When Sparta is said, the first impression that comes to mind is power. Also, there is such a phrase like “Spartan power”. However, what is the key role behind such great authority? It is obvious from some sources that Spartans are well-known for their strong military system. It is the main item that the political system, social life, and civilization- all these stuff were created around this. If we want to illustrate people to figure out the importance of the military system, we can also call it such as “the way of life for Spartans”. Well, it is clear that men have substantial roles in the military, so if Spartans accepted the military system in all spheres of their life, the dominant role in people’s lives would have been men’s. Nonetheless, there is such a question arises that only men had a significant role in this great authority, or could women also impact this? In order to get more clearness how women also had an important role in Sparta, I will analyze this issue by comparing women’s life in Sparta and Athens which also was one of the main cities like Sparta in Greece. Essentially, women had less priority in almost all ancient states; nevertheless, women’s life in Sparta was a bit more different than theirs, also than in Athens. Within this framework, women in Sparta had several priorities such as getting an education and having some valuable rights.
First of all, we say that Sparta has a powerful military system, for this reason, the priorities of men are much more important than women’s. Also, it is clear that the education system does not play a main role in the military so much, and the military-based system in Sparta also does not request to get a high education level. There is a just education system such as learning training, boxing, swimming, and wrestling for the military aims. As a result, if only men do take place in the armies and need to learn these all, why Spartans should care about the education system of women. According to the book “Ancient Greece” by Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland, it is a fact that women in Sparta also got educated by learning wrestling and swimming. Well, it illustrates that women like men in Sparta also got somehow educated; however, the system was different for women in Athens. Even though Sparta and Athens, both were the main cities in ancient Greece and their perspective on the education side could be the same, there was no education life for girls in Athens, it does not matter that it is military-based education or something else. Well, what is the related part of this issue in shaping the civilization of Sparta? As earlier mentioned, all fields such as civilization, social life, and political system in Sparta were for the welfare of the military, briefly men. For more illustration, Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland mentioned in their book “Ancient Greece”, the reason for getting education such as learning swimming and wrestling by women is that Spartans believe that if women practice these exercises, they will have robust bodies and they can give birth easily and in a healthy way. Also, their newborns will be strong, so strong children will be powerful soldiers in the future. In addition to that, the top levels of social structure in Sparta consist of males, especially kings, and people who lead the armies are more significant. As a consequence, from my point of the view, Spartans believe that these powerful males can take them to more improvement, so it leads to the developed unique civilization. Nonetheless, Athenians are not aware of this, women in Athens cannot get an education, it is impossible for them. As a consequence, it is the fact that Spartans were more powerful than Athenians. Also, it is good from my perspective because it is one of the proofs that despite the military-based system, women’s impact on civilization is undeniable. Despite ancient times, people agree that educated women are much stronger than uneducated women, additionally, this education system is military-based.
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Moreover, we somehow talked about the dominant role of men in Sparta; however, this dominance did not influence the lives of women there so much. One of the reasons for women’s freedom in Sparta is when boys at seven leave their houses, move to military training, and stay there until their twenty-years-old ages. Even though they are getting married, they cannot live in their houses, they are dependent on the military system. It illustrates that women have more freedom in some fields such as making some decisions about their children and controlling their houses until their husbands return. Additionally, women since their childhood are not confined to the home, they can get an education as earlier mentioned, make friendship with males, also they can choose their life partners themselves. However, it is totally various for the rest of the Greek women. To take an instance, women in Athens are restricted by men, we can call it like they have male guardians. It basically means that women have so limited rights such as they can never speak with any male who is not a member of their families, they cannot go outside or know any people. In addition to that, women cannot choose their life partners, this decision absolutely depends on the thoughts of their fathers or brothers. Well, even though Sparta and Athens, both were cities in ancient Greek, why did Spartan women have more rights than Athenian women. From my point of the view, Athens does not have a military-based system, so men always can manage their houses, therefore, there is no need for getting an education or knowing the life outside by women. However, learning the life outside the house is significant to Spartans because some males cannot return to their houses during their military life, in this circumstance, women can take all control of their houses. As a consequence of this, the Spartans need to give women a right which is having land ownership. Essentially, it is related to that when males leave their houses for military purposes, there is a chance that they cannot return their houses, so they can be killed in wars. As a result of this, their wives take land ownership and begin to run their economy and manage their households. If these women are successful in these economic fields, they can be wealthy, even they can be displayed like one of the rich people in the social structure. Nonetheless, in Athenians and the rest of the Greek world, there is not such a right. Well, does the freedom of Spartan women have a considerable impact on shaping civilization or not? From my perspective of the issue, it should not be a matter that what century we live in, women’s influence on society is undeniable. If we speak about ancient times, especially the main purpose of the women is raising and taking care of their children, women should have considerable priorities. As mentioned earlier, for Spartans, well-educated women will raise much more intelligent and stronger children, as a result of this, if a woman does not know her rights or get an education, what is the logic behind this? Manifestly, women who are aware of the hardships of life can raise children in a much more effective way. Also, the economy is one of the significant factors which shape civilization. The roles of women in this economic field are illustrated, so this is one of the main reasons that women have an impact on shaping the civilization of Sparta.
To sum up, the paper shows that the difference between the life of women between Athens and Sparta. However, the focus point of it is that women have an impact on shaping civilization or not. Essentially, as mentioned earlier, the life of women is full of restrictions in the Greek world, especially, in Athenian society. Nonetheless, women are more important to Spartans than Athenians, therefore, Spartans give more priorities such as getting an education, having freedom, and owning lands to women. All in all, it is an undeniable fact that women have considerable roles. The key point is that woman who is well-educated and has rights influence on shaping society or civilization in a more effective way.
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