Similarities Between Ancient Greek Women And Athenian Women

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Women in Ancient Greece had many roles to fulfill in Athens and in Sparta. They had rights, tasks, and obligations in the eyes of ancient Greece that they had to complete. Athenian women and Spartan women had different freedoms, though their roles were very similar. Life was sometimes hard, though they were admired by the men in their societies. “…most women of the period were generally limited in education, mobility, and in all things thought to interfere with domestic or childbearing responsibilities.” In western Civilization, women were the key to civil societies because of the idea of familism. Familism is the idea of getting married, have children, and having a family. In the house the women had many roles. The most essential task for a female was spinning and weaving, no matter what age or what place they lived in. The Spartan and Athenian women had to spin and weave to make the bedding. They had to also create their own floor coverings, cushions, and clothing that everyone needed in the household. Some households were wealthy enough to have a skilled slave. This mean that they would receive goods and …show more content…
The Athenian females had little freedom and had many roles in the household to complete every day. “Unlike boys, girls met few people from outside their family, and were usually not allowed out alone.” In the book Women in Ancient Greece, the author explains how Athenian female babies were at a higher risk of being abandoned at birth than male babies. This happened because girls could produce very little for their family financially; young men were able to work, run the family business, and pass on the family name. Women in Athens could not participate in sports like the males were encouraged to do. They could leave the house rarely to visit friends. They could go to festivals and religious public events, though they could not participate in those