son died in defence of Sparta Source 1 (Plutarch On Sparta, p. 160) As a woman was burying her son, a worthless old crone came up to her and verbalise You poor woman, what a misfortune No, by the two gods, a piece of good fortune, she replied, because I bore him so that he might die for Sparta, and that is what has happened. To die for Sparta in battle was a mans highest honour and what a mother d reams of for her sons.Therefore, the pride of a Spartan woman was to be a mother of a genuinely courageous and dutiful son Source 2 (Plutarch On Sparta, p. 160) When an Ionian woman was priding herself on one of the tapestries she had made (which was indeed of colossal value), a Spartan woman showed off her four most dutiful sons and utter they were the kind of thing a noble and good woman ought to produce, and should bumble of them and take pride in them. Spartan mothers were not tolerant to a sons act of cowardice or unworthiness towards her and Sparta. They were cognize to shame and kill their sons when they displayed these actions.For sample, a quote from Plutarchs Sayings of Spartan Women shows merely this. some other Spartan woman killed her son, who had deserted his post because he was worthless of Sparta. She declared He was not my offspring for I did not bear one unworthy of Sparta. (Blundell, 1995, 151 & 157 Pomeroy, 2002, 34-37 & 52-69 come int cognize who said what, notes given from a uni student. ) Spartan women were known to be wealthy although Sparta did not have a coinage establishment and women were not allowed to possess gold or silver. This wealth was known to have been acquired from property ownership.Land ownership in Sparta was distinct from other polis. A familys land was shared between all members of the family, including the girls but their percentage was smaller than her brothers. At the beginning of the continent period, a Spartan woman could inherit part of her familys country but she never owned it, it was always passed on to her children. This changed and towards the end of the classical period, Xenophon and Aristotle noted that women did own and could manage, control, and dispose of property without the need of male approval.Women could withal acquire land through marriage says Powell, Athens and Sparta. Aristotle indicated that women owned two-fifths of the land near the end of the classical period. With the women owning this much land and the men were endlessly away training or at war, they played very important roles in the management of the household and the kleros. They had to supervise the helots who worked in the house and kleros because they did not per plant domestic duties or manual labour, an act which was seen only fit for helots.If a woman was married, any profit from her estate was her married mans profit too and the same goes for any profit from the estate of her hubbys. If a married couple were to divorce, which was very rare, women were allowed to bring through their estates. Women were encouraged to be skilled and knowledgeable with horses so they could ride out to supervise theirs and their husbands estates which could have been spread out over a big amount of area. Therefore, Spartan women usually owned, bred and happy fine horses which served as an example of their wealth in land. Blundell, 1995, 155-157 Pomeroy, 1975, 38 Pomeroy, 1991, 144 Pomeroy, 2002, 19-34 & 76-86 Dont know who said what, notes given from a uni student. ) Women also played an important role in religion. According to S. B. Pomeroy, Spartan cults for women mirrored the societys tenseness on female beauty, health and most of all, fertility, being prominent in the cults of Dionysus, Eileithyia and Helen. During spiritual festivals, such as the Hyporchema and the Caryatid, women would sing, dance, race, feast, dedicate votive offerings, drive chariots in processions and weave clothing for cult images of the gods, said Pomeroy.At the Hyakinthia festival, women played a part in riding on richly decorated carriages made of wickerwork work, while others yoked chariots and drove them in a procession for racing says hustler in The Ancient Spartans. At the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, a large image of votive offerings have been found. It is thought that these offerings were made by women who were barren, pregnant or had survived childbirth, as Artemis Orthia was associated with childbirth. Also, Spartan mothers made offerings and sacrifices to the goddess Aphrodite Hera when their daughters got married.In addition, Pomeroy stated that sundry votive offerings by individual women were evidences of other personal relationships with the divinities. In figure 3. 9 in the book Antiquity 2, there is a 5th century sculptural relief showing a Spartan girl involved a unearthly rite. From early childhood, girls were raised to be the kind of mothers that Sparta required, just as boys were trained to be the soldiers it needed. The Spartan education system that was devised for girls was to create mothers who would produce the top hat hoplites, to manage property and to participate in religious festivals.Girls stayed at stand with their mothers who taught them the basics of reading and writing. Since music was an important part of Spartas religious festivals, the girls had to learn to sing and perform dances such as the bibasis, which was also a form of exercise . Sparta was the only polis where the training of girls was prescribed and supported by public authority. The girls physical education involved, running, wrestling, discus throwing, and hurling the javelin, as accounted by Plutarch.The main reason why girls participated in physical activities was to serve the state purpose of giving birth to strong and healthy children, on the basis that both parents were strong and healthy, according to Barrow and Powell. (Blundell, 1995, 151 Fantham, 1994, 57-63 Pomeroy, 1975, 36 Pomeroy, 2002, 4-27 Dont know who said what, notes given from a uni student. ) According to Plutarch, impertinent girls from other polis, Spartan girls married when they were ripe for it, probably around the age of eighteen when they were more physically mature and ready for motherhood.Spartans were expected to espouse within their own societal class and was generally arranged between families, with the bride and groom usually knowing each other beforehand. Another fo rm of marriage that was believed to have been practiced in Sparta was marriage by capture. This occurred when a man would choose a bride and carry her off. Although it sounds like the bride had no quality in who she would marry, A. J. Ball suggests that the act of capture was purely a emblematic act. Plutarch states that the bride was dressed like a male with her hair shaved off in preparation for the marriage.Some suggestions why this procedure was undertaken were because it implied chastity, and to ease the groom into strange grounds to have sexual intercourse with a woman since he spent the majority of his time with other men. Trial marriages were also adroit in Sparta. It was not unusual for a married couple to keep their marriage a secret until the birth of their first child, just in case the wife was barren and so a new marriage contract could be arranged. The Spartan society had an open minded strength towards extramarital relations, provided that it was to produce more children.It was acceptable for an older man with a young wife to give permission for a younger man to have sexual intercourse with her provided that they produce more physically fit children. Also, according to Xenophon, if a man wanted to have children but did not want to get married, he could ask permission from another man if he could share his wife sexually. There were no indications that women made objections or complaints to such arrangements. Married Spartan women had signifi brush asidetly more influence and power in society than other women from other polis.It is thought that they obtained all this influence and power as a result of their wealth, the constant absences of their husbands and an educational system that encouraged them to speak out and express themselves. However, their authority was more social and not political. They were restricted from voting and could not hold governmental positions, all the same though they made up the majority of Spartiates. It is thoug ht that they did, nevertheless, give their opinions on public matters. They were known to be unbelievably straight talking and prevail their husbands in the household.According to Plutarch, When a woman from Attica asked Why is it that you Spartans are the only women who can rule men? Gorgo replied, Because we are the only ones who give birth to men. Another way females in Sparta practiced their authority was during festivals, where girls would sing songs of praises for Spartan boys who be them. They would cheer for the winners and mock the losers of competitions which influenced the boys to strive for excellence. According to S. Blundell, Females in Sparta were so well indoctrinated that they formed an effective branch of a state propaganda machine. A enshrine of one of Spartas most famous women, Cynisca, who had been hailed as a virtuoso for her equestrian victories, was centrally located in Sparta. This further emphasises how much power and influence they had. Aristotle wa s critical of the wealth, power and influence women exercised in Sparta because he matte up that it strongly contributed to Spartas ultimate downfall. (Blundell, 1995, 155-157 Pomeroy, 1991, 144-149 Pomeroy, 2002, 56-93 Dont know who said what, notes given from a uni student. ) In conclusion, the role of Spartan women in society was of great importance.They not only played a vital role in the economy, religion, education and public matters, they were the backbone of the entire Spartan race. Without the women vie their role in society, Sparta would not have been the once mighty and great polis as we know it today. Bibliography Hurley, T. , Medcalf, P. , Murray, C. and Rolph, J. 2008, Antiquity 2, Oxford University Press Victoria. Stevens, V. , Merchant, W. , Hampson, M. and Bradshaw. G. 2006, HSC Ancient History, Macmillan Education Australia federation Yarra. Pomeroy, S. B. 2002, Spartan Women, Oxford University Press New York Jovy Celestino