Spartan WomenThis is the first book-length examination of Spartan women, covering over a thousand years in the history of women from both the elite and lower classes. Classicist Sarah B. Pomeroy comprehensively analyzes ancient texts and archaeological evidence to construct the world of these elusive though much noticed females. Sparta has always posed a challenge to ancient historians because information about the society is relatively scarce. Most existing scholarship on Sparta concerns the military history of the city and its heavily male-dominated social structure--almost as if there were no women in Sparta. Yet perhaps the most famous of mythic Greek women, Menelaus' wife Helen, the cause of the Trojan War, was herself a Spartan. Written by one of the leading authorities on women in antiquity, Spartan Women reconstructs the lives and the world of Sparta's women, including how their status changed over time and how they held on to their surprising autonomy. Proceeding through the archaic, classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods, Spartan Women includes discussions of education, family life, reproduction, religion, and athletics. |
Contents
EDUCATION | 3 |
BECOMING A WIFE | 33 |
THE CREATION OF MOTHERS | 51 |
ELITE WOMEN | 73 |
THE LOWER CLASSES | 95 |
WOMEN AND RELIGION | 105 |
GENDER AND ETHNICITY | 131 |
SOURCES FOR THE HISTORY OF SPARTAN WOMEN | 139 |
171 | |
185 | |
Other editions - View all
Spartan Women Sarah B. Pomeroy,Dintinguished Professor of Classics Sarah B Pomeroy Limited preview - 2002 |
Common terms and phrases
ABSA Agis Agis IV Alcman American Philological Association Aphrodite archaeological archaic and classical Aristotle Artemis Orthia Athenian women Athens athletic boys bronze Cartledge century B.C.E. chap Chilonis Classical Sparta Cleom Cleomenes Cleomenes III Cult Images Cynisca daughter Dawkins depicting dowries Eileithyia Ephors Epitadeus evidence father female festival FGrH fourth century further Pomeroy further Sarah goddess Greece Greek women Greek world heiress Helen Hellenistic period helots Herod Herodotus Hodkinson honor husband Hyacinthia inscriptions king kleros Laconia London Lycurgus male marriage married Menelaion Messenia mother motherhood Nabis nude nudity Oeconomicus oikos Olympia Oxford Partheneion Paus Pausanias Peloponnesian Peloponnesian War Plut Plutarch Plutarch Lyc polis Poralla² priestess probably racing reports Roman period Roman Sparta sanctuary Sayings of Spartan slaves social sources Spartan girls Spartan women Spartiates Spawforth status tion vase W. G. Cavanagh Wealth in Classical wife wives woman Xenophon