Oppression Of Women As Far Back As Athens And Sparta

Both Athenian and Spartan women lived much of their lives separately from the men of their societies. Athenian men spent time away discussing politics and philosophy, but when they went home they expected obedience from their wives. However, no Athenian citizen would ever admit that he took advice from a woman. Spartan men were gone even more, since they were soldiers. Only the men held official office,

Most Athenian philosophers believed that women had strong emotions and weak minds, so of course they had to be protected from themselves and prevented from harming others. Guardianship was the system developed to deal with this perceived quality in women. Every woman in Athens had a kyrios (guardian) who was either her closest male birth-relative or her husband. Although she could own her clothing, jewelry, and personal slave and purchase inexpensive items, she was not allowed to buy anything else or to own property or enter into any contract. Her kyrios controlled everything about her life (Murray 212). Citizenship for a woman entitled her to marry a male citizen and to join certain religious cults that were closed to men and non-citizens, but it did not give her any political or economic benefits (208).

Athenian women were divided into three general classes. The lowest class was the slave women who did the menial domestic chores and helped to raise the children of the wife. Male slaves worked in the trade arts, including pottery making, glass working, and wood working, or educating the sons of a house. The second class of women was the Athenian citizen woman who could pass the right of citizenship to her sons. The third class was known as the Hetaira or "courtesans". Unlike the slaves and the citizens, they were given an education in reading, writing, and music, and were allowed into the Agora and other places that were off limits to citizen and slave women. Hetaira Were refined much like modern Japanese geishas. Most of theses women were foreigners or non-Athenian Greeks. The social standing of the Hetaira was at best at the level of a normal pornai or prostitute and the level of power they achieved had much more to do with the riches the women acquired than with actual power (Cantarella & Lefkowitz 50).

The women of ancient Sparta had much more freedom than the women of ancient Athens. This finding is surprising since we think of Athenian democracy as the source of modern social and political freedom. In fact, Athens extended those privileges only to men who were not slaves and who could claim citizenship through both of their parents. In Sparta social and political freedom was seen as a right and a duty, not as a privilege. All citizens of Sparta, including women, were expected to use that freedom for the benefit of the state. As a result, women in Sparta could move freely in society. They had much more freedom than the women of Athens.

Most Greek women, however, did not get an education. The famous philosopher Aristotle said; "between the sexes; the male is by nature superior and the female inferior, the male ruler and the female subject."(Finnegan 1) This concept explains why they thought that it was necessary for men to hold power over women. On the other hand, the philosopher Plato said, "that man and women with the same natural ability should receive the same education and training and to the same kind of work. Hence there will be female guardians and rulers, as well as male ones." (Grube 37)

There are some notable exceptions. For example, there was Hipparchia, a philosopher of the Cynic school. Ethel Kersey states "She was able to marry and

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