Ancient History - Sparta Questions (Past Hsc)
With reference to Source A, and other sources, explain the significance of women in Spartan society
Every class in Spartan society had an important duty to perform in order for the state to maintain supremacy over their subjects. Accordingly, Spartan women had to create healthy babies for the Spartan state. They were given many privileges in order to aid in their accomplishment of this role. These privileges involved prominent social positions in regards to education, family, religion and the economy. They also participated in physical training with the boys. This gave them a slim, athletic build, as conveyed in source A, while also being involved in various singing and dancing competitions, playing instruments and reciting poetry.
Women were perhaps the most important feature of Spartan society for many reasons. A major responsibility they were given was to oversee the kleros while their husbands were away at war or in training. According to J.T Hooker, a woman could also inherit the state owned land from her father. This meant that they controlled the family wealth, and in effect, the Spartan agricultural economy. Spartan male citizens were dependant on their wife’s efficiency to pay their “dues” to the syssitia. Their most important role was to become mothers of citizens. Xenophon stated, “for free women the most important job was to bear children.” From birth, mothers disciplined the child and instilled the attitudes of the agoge both physically and psychologically. They introduced their children to physical training and taught them to be tough by refusing to nurture them as babies. They implanted the ideas of constantly performing at perfection, and were ultimately responsible for raising children to conform and be loyal to the state. Spartan women freely gave up their sons to the agoge at age seven, for their formal military training. Consequently mothers had to maintain her son’s discipline before the introduction to the agoge. Spartan
Every class in Spartan society had an important duty to perform in order for the state to maintain supremacy over their subjects. Accordingly, Spartan women had to create healthy babies for the Spartan state. They were given many privileges in order to aid in their accomplishment of this role. These privileges involved prominent social positions in regards to education, family, religion and the economy. They also participated in physical training with the boys. This gave them a slim, athletic build, as conveyed in source A, while also being involved in various singing and dancing competitions, playing instruments and reciting poetry.
Women were perhaps the most important feature of Spartan society for many reasons. A major responsibility they were given was to oversee the kleros while their husbands were away at war or in training. According to J.T Hooker, a woman could also inherit the state owned land from her father. This meant that they controlled the family wealth, and in effect, the Spartan agricultural economy. Spartan male citizens were dependant on their wife’s efficiency to pay their “dues” to the syssitia. Their most important role was to become mothers of citizens. Xenophon stated, “for free women the most important job was to bear children.” From birth, mothers disciplined the child and instilled the attitudes of the agoge both physically and psychologically. They introduced their children to physical training and taught them to be tough by refusing to nurture them as babies. They implanted the ideas of constantly performing at perfection, and were ultimately responsible for raising children to conform and be loyal to the state. Spartan women freely gave up their sons to the agoge at age seven, for their formal military training. Consequently mothers had to maintain her son’s discipline before the introduction to the agoge. Spartan
Bibliography: Ellen Papakyriakou/Anagnostou. (April 7, 2013). History of Sparta. Available: http://www.sikyon.com/sparta/history_eg.html. Last accessed 14th June 2013. Bettany Hughes - The Ancient World: The Spartans (2004) Distributer: Channel 4, running time: 105 minutes -------------------------------------------- [ 17 ]. ‘A History of Education in Antiquity’ by H. Marrou (1956) [ 18 ]