Education is the most powerful asset one can pertain in the modern day because “knowledge is power”, but was this concept the same in Ancient Greece? The importance of education varied all throughout history along with the way this education is taught. In modern America schooling ranges from standard primary and secondary school, all boy/girl schools, and even military schools like in ancient Sparta. In certain schools ones gender can even play a role in the education they receive. Women’s education in ancient Greece tended to follow a more “traditional” method, aside from the Spartans. However, in modern day, women have radicalized their rights concerning education and can now learn about almost any profession they want. The idea of educating …show more content…
Modern women have the option and right to become educated at a real school and choose what they fancy to learn. This differed greatly from ancient Greece where most women were educated to become good wives and mothers. “Women of all social classes were responsible for the smooth running of the household.” Girls were educated inside their home, usually by their mothers. They learned how to weave cloth, prepare food, child-rear, and manage the household. Women did not deal with life outside of the family and home, but anything to do with inside the household was their concern. Most were seen as economically unproductive and useless with no significant role in society. However, women were crucially needed for one task, reproduction. It is said that, “Once she had given birth to the requisite male child, her usefulness was over, and she was regarded as a parasite.” Oh, how times have changed. Today women have a lot more freedom and control on their education. For example, girls can attend school outside of the household. This seems like normality today, but in ancient times this would have been shocking. Also, women can partake in the same professions as men. Regarding women’s education in Athens, there is not many similarities, but there are some in ancient Sparta. In Sparta women possessed more freedom than women in other city-states. Sparta was so dedicated to pertaining the perfect military that even girls received military training and were allowed to run, wrestle, and play sports. Like boys, they were taught to put service to Sparta over everything else, including family. The education girls received shocked the surrounding city-states whom did not allow their women and girls to be educated outside the home. America may not be a military state, but those who choose can receive military training. Also, because of the considerable freedom women have
Sparta was the only Greek Polis to have and education system offered to both girls and boys. Cite While boys were out physically training to become Spartan soldiers, girls lived at home and were encouraged to spend time learning new things such as music and poetry. Cite , Cite every claim The goal of educating women was to “create mothers who would produce the best hoplites and mothers of hoplites...” (Pomeroy 4) . Even though their education system was not exactly built on equality as child bearing was still an important role for women, the Spartan women were at least given an education unlike the women of Athens.
Spartan women could have almost anything job other than priests and anything to do with military or government. Women in Sparta were also very educated in writing, art, and athletics. Women in Athens could not go in public, they couldn’t vote, the only education they got was weaving and spinning, and they couldn’t own property. They were however able to use the court for legal issues. They were supposed to stay at home at watch the kids and cook food.
Namely, through receiving a different amount and type of education which gave them different skills, marrying at an older age which would have given them different responsibilities, having the ability to inherit and own property, having more of an influence politically, being more free socially and women of lower classes in particular having different tasks to carry out. So, in summary, it can be seen that Spartan women played more of an active role in society, had more freedom and were better respected than their Athenian counterparts. A notable issue with primary evidence surrounding this topic is that it was written by men, so it is impossible to gain qualitative information about how women felt about their position in the society. An issue with Greek Tragedy in particular is highlighted by Gould, who states that plays are “the product of a man’s imagination and addressed to men”. As a result of this, the information we do have is written by men so cannot be an accurate depiction of the lives of either Spartan women or their Athenian
Spartan women were afforded a public education as well. This was very radical - other Greek girls were not formally educated. They could, however, use their education to have careers or earn money But Most of the money earned was used to support the family. Their income came from land holdings that either they or their families were given through a public land distribution program or running the shops in the city-state. Land ownership for women in the Greek world was certainly unheard of especially in Athens.
Did the Spartan educations outweigh the weaknesses? Yes because it created strong and obiedient soliders. The strengths of Spartan educationn did outweigh the weaknesses for two reasons one, they had stong soliders to protect their families and Sparta, and They had to stay fit and stong to help people. One reason the strengths of Spartan education did outweigh the weaknesses was, even though they didn't let women be any kind of soliders they still cared about thier health. Yes it may have only been for making stong offspings but at least they didn't let them sit there and ie.
In school both boys and girls would learn reading, writing, mathematics, basic-combat, and self-defense. Even Athenian philosophers like Plato and Socrates praised this education system. In Athens only the boys were educated for the most part, so most women went through there lives being illiterate. Other then the blatant gender equality issues the Athenian government had many problems as well. Athens may have had a democracy, but that didn't save the, from corruption.
Unlike in different city-states “woman could own property…and they could dispose of it as they wished” (e.g. Woman in Sparta). As little as this may seem now, at the time this was a sort of power. Women were free to own their own land and dispose of it without discussing it with her husband or father. Women were also allowed to share their ideals and speak freely in public even conversing with other females and males. “Spartan women had a reputation for boldness and licentiousness that other Greeks found unseemly” (e.g. Woman in Sparta).
During this time, people believed that women were only good at cooking, cleaning, or nurturing their children and couldn’t do much else. Because people thought this way, women were uneducated unless they were in the upper class. Wealthy women would sometimes have private tutors that would teach them.
Aristotle once said in his book Politics, “Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects” (Aristotle). Ancient Greece was ahead of time, so that everyone felt included. Your gender, social position, and religion do not play a part in the amount of rights you have. Greece was split into many city-states, all with their own types of government and differences. Mainly, Athens and Sparta are most well known.
The Roles of Spartan Women differed in many ways from those of Athens. From a young age, Spartan Women have raised different than their Athenian counterparts. As children, Spartan women were taught from the age of 7 that education would be key for them in life. They were taught how to read and write in case something happens to their loved ones in the future and were forced to take care of themselves and their family in the future. Unlike Athenian women who were taught simple housewives roles such as, taking care of the children, cooking and raised to be housewives who were very dependent on the men in the house.
Socrates’ admiration for Sparta’s unique principles revealed, that not only were Spartans different from the rest of the Greeks, but how restricted the right to an education was to women in other parts of Greece. In Athens, wealthier families hired tutors to teach their daughters the basics of writing and reading, but the rest of the Athenian girls had no “formal” education. In rare occasions, daughters of Athenian aristocrats, particularly females of the noble Athenian family, were sent to live with one of the many female cults that served numerous temples of various goddesses to acquire knowledge from them (Lewis,
In ancient times, there is a general sense that women were simply items and slaves to their husbands. Ancient Greece specifically has a renowned reputation of favoring men. Men possessed the dominant role in public affairs and events while most women were pressured to stay at home. Very few records extensively discuss women; the records focus mostly on men. Despite the lacking records, it is certain how ancient Greeks viewed their women and their relationships with their male counterparts.
Education at all these levels can improve maternal health, improve gender equality and empower women to make better choices for themselves and those in their care. Women play a major role in the cultivation of families and that in return influence the societies around them through enrichment and progress. Education is key to self-awareness. Furthermore, character and enlightenment are achieved because of it. Higher education, particularly for women, is also integral to solving major global issues such as poverty and health.
Moreover, the author focused on convey the idea that a woman’s education was a right and they should be claiming an education
The education young women received, however, tended to lean more towards teaching them how to act as ladies of the courts and patrons of arts, not to help them learn a profession. Their education was usually obtained from their fathers or from private tutors. What was unique for the first time in Western history was that men were stressing the importance of education for women. It was understood during the Renaissance, however, that a woman's education was only as a benefit to her father or husband. Soon, women began to excel at literature, art, and even in