The Education of Spartan Women

The history of ancient Greece is presented to us in writing by men who were knowledgeable at the time but had much disregard for women. According to the traditions then, women were viewed as the weaker sex, rash, irrational, less knowledgeable, and could not survive without the guidance of the men. The situation was however different in the ancient state of Sparta. In Sparta, laws governing the people followed the guidelines designed by Lycurgus who was a well-respected lawmaker during his time. He designed the laws in such a way that they encouraged collectivity in society and had much recognition of the freedom of the women in Sparta. The Spartan women were seen as an important tool in the running of the societal issues and harmonized the treatment of the girls with that of the boys with the most outstanding area being the education of the women in Sparta. AS opposed to the common belief that the freedom accorded women of Sparta gave them an upper hand to rule the men, the change of the manner of treating the women and the rules, in general, was solely meant to steer Sparta ahead while maintaining a high level of discipline and strengthen them against any potential threats, as opposed to offering education to reduce literacy, hence the incentive to educate the women and allow them certain levels of responsibility. ¹¹

In the Spartan society, much of the rules focused on how to build a strong society, and hence the women in Sparta were subjected to education that was restricted to the domestic levels but was taught skills that would help them protect themselves. The rules clearly stated that the girls had the same right of treatment as the boys and this is what encouraged the offering of almost similar education to both the sexes. The education took place in confined places mainly at the temple where the initiation started and here the girls were subjected to a rather formal education that involved arts and athletics-related exercises. While in confinement in the temple, skills that involved gymnastics and wrestling took the center stage. Other athletic skills such as foot racing, javelin throwing, and discuss throwing were also offered. In addition to sports education, the women were also subjected to lessons on combat. These were meant to help them protect themselves in case of an attack. As part of the skills development, Spartan girls used to run outside in the presence of the boys while naked or scantly dressed as part of their athletic training. The athletic training was also meant to fulfill the Spartan’s quest for the strong women who gave birth to strong sons in a bid to stack up against their military strength. The women would stay in training until they were 18 years, after which they would go through a test involving the skills as well as evaluate their fitness level. Upon satisfying the required standards a female got the pass to proceed to the next stage in life which was to be shown a man to who would marry her. Failing the test led to the female being banned from going back home and was considered a perioikos, a term used to refer to middle-class members.²

Spartan women were also subjected to cultural training. These were offered information of poems conducted by famous poets who included Alcman. The poems contained messages of their Legends and heroes in addition to their traditional social customs and beliefs, choruses, dancing, and singing. Some competitions involved these activities meant to encourage perfection in the skills. The women were further taught to courageously address mass gatherings and to build their confidence in dealing with the public. As a testimony to the seriousness of the training that took place among the women of Sparta, several females excelled in poetry and philosophy among the Spartans for instance Megalostrata. The music and dancing skills acquired in training were meant to be applied during religious occasions. As a way of making the Sparta girls better wives, they were also taught routine household chores as well as basket weaving and spinning. A horse was a very important and symbolic animal among the Spartans. For this reason, the women were taught the art of feeding and breeding horses. The women were further trained in the art of training the horses as well as how to ride on their backs as well as while dragging horse carts.

In the Spartan society, the males went away in training for joining the army starting from when they hit the age of 7 years and stayed in training up to when they reached 31 years. Occasionally thereafter, they would be away in the war and protecting the Spartan state. For this reason, the women were most of the time left with the role of running the societal affairs. As a result, women in Sparta were highly encouraged to actively learn the various aspects of running the society by expanding their intelligence through learning. By having intellectual women, the Spartans believed they stood a better chance of maintaining a strong society since they had it that the women were the key to a successful society. The women were also required to be intelligent to intellectually handle the freedom accorded to them responsibly as well as the property they inherited. The girls were taken through a final phase of training which was for enhancing their motherhood skills. The girls were instructed on how to improve their bodily appearance for beauty purposes owing to the importance attached to physical beauty as a way to maintain marriages. This phase was often referred to as a lesbian affair. The girls remained protected and holy until they gave birth for the first time since being a mother was more valued than virginity loss as a stepping stone to adulthood.

Among the many differences that existed between the rest of the Greek city-states and Sparta, the offering of education amongst the women is one of the most outstanding. Women in ³Sparta received their education away from home in public schools which were mainly temples ⁴where they were together with the boys they received their various training. In other Greek societies, education for the females was rather confined to the homes where they were taught basic domestic skills. In Sparta, women receive a rather formal education where they learned skills involving reading and writing among other athletic skills as opposed to other Greek states where the women received an informal type of learning involving just the general domestic skills with the learning taking place in home confines which is a rather informal setup. As a result, Spartan women displayed high literacy owing to their system of learning while females in other Greek states can only be termed as totally illiterate. The slaves on the other hand never received any type of education whatsoever. ³

Education among the Spartan women incorporated engagement in various sporting activities. These included running and wrestling among other events which were meant to build strong females who would, in turn, bear strong offspring for defending the state. During the learning of the athletic activities, Spartan women would run outside while naked and did this as the men stared on. On the other hand, other Greek states would not allow women to participate in any sporting activity and believed these were only reserved for men only. In addition, Other Greek women would not be allowed at all to appear in public places since their form of education emphasized morality and would not even allow boys and girls to freely mix leave alone being seen naked. Education offered the essential skills required in Sparta city-state to run the society and own and guard the property when the males were away in war and barracks. Other Greek states only allowed their women to receive domestic education and would not allow them to take up leadership nor inherit or take care of the property. As a result of the time spent away in training, Spartan women took time to get married, and even after leaving training at the age of 18 years, they were supposed to wait until it was proven that they were strong enough to give birth to strong babies. As a result the Spartan women unlike other Greek females who got married at very young ages, Spartan women took a relatively long time to get married. In both Spartans and other Greek societies, music and dance formed an important part of the education process. Music and dance have used both cases to either preserve culture and teach the various traditional aspects and religious customs. Whereas the physical training amongst the Spartan women was aimed at making the women stronger for procreation in a quest to produce very strong and energetic boys who would later join the army, the Amazon’s too subjected the women to physical training too but their reason differed in that they aimed at building the skills of the women to be included in the female warriors’ movement. Both the women in Sparta and women in other Greek states received training that was targeted at improving domestic skills. They were taken through a process of training involving weaving and spinning. They were also taught the basic household chores like cooking and being better wives. In addition, both the Spartan women and other Greek women were trained in dancing and music, skills which were meant to preserve their culture as well as remind them of the heroes in their communities.

The education offered to the women in Sparta and the men had similarities and also compared differences in some aspects. In the Sparta community, the girls were said to be offered almost the same type of training subjected to the boys. As such, at the age of 7 when the Spartan boys were supposed to be joining the training schools, the girls accompanied them to the public schools to receive training too. Education among the Sparta men was aimed at preparing them for joining the military for fighting and defending Sparta. Women as well were subjected to the hard type of training meant to make them prepared for defending the plight of the Spartan people in case of attack when the men were away in the public. The men, as well as the females in Sparta, engaged in sporting activities. These included mainly footraces and other field athletics activities. These were engaged while naked amongst both the females and the males with women supposed to race in front of the men while exposing their nudity. While it is not exactly known the level of brutality applied to the women as compared to the men, the activities engaged in were similar.

The men were however further given training on the various combat tactics meant to prepare them for the military role which they were meant to take up. The women were on the other hand not exposed to such since their main reason for engaging in the physical forms of training was to make them strong women who would bear healthy and strong sons who were meant to join the army that defended the Sparta city-state. As the education amongst the men in Sparta also aimed at preparing them for leadership of the society, the rules that governed the Spartans had allowed the women to take the leadership positions, and hence the education they receive in the confined temples also prepared them to take leadership in the society as well take care of the property since the men were at most of the times out in the military camps or the war. Both the women and men received instructions on the art of dancing and music. His was meant to preserve the culture.

In addition to the similarities in the education offered in Sparta among the males and the females, there also ex⁵listed disparities. The girls just like the boys started their formal training at the age of 7 years. The men were supposed to stay in solitary as they trained the various military combative skills up to the time they hit the age of 31 years of age. Women on the other hand stayed in public school up to the time they attained the age of 18 years. After which upon qualifying in the various tests, a woman would be shown a man who would marry her. As part of their training, the boys in Sparta would march barefooted in a bid to harden them. In addition, the boys were encouraged to engage in the act of stealing food but were also instructed to take heed not to be discovered as those who were caught received a thorough punishment in terms of a beating. This was supposed to help them acquire survival skills. Whereas among the women of Sparta illiteracy was one of the reasons for engaging in formal education which incorporated reading and writing, this was not the case for the case of the males who were solely receiving training to become military people and hence training involving reading and writing skills was regarded as unnecessary. ⁴

Education among Spartan women evolved through the ages. In the 7^th century B.C, Lycurgus, a respected was lawmaker, restructured the set of laws. The changes were in such a way that the women were given space for freedom which included access to education that was almost at the same level as the men. This continued over the ages with the women receiving formal education as well as gymnastics and athletics. The women in the Spartan empire continued to take leadership roles backed by the training they had acquired. It was argued that Sparta women were the rulers of their community and that they enjoyed far too much freedom. This system of education to the women continued up until the 4^th century B.C when the empire disintegrated. Other Greek city-states were quick to lay a pointing finger on the fall of Sparta to the fact that they had over-empowered their women especially by educating them. ⁵⁶

In conclusion, Spartans were seen as a unique city-state owing to the revised rules which brought about a change in policies including the empowerment of the women through subjecting them to formalized and athletic education. Their changed rules gave weight to having a militaristic focus and hence everything they did including the education on the women was eventually connected to achieving this. Following they’re with and they’re being outspoken, Spartan women presented themselves as influential figures in their culture taking charge of the community leadership when the men were away in the barracks. They, therefore, were able to enjoy many favors including ownership of property, a phenomenon viewed by other Greek city-states as according the women the power to rule the men. As a result, Sparta had the highest rate of literacy as compared to other city States. A combination of these factors made Sparta a strong city-state that was able to conquer other city states and win the wars.

Works Cited

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle. Charleston: BiblioBazaar. 2009.

Faunt, Maureen B. Women’s Life and Greece and Rome: A source Book in Translation. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press. 2005.

Fowler, Robin. “The Women of Sparta.” Athletic, Educated, and Outspoken Radicals of the Greek World 32, no. 3. (2006). Web.

Pomerroy Sarah B. Antient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. New York: Oxford University Press. 1998.

Yona Williams. “Spartan Education: Girls.” Ancient Civilizations 25, no. 4. (2006): 4-8.

Footnotes

1. Maureen B. Fant. Women’s Life and Greece and Rome: A Source Book in Translation. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press. 2005, 128
2. Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle. Charleston: BiblioBazaar. 2009.
3. Robin Fowler. “The Women of Sparta.” Athletic, Educated, and Outspoken Radicals of the Greek World 32, no. 3. (2006). Web.
4. Sarah B Pomeroy. Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. New York: Oxford University Press. 1998.
5. Yona Williams. “Spartan Education: Girls.” Ancient Civilizations 25, no. 4. (2006): 4-8.