Differences Between Athens And Sparta

Athens and Sparta were two greatly influential and recognized greek-city states of their time. Athens emphasised education and fostered thought, philosophy, and the arts. Contrastingly, Sparta emphasized military and placed high value on training and war. Other contrasting points were in governing style, climate, and overall lifestyle. One radical difference between the two city-states was in their treatment of women. The treatment of women in Sparta, compared to their Athenian and surrounding Greek neighbors, presented a unique ideology that was highly progressive beyond their time. Spartan women were granted more freedom and social status than their Athenian counterparts due to the militaristic lifestyle of Sparta and was exemplified …show more content…
Unlike other city-states, boys and girls were not segregated and young girls would participate in physical activities alongside boys. Spartan girls were allowed to partake in physical activities, often naked, alongside boys such as wrestling, racing, and were even well apt at riding horses. Athenian women lived under strict rule of men and were often bound to the household with limited interaction outside of the household. In an Athenian play, Ekklesiazousai, listed a comedic series of the functions of Athenian women: “They all dip wool in warm water, in the old-fashioned way… They sit down and do the cooking, as women did before. They carry things upon their heads, as women did before.” The tasks listed were all performed in the home and tasks designated to the helots in Spartan society. Athenian women were highly dependant on their kyrios if they wanted to make interactions outside of the home. Another distinct difference would be the age women would bear children. Women in Sparta typically did not marry or bear children until the age of eighteen in the likelihood that she would bear stronger children and better soldiers. Women in Athens would marry at a young age and would be married to men roughly twice their age. Spartan women could also converse with men whereas it was discouraged for Athenian women. The absence of male influence due to the militaristic nature of Sparta also gave more authority to a women 's influence in the household. Other differences in Spartan and Athenian women were laws regarding adultery. In Sparta, adultery was not as serious of an offense as in other Greek city-states. It was an inadequate reason for divorce because men could falsely accuse their wives of adultery to strip them of their land rights, but in doing that it would deter women from marriage. While in Athens, “if the husband catches