sparta

• Sparta


  • famous for being the warrior society in antiquity
• women and men contribution the society + spartan laws

  • laws were designed to produce elite soldiers that would enable sparta to maintain and acheive military dominance
  • women didnt go to war but played a vital role in ensuring the sucess of milatrian dominance as laws governing the education of girls were intended to help girls produce healthy children + encourage men to excel in their training
  • every man was a professional soldier
• birth

  • exposure was a decision made by the spartan elders
  • sturdy, not weak , not derformed
  • no preference for gender - only health- spartan elders valued the contribution women made to society
• education for girls


  • enaged in physical training
• quotes for education


  "girls ought to sit alone doing wool working. how, then can they expect girls raised like this will bear strong children" - xenophon

  "withstand childbearing because of their strength and struggle smoothly and easily with the pains of childbirth" - plutarch
• cynisca story


  first woman to be a victor at the olympian games

  • didnt enter but her team of horses won as she was a horse trainer
  • fact she entered openly and represented sparta and won showed sparta valued phyiscal prowress in their women
• sparta vs athens women

  • athenians often made fun of spartan women but they were proud of themselves
  • spartan women were figures of fun
  • aristophanes an athenina playwright writes about lysistrata who introudeces lampito a sparta girl which he views as the opposite of femininity which shows the difference in views
  • euripides blames the education for their morals
• euripides quote


  "a spartan girl couldn't grow up modest if she wanted to- they go out of the house with bare thighs and loose clothes to run races against young men - intolerable behaviour"
• what do spartan girls learn

  wrestling, running, throwing javelins
• interaction between boys and girls

  • boys and girls had plenty of time to interact with each other - they were in full view of each other and girls were encouraged to heckle lazy boys in training and to praise others to motivate the other boys
  • it's unlikely the bride would be a complete stranger to the groom - parents would set up the marriage and help arrange a suitable match
• purpose of marriage


  lack of dowry and financial aspect = purpose was to produce healthy children
• how old did they get married

  older as they were in their physical prime so they withstand pains of childbirth to produce stronger children + the child will survive childbirth
• how did weddings work

  • the bride would cut her hair short and wear mens clothing and sandals then wait on the floor of a dark room whilst the groom was having dinner in the syssition and then go to bed in his military barracks
  • he would sneak out at night to avoid being caught and would go to the brides house and carry her to bed = consummates the marriage
• would the groom stay all night with the bride

  • no he would stay with her for a short while then return to his barracks before the morning.
  • the couple could only meet at night
• why could couples only meet at night

  • it would lead to more exciting, vigourous sex as they can't see each other often leading to healthy baby

  or to..

  • prevent them from spending too much time together, ensure a spartan's warrior first allegiance was to his comrades and not his family
• when can a man retire from the army

  at 30 where he returns from his barracks to his wifes home w kids
• how important were children to a spartan family

  very important that the husband will lend his wife a childless man to bear a child
• syssition


  communal messhall where spartan warriors dined together