Spartan Women: Political and Social Equality

 Plutarch, "The Sayings of Spartan Women" - What values can we identify?

• Gorgo: Once when her father told her to give some grain to a man by way of payment, and added "It is because he showed me how to make the wine taste good" she said "Then father, there will be more wine drunk, and the drinkers will become more intemperate and depraved"
• Gorgo: Being asked by a woman from Attica, "Why is it that you Sparten women that lord it over your men" she said "Because we are the only women that are mothers of men"
• Gorgo: As she was encouraging her husband Leonidas, when he was about to set out for Thermopylae, to show himself worthy of Sparta, she asked what she should do and he said "Marry a good man and have good children"
• Gurtias: When Acrotatus, her grandson, in a fight with other boys received many blows, and was brought home for dead, and the family and friends were all wailing said "Will you stop your noise? He has shown from what blood he was sprung"
• One woman sent forth her sons, five in number, to war, and, standing in the outskirts of the city, she awaited anxiously the outcome of the battle. And when someone arrived and, in answer to her enquiry, reported that all her sons had met death, she said "I did not inquire about that, you vile harlot, but how fares our country?" And when he declared that it was victorious, "Then" she said "I accept gladly also the death of my sons"

Helen of Sparta/Troy

• The daughter of Zeus and Leda
• Wife of King Menelaus of Sparta
• Sister of Castor, Plydeuces and Clytemnestra
• Her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War. Helen was described by Christopher Marlowe as having "the face that launched a thousand ships"

Gorgo, Queen of Sparta

• Wife of Leonidas and heiress to the throne
• Very powerful within the government
• Herodotus records, famously assisted both her father, Cleomenes, in resisting a bribe and later was responsible fot Sparta decoding the warning the Persian forces were about to invade Greece when, after Spartan generals could not decode a wooden tablet covered in wax, she ordered them to clear the wax, revealing the warning
• When asked by a woman from Attica why Spartan women were the only women in the world who could rule men, she famously stated that it was because only Spartan women give birth to real men

Overview

• The Spartan military ethos had implications for females as well as males
• Spartan females were the only ones in Greece with a prescribed upbringing and educated by the state
• Spartan women enjoyed a status, power and respect that was unknown in the rest of the classical world

Position in Society

• They exercised outside, were well nourished and drank wine as part of their daily diet. Childbearing was their only social obligation
• They controlled their own properties, as well as the properties of male relatives who were away with the army
• It is estimated that women were the sole owners of at least 35% of all land and property in Sparta

Social Position

• The laws regarding a divorce were the same for both men and women
• Epikleros:
• Unlike women in Athens, if a Spartan woman became the heiress of her father because she had no living brothers to inherit, she was not required to divorce her current spouse in order to marry her nearest paternal relative
• Spartan women received as much education as men, as well as a substantial amount of physical education and gymnastic training

Education

• Organized according to age classes:
• Young girls
• Maidens who had reached puberty
• Married women
• Hairstyles announced their passage through life:
• As a maiden she wore her hair long and loose
• As a bride her hair was cropped
• As a married woman her hair was covered

Appearance

• Spartan women rarely married before the age of 20
• Unlike Athenian women who wore heavy, concealing clothes and were rarely seen outside the house, Spartan women wore short dresses and went where they pleased
• It was possible for them to appear entirely nude even publicly, which they did customarily only at festivals, as did the men

Alkman, "Maiden Songs"

• The conspicuous nature of Spartan women made them an object of fascination and beauty in the ancient world
• This is best represented by the Spartan poet Alkman who wrote in the 7th century (600s) BC
• Fragments of his work survive as papyri from Alexandria, and many contain descriptions of Spartan women during choral and athletic competitions,where Alkman espouses their beauty and charm.

Activity

Read Alkman's "Maiden Songs" A14 and A16

• What descriptions/images of Spartan women does Alkman offer us here? What qualities about them is he trying to emphasise?
• "I see her like the sun" - suggests that women are always there for Sparta and shining a light on them
• "She herself seems supreme, a strong prize-winner" - they are the prize of Sparta, proud to present themselves
• "I do not rate Lykaithos among the dead nor Enarsphoros and fast-footed Sebros and the violent, and helmeted" - saying they don't like the fighting women, or women who hace died without anything to show
• "Our renowned chorus leader in no way allows me to praise or find fault with her; for she herself seems to be supreme, as if one were to put a horse among cattle" - "horse among cattle" seems like a pretty accurate description of how Sparta viewed itself against other states, and how Spartan women viewed themselves against other Greek women
• The next part of the song also compares Spartan women to racehorses, for example, "a Scythian horse against an Iberian", so it conjures images of Sparta's women as fast, athletic, and strong like the horses described. One is also said to have a golden mane, maybe to do with the beauty that the sources all attribute to Spartan women
• "And she is admittedly not more musical than the sirens, for they are goddesses, but this ten of ours sings as well as eleven girls and gives voice like a swan on the streams of Xanthos, she and her lovely golden hair" - Again with the emphasis on appearance and hair. This also shows the importance Spartans placed on song
• "And she gazes more meltingly than sleep or death. And she is sweet quite deliberately" - this suggests that women knew of their power and sway over men and used it with intent
• "I see her like the sun, which Agido summons to shine on us; But our renowned chorus leader in no way allows me either to praise, Or to find fault with her; for she herself seems to be supreme, just as if One were to put a horse among cattle, A strong prize winner with thundering hooves That one dreams about from the shade of a cave"
• This verse is an emphasis on their natural beauty and their skills to stand out like the sun, where everything lights up when they are around, the comparison to horses is a compliment to how valued they are, within the whole of Greece, especially since horse racing and sports to do with horses are very much wanted. This comparison is also highlighting their strength and power within their society, 'The thundering hooves'. The cattle could be a link to the males or women from other societies
• "And I shall go to the meeting place, where I shall rapidly loosen my yellow hair" - Alkman is really drawing attention to the women's hair, especially blonde hair. Seems he's kind of enforcing a beauty standard, emphasising Spartan women's appearances. Women in Sparta were encouraged to grow their hair out long
• "For an abundance of purple is not enough to give protection, nor an intricate snake of solid gold..." This continues with a bunch of other things that don't give protection, ending with "for fulfillment and completion belong to gods" - They're swearing off luxury and comfort, instead relying on the piety that we've seen Spaerans so often exhibit with sacrifices on campaign and such
• "If somehow she might love me...I would immediately do whatever she wanted" - very clear that Spartan women weren't subservient

Sexual Equality

• Women were able to negotiate with their husbands to bring their lovers into their homes
• According to Plutarch in his Life of Lycurgus:
• Men both allowed and encouraged their wives to bear the children of other men
• However, some historians argue that this 'wife sharing' was only reserced for elder males who had not yet produced an heir

Negative Sources Views

• Aristotle
• Considering some 400 years of Spartan history complained that Spartan women enjoyed altogether too much freedom, power and prestige
• He believed that the Lycurgan system was flawed from the start because only men conformed to it whilst women escaped its regulations
• Convinced that Spartan women indulged in 'every kind of luxury and intemperance' - promoting greed and an attendant degeneration of the Spartan ideal of equality among male citizens

Sourcework: Spartan Women

• What roles and responsibilities did Spartan women have? For each, what would be the importance of these to the Spartan state?
• Plutarch, Lycurgus, 14-15
• "First he toughened the girls physically by making them run and wrestle and throw the discus and javelin. Thereby their children in embryo would make a strong start in strong bodies and would develop better, while the women themselves would also bear their pregnancies with vigour and would meet the challenge of childbirth in a successful, relaxed way"
• This meant that a woman's role was primarily that of bearing children since her responsibilities were of that to be physically fit, which would, in turn, create strong children. This was important because Sparta’s population grew never slowly since many of the men were often killed in their prime at war, leaving the state in a constant struggle to maintain an average population. Women had to have children as fast as the men died at war to replace them, and by being as strong as they could be meant that their babies were given the best chance of survival. 
• "Aristotle claims wrongly that he tried to discipline the women but gave up when he could not control the considerable degree of license and power attained by women because of their husbands' frequent campaigning"
• When the men were away, women were left "in full control". Their primary responsibility was still childbearing; Lycurgus strengthened them through physical exercise specifically so that they could endure childbirth and have strong babies
• “He did away with prudery, sheltered upbringing and effeminacy of any kind.” They had “equal participation in both excellence and ambition”, resulting in women speaking “in the way Leonidas’ wife Gorgo had done” when she remarked that Spartan women were “the only ones who give birth to men.”  
• To avoid jealousy, children were seen as collective, and an older man could allow his wife to have a child with a younger, well-bred Spartan and adopt the child as his own. Or a noble Spartan could have children with someone else’s wife who was known for having good children. (I am NOT directly quoting that section.)
• Because childbearing was so important, Lycurgus wanted the best Spartans to get together to produce the best kids. So there was no concept of adultery or jealousy; if a Spartan man had eyes on a woman, whether they were each married to others would be irrelevant. Plutarch relates the confusion one foreigner had when hearing that Sparta had no punishment for adultery. 
• Beyond Plutarch’s…uh…detailed description, the Spartans essentially practiced selective breeding through polyamory. 
• There was a responsibility of 'Nazi not nurture' in a way, with the girls and woman 'making fun of each of the young men' this was done to help them fix their 'mistakes', other times they would create songs of the boys 'in praises' and these would then ‘fill the boys with a sense of achievement’. Whilst it doesn't seem like much of a responsibility these acts helped motivate and push the men to greatness and can help in their standing especially as 'the kings and the elders attended the spectacle'. In the long run this could help the men become full Spartans and get into the mess halls.
• The woman would be in charge (Obviously) of 'pregnancies', this responsibility was important due to where they were in charge of producing the next men or woman of Sparta, pushing their state to be stronger and carry on. This is shown with how he had the woman prepare for their responsibility making sure none were slacking or weak. With the process, being training them 'run...wrestle'. 
• “He made young girls no less than young men grow used to walking nude in processions, as well as to dancing and singing at certain festivals with the young men present looking on”.  
• “There were inducements to marry” –allowing families to unite and make more Spartan babies
• Xenophon, 1
• “Elsewhere in Greece, girls who are to become mothers, are brought up in the approved fashion, are reared on the simplest possible diet, and with a minimum of luxury foods; they either drink no wine at all, or only drink it diluted. Girls are expected to imitate the usually sedentary life of craftsmen, and to work their wool sitting quietly.”
• The complete opposite is true in Sparta: “Lycurgus felt that slave girls were perfectly capable of producing garments, and that the most important job of free women was to bear children; he decreed that women should take as much trouble over physical fitness as men.”   
• Aristotle, "Spartan Women"
• In the days of Spartan supremacy, “much was managed by women” – likely referring to them managing their husband’s households whilst they were away on campaign, as well as their own property by the late fifth-century BC.
• What can we learn from the sources about the relationship between men and women in Sparta?
• Plutarch
• “His bride at the same time devised schemes and helped to plan how they might meet each other unobserved at suitable moments.”  
• This shows that while in childhood there was rivalry between the girls and boys, in adulthood there was unity between the two despite each spending so little time with each other. By them spending so little time together leads to the assumption that they would not have as strong a relationship as a man among those of his mess hall. And yet there is an immediate sense of loyalty between a wife and husband within Sparta holding that there was very little doubt or rejection between the two. Altogether their relationships were of an understanding nature with little complication as to what the relationships were meant to be. 
• Girls had to train naked just like boys, and sometimes danced and sang with the boys watching. Nudity was not seen as embarrassing; rather, it made them focus on physical fitness and frugality.  
• They would also “helpfully criticise the boys’ mistakes”, or compose songs to compliment some of the boys, filling them with a “great sense of ambition and rivalry.” “The jibes of their playful humour was no less cutting than warnings of a serious type, especially as the kings and elders attended the spectacle along with the rest of the citizens.”  
• Frequent nudity and performances were also meant by Lycurgus to make the boys attracted to the girls as an “inducement to marry”, putting “a certain civil disability” on those who did not by excluding them from the Gymnopaediae and making them dance naked around the agora in winter.  
• When Spartans married, the bride would have her head shaved, dress as a man, and be kidnapped by the groom during the night, after which he would return to his usual sleeping quarters. This would continue for a long time – “some had children before they saw their wives in daylight” – and was intended by Lycurgus to keep them in their prime, modest, and keen to see each other. 
• This wouldn’t just happen once, whilst there was the practice of polygamy and homosexuality, the male would 'warily visit his bride in secret', where the woman also 'devised schemes and helped to plan how they might meet'
• “Lycurgus placed a certain civil disability on men who did not marry, for they were excluded from the spectacle of the Gymnopaediae. In winter the magistrates would order them to parade naked in a circle around the agora, and as they paraded they sang a special song composed about themselves, which said that their punishment was fair because they were flouting the laws. In addition they were deprived of the respect and deference which young men habitually showed their elders.” – men were expected to marry and faced discrimination if they didn’t.
• “After spending only a short time with her, he would depart discreetly so as to sleep wherever he usually did along with the other young men. And this continued to be the practice thereafter: while spending days with his contemporaries, and going to sleep with them, he would warily visit his bride in secret, ashamed and apprehensive in case someone in the house might notice him. His bride at the same time devised schemes and helped to plan how they might meet each other unobserved at suitable moments.” – made it unseemly to visit their partner
• "While excluding from marriage any kind of outrageous and disorderly behaviour, he made it honourable for worthy men to share children and their production, and derided people who hold that there can be no combination or sharing of such things, and who avenge any by assassinations and wars.” – approve adultery.
• “The custom was to capture women for marriage- not when they were slight or immature, but when they were in their prime and ripe for it.”   
• Xenophon
• "for he made it disgraceful for a man to be seen entering or leaving his wife’s apartment. Thus their desire would inevitably be heightened when they did meet, and any offspring which might result would therefore be stronger than if the parents were surfeited with each other.” – made it unseemly to meet their partner in hopes of increasing lust for strong children
• “he did not allow men to take wives as and when they wished, but decreed that marriage should take place at the period of physical prime, thinking that this also was likely to produce fine children.”
• Why, according to Aristotle, was the role of women in Sparta fundamentally flawed?
• “Spartan women live intemperately, enjoying every license and indulging in every luxury.” Aristotle here believes that a state should be divided into women and men, and any state that does not subjugate women is “not properly legislated for.” So, despite Spartan women living so frugally, the very fact that they were somewhat more equal to men than other societies triggers Aristotle.
• “What is the difference between women ruling and rulers ruled by women? The result is the same.” They are harmful to all aspects of life. 
• “It is said that Lycurgus endeavored to bring them under the control of his laws, but when they resisted he gave up the attempt.” Plutarch tells us that Aristotle is wrong here. 
• Also, Aristotle keeps saying that women's authority was a problem, but he doesn't really explain why. The only example he gives is that, when Laconia was invaded by the Thebans, "they caused more confusion than the enemy", without explaining how. It's as if it's meant to be obvious to us why women having power would be a problem, which in itself might show how unique Sparta was; if women being oppressed was so normal as to be obvious, and any semblance of freedom triggered Aristotle this much, then clearly they had a great deal of power compared to other societies
• “The lack of control over Spartan women is detrimental both to the attainment of the aims of the constitution and to the happiness of the state.”  
• “In all constitutions in which the position of women is ill-regulated. An inevitable result under such a constitution is that esteem is given to wealth, particularly in cases when the men are dominated by the women” – referring to women holding 2/5^th of all property in Sparta, he believed women should never be above men.
• “Boldness is not a quality useful in any of the affairs of daily life, but only, if at all, in war. Yet even here the influence of the Spartans’ women has been very harmful. This was demonstrated when Laconia was invaded by the Thebans: instead of playing a useful part, like women in other states, they caused more confusion than the enemy.”