| The men of ancient Greece are well known, from | | | | Instead, the mother of their husband ruled the |
| Hercules to Alexander the Great. Greek women are | | | | household, a frightening thought for most modern |
| rarely mentioned and one has to wonder why? | | | | women. In this role, the wife was often given little |
| Greek Civilization - What About The Women? | | | | education and had no real status other than being the |
| Ancient Greece was very much a patriarchal society. | | | | property of her husband with all that implies. In |
| Sports were reserved for men. Literature, politics, | | | | general, women were viewed as inferior beings with |
| philosophy and so on were as well. At least, this is | | | | their primary use being childbirth. As you can see, not |
| what men wrote in the various publications we have | | | | all of ancient Greece was particularly enlightened. |
| from that time. | | | | The one exception to this rule was Sparta. Sparta |
| In truth, the position of women in ancient Greece | | | | had an entirely different view of gender. Essentially, it |
| was one best defined by the word separation. | | | | ignored it. Women were on par with men. They were |
| Women and men lived with very defined boundaries, | | | | educated, could own land, have multiple husbands and |
| boundaries controlled by the men. The home was the | | | | participate in public life just as a man could. Alas, one |
| primary boundary. Greek women were married off at | | | | has to imagine the women of Athens and Sparta |
| a young age to men much older than them. They | | | | must have looked at each other in shock given the |
| were then moved into the household of their new | | | | different paths their lives took. |
| husband. | | | | For all its amazing achievements, gender equality in |
| This new household was not their personal kingdom. | | | | ancient Greece was not one of them. |