Strayer Chapter 6Eurasian Social Hierarchies

500 b.c.e. – 500 c.e.

How did the patriarchies of Athens and Sparta differ from each other?

How did the patriarchies of Athens and Sparta differ from each other?

Athens placed increasing limitations on women    

Excluded from public life.      

Represented by a guardian in legal matters, were not even referred to by name in court proceedings.      

Restricted to the home, where they lived separately from men.     

Customarily a mid-teen would marry a man 10-15 years her senior.      

Land passed through male heirs.    

Spartan women had more freedom.     

Reproduction—specifically, the bearing of strong healthy sons. 

Encouraged to strengthen their bodies, and they even participated in public sporting events.     

Not secluded or segregated like their Athenian counterparts.     

Married men about their own age, putting the new couple on a more equal basis.     

Men were often engaged in or preparing for war, so women in Sparta had more authority in the household.     

But, lacked any formal public role.

How did the patriarchies of Athens and Sparta differ from each other?

“Return with your shield,

or on it.”