Compare And Contrast Sparta And Athenian Society

Though classical Roman, Athenian, and Spartan societies weren’t separated far geographically, culturally, the three city-states differed in what roles were allowed to women.
Even though they both were in the same country, Athens and Sparta developed independently and had completely different societal values. The Athens of classical Greece is famous for being the home of great philosophers like Socrates and Plato, as well as being the birthplace of democracy. In comparison, Sparta was a governmental oligarchy and functioned as a warrior society. Of the two, it might come as a shock that Sparta allowed women more freedom rights than Athens. Healthy Spartan females were encouraged to “…exercise their bodies by running and wrestling and throwing the discus and the javelin…” in the ways that men were as well (14.2). Meanwhile in the

It makes sense that there would be similarities in the way Athenians and Romans treated women because Rome and Athens were more alike culturally, particularly when in comparison to Sparta. The Romans borrowed a lot of philosophical and political ideas from Athens, and attempted to improve upon them. Though I do find it interesting when comparing the three that the society that valued battle gave women more rights than the societies that were supposed to value thinking and logic. I think ultimately it comes down to what was most beneficial to the (male dominated) society at the time: it was to the benefit of the Spartans that women were strong and healthy so they could produce more strong and healthy (male) babies to become warriors. It would not have been to the benefit of Athens and Rome to educate women and give them more rights because that would mean reevaluation of accepted norms and allowing women a place in government and