The Role of Spartan Women, Term Paper Example

Emphasis Put on Training Spartan Military and the Role of Spartan Women

Sparta was society of warriors in the ancient Greece that defeated the city-state Athens in the war of Peloponnessia, which took place between 431 and 404 B.C. The culture of Spartans was centered on military service and being loyal to the state. At the age of 7 years, Spartan boys went to a thorough state-sponsored military training, education and socialization program. The system was known as the Agoge. It emphasized on endurance, discipline and duty. Even though Spartan women were inactive in the military, they went through an education and they enjoyed more freedom and status compared to other Greek women (Cook 52). The Spartans put a lot of emphasis on military training of the men and on educating women.

Military training of the men was emphasized in Sparta. All male Spartan citizens who were healthy took part in mandatory state-sponsored system of education, the Agoge, which emphasized self-control, courage, endurance and obedience. Spartan men dedicated their lives to the service of the military, and lived well into adulthood. The Spartans were taught that being loyal to the state was more important that everything, including a person’s family (Cartledge 67).

Unlike the Greek city-states like Athens, which was centered on philosophy, learning and arts, Sparta’s focus was on warrior culture. The male citizens of Sparta were only allowed to be in one occupation: soldier. Indoctrination into this way of life started early. Spartan boys began their military training as soon as they turned 7 years, when they left their homes for the Agoge. They lived communally under strict conditions. They went through repeated physical competitions, which were sometimes violent, they were given insufficient food and expected to develop a skill of stealing food, among many pother survival skills (Lazenby 45).

The teenage boys demonstrating the most potential ability for headship were selected to involve themselves in the Crypteia. The Crypteia played the role of a secret police force that had a primary goal of terrorizing the general population of Helots and murdering those who were perceived to be troublemakers. At the age of 20 years, male Spartans turned into full-time soldiers, and remained active in the military until the age of 60 years (Cartledge 98).

The constant military discipline and drilling of Spartans made them more skilled at the ancient Greek way of fighting known as the phalanx formation. In the phalanx formation, the soldiers operated as one unit in a deep, close formation, and made mass maneuvers, which were coordinated. No soldier was considered as being superior to another. Going into battle, the Spartan soldiers put on a huge bronze helmet, ankle guard and breastplate, and carried a circular shield made of wood and bronze, a sword and a long spear. Spartan soldiers also had red cloaks and long hair (Lazenby 75).

Spartan women were known to be independent-minded, and they enjoyed more power and freedoms compared to their counterparts in the ancient Greece. While they did not play any role in the military, female Spartans received a formal education, which was separate from that of boys and they were not put in boarding schools. In order to attract mates, the women took part in athletics competitions, like wrestling and javelin-throwing, and they danced and sang competitively (Pomeroy 105). As adults, the women of Sparta were allowed to manage and own property. Additionally, they were not burdened by domestic responsibilities like making clothing, cleaning and cooking because all these were handled by slaves or helots.

The role of the women was to get married and give birth to male children who would grow up to become warriors, and replace the warriors that died in battle. The men who delayed to marry were ashamed in public, while the men that fathered multiple sons were rewarded. Couples who were married typically lived apart, because males who were below thirty years of age were expected to continue staying in communal barracks (Millender 123).

Works Cited

Cartledge, Paul. Spartan Reflections. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. Print.

Cook, Bernard A. Women and War: A Historical Encyclopedia from Antiquity to the Present. Santa Barbara, Calif. [u.a.: ABC-Clio, n.d.. Print.

Lazenby, J F. The Spartan Army. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2012. Print.

Millender, Ellen. Unveiling Spartan Women. Swansea: Classical Press of Wales, 2010. Print.

Pomeroy, Sarah B. Spartan Women. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Internet resource.