The role of women in Spartan society to
the Battle of Leuctra 371 BC

Powell “The citizen women of Sparta were believed to lead unusual lives by
Greek standards.”

Lycurgus in the Great Rhetra women of Sparta were aware of their role in society
in regards to staying healthy and fit to produce healthy offspring as well as
partaking in the running of the economy.

Women in Sparta were treated with the utmost respect, as they were an essential
element in the ancient warrior society.

Spartan women enjoyed much more freedom then women from the other polis
(Greek city states). Spartan women were given great privileges as they involved
their prominent positions in society in regards to education, family, religion and the
economy, which soon became desired by women all over ancient Greece.

Ancient historians such as Plutarch, Xenophon, Aristotle, Plato, Euripides,
Herodotus, Thucydides and Aristophanes provide valuable insight to the girls,
women and mothers of Sparta, as they left no records themselves.

Plutarch's famous Sayings of Spartan Women aims to promote a Spartan
society where females play an essential role in the indoctrination of their sons

Women were perhaps the most important feature of Spartan society for many
reasons and even so their most important role was to give birth to healthy sons for
Sparta.

They weren’t allowed to spin or weave like women from other parts of Greece;
such menial tasks were meant for the helots – state owned slaves.

Plutarch “When an Ionian woman was priding herself on one of the tapestries she
had made (which was indeed of great value), a Spartan woman showed off her four
most dutiful sons and said they were the kind of thing a noble and good woman
ought to produce, and should boast of them and take pride in them.” This quote
illustrates that for Spartan women, skills in handicrafts were not essential, and
were not regarded as important as bearing healthier, stronger sons for the army.

Xenophon “For free women the most important job was to bear children.” In order
to inculcate the offspring with patriotism, the mother had to have the correct
attitude herself.

Spartan mother did rear their sons according to the customs and expectations of
their state and society. They were proud of their role in shaping new generations
of citizens.

Women who produce strong offspring’s (sons) should feel superior to other
women and should be proud of their self righteousness.

It implies that women with strong sons were strong themselves because it is
believed that strong Spartan women and men create a strong offspring.

‘Great value’ also suggests that sons were worth more than daughters, as sons are
the only ones that can achieve the greatest honour in Sparta.

Women were encouraged to display patriotism by sacrificing the men whom they
loved and so highly did they prize the warriors, that they are said to have said tears
of joy over the bleeding bodies of their wounded sons.

Plutarch “As a woman was burying her son, a worthless old crone came up to her
and said: ‘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.”

Instead of lamenting at the death of their sons, they took pride in the bravery that
had led to that fate.

The women were ordered not to mourn, to suffer in silence during their son or
husband’s death.

The character of Spartan women is marked with uncommon firmness.

At the shrine of patriotism they went against nature. Undaunted bravery and
impeached honour was, in their estimation far beyond affection.

If a son came home from Sparta without his shield the mothers wouldn’t tolerate a
son’s act of cowardice and dishonour to Sparta.

Sources tell us that a Spartan woman killed her son, who had deserted his post
because he was unworthy of Sparta. She declared: “He was not my
offspring...for I did not bear one unworthy of Sparta.”

The education of women was a uniquely Spartan concept within the polis,
Spartan women were well educated and brought up in an orderly fashion to
become proper mothers for the state, manage kleroi (state-owned property) and
partake in religious festivals.

As Spartan boys were surrendered to the Agoge (Spartiate training program)
Spartan girls remained at home with their mothers to get educated, learn reading
and writing, as well as being organised into bands for team games and choral
singing.

In these bands they were taught, and had to regularly perform, choral lyrics of
myths that had been immortalised through ancient songs and poems. Many of
these poems would have come from the Parthaneai (a collection of work composed
by Spartan poet Alcman).

Girls also learned the bibasis (a form of dancing/exercise where the girls do rump
jumps).

Whilst in these bands the Spartan women also trained in gymnastics and athletics,
such as running, wrestling and javelin throwing.

Spartan women of all ages were encouraged to mix and train with the Spartan men
and enter sporting competitions to get fit and strong.

Plato on the Spartan women’s education: “there are not only men but women also
who pride themselves on their education; you can tell that what I say is true and
that the Spartans have the best education in philosophy.”

The reasoning behind this idea of physical training is that while Spartan women
trained with Spartan men, the men would choose the strongest woman and marry
her because if both parents were strong and healthy then they are more likely to
give birth to a strong and healthy child, which was of great importance to the
Spartan men and especially women .

Spartan women had a great deal of influence and power on Sparta’s economy.

They were the ‘men’ of Sparta when their husband and sons were at war or at the
Agoge.

The Management of kleroi was an essential skill for Spartan women. As each
Spartiate owned a kleroi, the kleroi would be inherited by the wives and mothers of
Sparta to raise their sons who would eventually inherit the kleroi.

This means that they controlled the family’s wealth which affected the entire
Spartan agricultural economy which therefore shows their power on the economy
and therefore on Sparta.

Spartan male citizens were dependant on their wife’s efficiency to pay their “dues”
to the syssitia.

The management of the kleroi was not just a responsibility which separated them
from women from other Greek cities; this role was a crucial element in the Spartan
economy.

In Athens and Greece poorer women worked on their husbands’ farm and made
tapestries to gain extra profit.

This was not so in Sparta, as manual labour and handcrafting was seen as an act
for the helots only. Spartan women don’t have time to do “lowly” acts like
handcrafting and manual labour.

Her main goal is to produce healthy and fit children and manage the Spartan
economy.

Aristotle disapproved of the power women wielded in Sparta, especially in the
economy, and felt it contributed strongly to the downfall of the once mighty polis

In his writing he frequently mentioned that the trend to give women economic
power could lead to a gynaikokratia, a government controlled by women.

Growth in economic prestige and immense power is apparent through the story of
Princess Kyniska, the daughter of King Archidamus and champion of two
Olympic chariot team races.

This wealthy equestrian expert was the owner of a twice Olympic champion
chariot team (396 and 392 BC).

She dedicated a statue to herself at the Olympic sanctuary in Olympus.Which
according to historians indicates that, “To compete was a mark of wealth, since
horses require a great deal of grass and grazing land is not plentiful in Greece” and
this tells us that as a result “women had effective control of plentiful wealth.”

Archaeological evidence provides us with a deep understanding of how important
the role of religion was in Sparta and to Spartan women.

Evidence comes from the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, here hundreds of votive
offerings were found and the majority of them were lead figurines in the shape of
women.

Theories suggest that it is linked to childbirth. This theory suggests that pregnant
women would make these offerings for three purposes: either to ask for a
successful childbirth as many women died from giving birth in antiquity, to ask that
they bear a strong and healthy son, fit to become a warrior of Sparta or to make
offerings to the goddess Aphrodite Hera, when their daughters were married.

Plutarch, Lycurgus stated that only women who had died giving birth would be
allowed to have marked grave – further archaeological evidence reinforces this
custom.

This shows how important childbirth was to the Spartans in that “only women who
lost their lives to perpetuate the state were honoured as heroes.”

Female-shaped figurines represented the understanding of importance and deep
respect for the ‘maternal figure’ in Spartan religion – as the Spartans took up
many female gods from Greek mythology.

At the temple of Athena of the Bronze House there are numerous bronze
statues of Athena and Aphrodite, typifying the importance of matriarchal figures
in Spartan religion.

Large religious structures dedicated to women demonstrate the reverence women
received.

There were three major festivals in Sparta: the Carneia, the Hyakinthia and the
Gymnopaedia and in all of which, women were very regular participants.

At the Hyakinthia they rode in ceremonial chariots made of reeds, marched in
procession, sung, danced and took part in sacrifices and feasts.

At the Gymnopaedia, they could compete with the males in athletic competitions
to show the superiority of women and their fitness.

It is clear that the main role of women was to guard the state of Sparta, manage
kleroi and the economy, and give birth to healthy sons and surrendering them to
the state and to partake in Spartan religion to wish safety and wellbeing.
Bibliography

Antiquity

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/11276/the_role_of_spartan_women
_in_ancient.html?cat=37

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/470772/the_role_of_women_in_anc
ient_sparta.html?cat=37

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081027184814AAGq5T
B
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http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/7849/spwomen.html