In Athens and Sparta, homosexuality was practiced to various degrees, and its status was somewhat “complicated,” according to Plato's Pausanias. In
Historian Thomas F. Scanlon argues Sparta, during its Dorian polis time, was the first city to practice athletic nudity, and one of the first to formalize pederasty.
Sparta stands out as an important city-state in Ancient Greece because of the way it treated its women; Spartan women enjoyed more freedoms and held greater control over their own lives. However, this came at the price of harsher marital and familial duties, which both society and the state expected of them.
What Spartans soldiers do for fun in war camps? Boys would compete in athletic events such as running and wrestling, as well as choral dance performances. Notably, paides were expected to steal food for themselves and for their eirēn, and were probably underfed as a means of encouraging this.
Spartan hoplites were well-trained and the fiercest of the Greek soldiers. Their constant training made them dexterous in the formation of a phalanx. The highlight of the phalanx formation was that the success in the battle was a team effort and no one man could take credit for the victory.
Children were considered to belong entirely to the State and country and not to the families, nor were they considered independent individuals. Plutarch (Lycurgus, 24.1) records: “The training of the Spartans lasted into the years of full maturity.
It is likely that girls were simply given into the care of their mothers immediately after birth, though there is not enough evidence to say whether this was the case throughout Spartan history. Female Spartan babies were as well fed as their male counterparts – in contrast to Athens, where boys were better fed than ...
Xenophon also reveals that if an older man had a young, fertile wife, he could 'introduce' her to a young man whose physical and moral qualities he admired for the purpose of begetting children. Polybius (c. 200‒118 bce) even claims that it was 'common custom' for three or four Spartiates to share one wife.
Spartan society didn't discourage romantic love, but marriage and childrearing were both subject to some peculiar cultural and governmental constraints. The state counseled that men should marry at age 30 and women at 20.
Homosexuality within the Roman world is a much debated topic. Over the years scholars have come to varying conclusions; some suggest same-sex relations were freely practiced in the Roman world, others argue they were both legally and socially condemned.
The “well-built and sturdy” children were allowed to live, while those who were deemed unhealthy or deformed were left at the foot of a mountain to die. At age seven, Spartan boys were turned over by their parents to the state, where they were organized into companies that lived, studied and trained together.
At age 30, they became full citizens of Sparta, provided they had served honorably. They were required to continue serving the military, however, until age 60.
This seems to have been rare in practice, and adulterers were more commonly prosecuted, ransomed for money, or physically abused. The physical abuse and humiliation of adulterers is depicted in several surviving ancient Greek comedies.
Most young Greek women would be married at about the age of fourteen to a man roughly twice their age. Prior to the marriage ceremony the couple would probably have met only a few times, and while the bride would normally be a virgin, the husband almost certainly was not.
Spartan boys would enter this stage at age 7 and remain until they were 14. Training within the Paides mostly focused on cultivating basic skills, such as reading, writing, and music, as well as constructing their own beds. Trainees would also take part in exercises that would promote military prowess.
In preparation for marriage, Spartan women had their heads shaved; they kept their hair short after they wed. Married couples typically lived apart, as men under 30 were required to continue residing in communal barracks. In order to see their wives during this time, husbands had to sneak away at night.
The Spartan reputation may be that of world-class warriors. But while the city's men were clocking up fights on the front line, women were making history on the race course. In fact, the first woman ever to win at the predominantly all-male ancient Olympic Games was the Spartan princess, Cynisca.
Arranged marriage
Marriage was usually arranged between the parents of the bride and the groom. A man would choose his wife based on three things: the dowry, which was given by the father of the bride to the groom; her presumed fertility; and her skills, such as weaving.
At age 18, if a Spartan girl passed her skills and fitness test, she would be assigned a husband and allowed to return home. If she failed, she would lose her rights as a citizen, and became a perioikos, a member of the middle class.
“Fit and strong” babies survived, but those found to be “lowborn or deformed” were left outside to die, Plutarch wrote, “on the grounds that it is neither better for themselves nor for the city to live [their] natural life poorly equipped.”
“Offspring was not reared at the will of the father, but was taken and carried by him to a place called Lesche, where the elders of the tribes officially examined the infant, and if it was well-built and sturdy, they ordered the father to rear it, and assigned it one of the nine thousand lots of land; but if it was ill ...
If caught stealing, the boys were beaten. Additionally, boys were often beaten by older children who started fights to help make the younger boys strong. Children were commonly whipped in front of groups of other Spartans, but were not allowed to cry out in pain.
Strong, healthy boys were raised by their mothers until age seven. Discipline was strict. Boys were definitely not allowed to be “boys.” They could not complain about food, throw tantrums, or be afraid of the dark. Spartan boys needed to be physically and mentally brave.
Growing up in Sparta
The children who were allowed to live were brought up under a severe discipline. At the age of 7, boys were removed from their parents' control and organized into small bands. The strongest and most courageous youths were made captains. The boys slept in dormitories on hard beds of rushes.
Hestia is the Greek virgin goddess of the hearth. She never takes part in the struggle between men and gods. Virginity and virgin were once terms of power, strength and independence, used to describe the goddesses who were immune to the temptations of Dionysus, Greek god of seduction and wine.