Greek Women Vs Athenian Women Essay

Women in ancient Greece had nothing close to equality to their male counterparts, however women in Sparta had more rights and freedoms than women in Athens. Beginning around 750 B.C.E and because of the mountainous terrain, Greece began to develop independent city-states (or polis). Since the terrain made it difficult for people to travel much, these city-states developed very differently from each other. Two good examples of these vastly different city-states are Athens and Sparta. Athenians were known for placing a high-importance on studies such as art and literature, whereas in contrast, the Spartans were extremely militaristic. The two city-states not only had different ideas on what to focus their energy towards, but what rights (if

The lowest class of woman was a slave. These slaves carried out household chores and acted as nannies for other (higher class) women's children. One step above the slaves were the citizen women, the wives and mothers. One of the important purpose of Athenian women was to be used as bargaining chips in arranged marriages. In order for a woman to marry well, both her parents needed to be born in Athens. The father of the bride was in charge of finding a groom for his daughter usually around the time she hit puberty at 13 or 14. She would be married off to a man of about 30 and spend the rest of her days at home. Even after the marriage the bride would not become a full member of her new family until the first healthy child was born. The husband was the one who got to decide if the baby would be kept or not. "If he accepted it, it would live, but if he refused it, it would die" by placing the child in a clay pot outside the home. The child would be denied if it were "unhealthy or deformed or even the wrong sex." Female children were often considered inferior to males. 1 The wives were expected to clean, cook, weave and spin. The wives, mothers and slaves were generally not allowed in public, and their contact or association ended with their