1. How did women's roles in society differ from Athens and Sparta?
In either of these societies women were considered to be more inferior compared to men. However, in Athens this inferiority was more apparent in their culture. By the 400 BC, it seemed that the role women played were only nearly as good as the role slaves had. I believe that the position that Athenian women would have was somewhat planned out for them since birth. From the very early years, Athenian girls were raised to be “protected” and fulfill domestic needs. They weren’t allowed to own property because they themselves were often treated more as objects and as something that could be “owned” or be passed down. Their main purpose in life was to procreate and produce babies. The women of Sparta were very liberated and dominant in their society in comparison to their sisters in Athens. They had a much more stronger presence in the happenings of their city. Spartan women owned over one third of all the land and had an influence on the politics. The role of women in Sparta, were mainly based on their society’s need to combat their enemies such as the Helots, and to breed young men that would potentially be soldiers.
Although there are many differences between Spartan and Athenian women, I believe that neither type of women had it “better off”. Although in my personal opinion I would rather be a woman living in Sparta, rather than a woman in Athens. However, each group of women had their own pros and cons. Even though the Spartan women were more “free” and were treated more equally to men, Athenian women attained more of their emotional or more “womanly” needs.
2. If the Greeks are considered so advanced, so culturally elite, why do you believe gender equality (equality between men and women) was not established?
I believe that aren’t any true reason or reasons as to why equality amongst men and women wasn’t recognized by the Greeks, because there are so many different factors that could come into play. One of the main factors that comes to my mind is human nature. From the early on men have almost always played the role as the fierce hunter and sole provider, and I believe that this characteristic is what made men become hungry for power and be the one in control. Although the Ancient Greeks were incredibly advanced for their time, in that era men still looked at women as the lower species. Reasons as to why this is so are unknown to me. Maybe it’s because women were thought to be as more delicate and should be preserved, therefore they’re more weak. Then because of this, a stereotype was created about women and they weren’t given the right chance to prove their strength and worth. I believe that it is this process that contributed to why gender equality didn’t quite exist in Ancient Greece, and is still an issue that we face today.
3. Based on your understanding of women in Ancient Greek society, how do you think women were depicted by artists at this time?
Despite the Ancient Greek’s beliefs of women to be the “weaker gender”, I think that in art they displayed their women as beautiful goddesses to be admired. I think that the Ancient Greeks realized that women could capture the very essence of beauty, because they are capable of giving birth to new life. Women could recreate beauty; the beauty of birth. By understanding this, I believe that artists would often sculpt women who are at the peak of their child-bearing years. Generally, when women are ready to give birth, they possess an hour-glass figure because by human instinct men are more attracted to this body shape because this type of body is believed to be the most fertile. For the faces of these sculptures, I’d think that the face would possess both strong and delicate features. Their nose, lips, and cheeks would be delicately depicted, while their eyes would be striking and exemplify strength to show the true courage and endurance of a Greek woman. I also believe that the actual art or sculpture would be smooth, free of any bumps, and all the body parts, especially the face would be symmetrical, so as to be a display of “perfection”.
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