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Women were educated at home except for music and dance lessons. Often they were educated by their husbands, brothers, or fathers and some greek women were very well educated. Hetaera had special schools where they learned entertaining, conversation, and rhetoric. Slaves were not educated. If they were educated before they became slaves, they could work for their freedom. Some of the women of every age participated in the activities of the temples. There they were taught by the older women dances, prayers, and others rituals.
Hetaera with a lyre
Boys were educated in schools; girls were more often educated at home. Boys learned grammar, rhetoric, dialectic - these were meant to help students communicate effectively, and included a study of literature and language - arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy. Girls were taught weaving and other household chores, dancing, music, and physical education. As with the boys, girls were organized into age groups. These groups often involved choruses at a local temple or cult site. The chorus was led by a superior peer plus a female adult. In the choruses song and dance was taught. These were the items to be performed at various religios festivals. Because the songs involved the poetry of legend and myth they had the opportunity to learn the myth and history of their ancestors. Girls could also be involved in temple service which coul last for a number of months. (Prent, Cretan Sanctuaries and cults, p487) Girls intended to be hetaerae were educated in schools where they also learned grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic. In fact Greek women seem to have been the best educated women of any culture up until fairly recently into the 19th century.
Culture involves skills that are passed on by education and training and are devloped by discipline and practice. Women have always been involved with their own culture related to the family and child rearing. But they have always been involved in early childhood education as well. In many societies they are involved in later aspects of education as well. In ancient Greece the separation of women emphasized a separate women's culture with special religious holidays and festivals.
Women told stories around the fire after the evening meal
Music was one of the main subjects for the education of women. Some women became important in the area of entertainment. Ancient Greece laid the theoretical foundation for contemporary polyphonic music so it is probable that the women of Greece had their effect.
Aritotle, in his Politics, makes a number of interesting comments about education. Book VII Chapter 3: " The customary branches of education are in number four; they are -- (1) reading and writing, (2) gymnastic exercises, (3) music, to which is sometimes added (4) drawing. 1338a12: And therefore our fathers admitted music into education, not on the ground either of its necessity or utility, for it is not necessary, nor indeed useful in the same manner as reading and writing, which are useful in money-making, in the management of a household, in the acquisition of knowledge and in political life, nor like drawing, useful for a more correct judgment of the works of artists, nor again like gymnastic, which gives health and strength; for neither of these is to be gained from music."
The emphasis that he places on music in interesting because of the emphasis he places on music. He seems to rank music higher than the other area because it has no practical use in his opinion. This seems at odds with the fact that this is the emphasis for women's education, yet they are ranked lower.
Before the Trojan war women in Greece voted, but they lost their vote because men felt that they voted irresponsibly. They did not regain the vote until well into the twentieth century as a result of woman sufferage. One of the problems was that women did not receive the same education as men. Men received a formal education, while women would be educated only if they pursued it. Only hetaerae were educated about the affairs of men but they were not considered citizens. The idea was that women did not need a formal education because they did not need to compete with men. The fallacy of this is that women need to support the work of the men and if they are not educated then they cannot provide support. Also women are invariably involved with the early education of all children. If they are well educated then they can provide more adequate and accurate education in the early years. Recent research has shown that this early education is vital for establishing goals and skills that are important for later life. If women are properly educated then they serve their role as women better and they can vote responsibly.
The schools of ancient Greece were so effective and well known that they have been widely copied. This is even true of the schools today. They had their day divided by subject periods and they studied similar to those today. A teacher presented subjects according to his skill to students divided by age. A school usually included a gymnasium where physical training was done as well.
Girls were trained for marriage while boys were educated to become warriors. In the Politics Aristotle emphasizes this as follows: Education of women: Politics 1260a20 "...the temperance of a man and of a woman, or the courage and justice of a man and of a woman, are not, as Socrates maintained, the same; the courage of a man is shown in commanding, of a woman in obeying. And this holds of all other virtues, as will be more clearly seen if we look at them in detail, for those who say generally that virtue consists in a good disposition of the soul, or in doing rightly, or the like, only deceive themselves. Far better than such definitions is their mode of speaking, who, like Gorgias, enumerate the virtues. All classes must be deemed to have their special attributes; as the poet says of women, "Silence is a woman's glory,"
Sparta was one of the few places about which we possess a fair amount of information. In Sparta education of girls took place in the sanctuaries of Artemis at the margin of Spartan territory. Artemis, the goddess of maidenhood, was the main Greek goddess of girls' education. At the temples scantily clad girls started their initiation with physical exercises. They were instructed through music and dancing in choruses. Evidence from other cities such as Athens confirms that this was the custom all over Greece. Girls were considered to be like wild animals that had to be tamed. For this reason they were called "bears" in Athens. This is reflected in mythology where the names of girls such as the Leukippides and Hipponoe are found. This suggests that girls were compared to wild mares who had to be domesticated.
During their final training for motherhood, aristocratic girls in Sparta had to pass through a lesbian affair. This was similar to the island of Lesbos, where Sappho instructed groups of aristocratic girls. In this period, special stress was laid on enhancing their physical beauty, so that their marriages would be successfully consummated. Helen of Troy (Sparta) was included in the cult practice because of the importance and effect of her beauty. She was actually worshiped as a goddess in Sparta. In fact, in a number of Greek cities, a beauty contest constituted the end of girls' initiation. The protection of Artemis lasted until the birth of the first child, for motherhood, not loss of virginity, was the definitive entry into the world of adult women.
Many details of Greek girls' training can be found in the myths concerning Artemis, even though they tend, as myths so often do, to concentrate on the most dramatic part of the story: the final entry into marriage. The "taming" of a girl is expressed in a number of myths that all circle around her resistance to "domestication." The pursuit of the Proetides, the capture of Thetis by Peleus or of Persephone by Hades, the races to win Atalante, and even the capture of Helen by Paris-all these myths are concerned with the perceived resistance of girls to enter wedlock. Greek mythology tends to emphasize a man's poit of view but not without revealing some of what women had to endure.
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Question: What were the moral and ethical values of the men and women of Ancient Greece?
Answer: This is not an easy question because the Greeks were strongly moral, were aware of their morality, and argued about it a lot. Aristotle wrote a whole book about ethics and much of Plato is concerned with ethical clarification. The great damatists of Ancient Greece were concerned to present moral questions in their dramas. Many persons have spent their whole lives studying this question with the satisfaction that they received a wonderful education by studying the ancient Greek literature.
In his Nichomachean Ethics Book X:Ch.8 Aristotle says: "For if the gods have any care for human affairs, as thay are thought to have, it would be reasonable both that they should delight in that which was best and most akin to them (i.e. reason) and that they should reward those who love and honor this most, as caring for the things that are dear to them and acting both rightly and nobly. And that all these attributes belong most of all to the philosopher is manifest. He, therefore, is the dearest to the gods. And he who is that will presumably be also the hapiest; so that in this way too the philosopher will more than any other be happy." This is a very general statement. After your consideration you may wish to investigate specifics.
Question: in what respects did the lifestyle of women in the 5th century Athens differ from that of women elsewhere in Greece?
Answer: The standard of living was higher in Athens. There was better art and more opportunities for education. More import goods were available there.
Question: I have a paper to write And i was wondering if you could help me, here is the question: Did the representation of masculinity and/or femininity in Greek tragedy challenge or affirm conventional gender roles in 5th century Athens?
Answer: This is an interesting subject, but you will be better off if you investigate if they are a challenge to gender roles today. This is especially important in the light of 19th century education. Was a person like Susan B. Anthony influenced by the Greek literature that was commonly used in schools at her time?
Question: beauty
Answer: Beauty is an easy subject because it is lovable. It is also attractive. The ancient Greeks considered it also valuable. A family with a beautiful daughter could look forward to gifts from men suitors. When Helen left with Paris her family thought her beauty was so valuable that they launched an army to get her back. Some women such as Leda were so beautiful that they got the attention of Zeus and they were raped by him. This was not the destructive rape that so often occurs but one that results in the birth of a hero.
Question: what kinds of arts and crafts did greeks do?
Answer: The Ancient Greeks did not distinguish arts and crafts and referred to them all as crafts. They did many different kinds of crafts including:
Question: what educational fields could women do
Answer: The only formal education that an ordinary woman could pursue was music and dancing. If a woman was to be a hetaera there were special schools that taught other subjects including retoric. But Greek women were fortunate that there were so many educated people because they could educate themselves if they wished. Many women did that. A few women disguised themselves as men and attended the schools for men.
Question: I think men in ancient Greece are sexists!
Answer: So do a lot of other people. But how do you account for the fact that women flourished in ancient Greece as they did in no other country up until the 17th century? And they may have flourished more than anywhere at any time, but that is debatable. What we have from ancient Greece is what men thought of women, but not what women thought of men. Man and women were segregated with separate organizations and activities. The men valued reading and writing highly. Women did not and so few writings from them remain.
Question: How did Philosophers affect ancient greek society Sat, 18 Nov 2000 16:45:56 -0500 (EST)
Answer: Philosophers provided the higher education of the ancient Greek society. They also provided considerable material for discussion and entertainment at the popular symposiums.
Question: group of women who were very educated they had a certain name what was it?
Answer: Women philophers were very educated.
Question: ho weducated were the woman in ancient greece?
Answer: Some of the women were very well educated and accomplished. But they got that way by educating themselves for the most part.
Question: In the play Medea, what were the rights for women like?
Answer: At no time in Ancient Greece did women have any rights. The notion of rights was new and only male citizens of some of the Greeks states had rights.
Question: what about hypatia?
Answer: Hypatia was an Alexandrian Greek who lived during later Roman times. See: Hypatia of Alexandria
Question: what was the deference between womens education in Athens and in Sparta ?
Answer: Women in Sparta were trained in athletics.
Question: what did spartan girls learn?
Answer: From their mother they learned how to have families and do housework. In school they were trained in athletics. Some may have been trained to sing, dance, and play an instrument.
Question: communal bathing
Answer: This did occur, among women mostly. This was associated with bringing water and washing clothes.
Question: Why were Greek men taught music but not women?
Answer: Greek men were required to attend school and music was one of the subjects in their curriculum. Some Greek women attended school. In these schools often music and dance were the only subjects. The hetaerae attended special schools which included music as part of the curriculum.
Question: hi, i have to do a persuasive speech on ancient greek education and i was going to say that athenian education was better than spartan do u have any ideas that i could include to make it better?
Answer: You are in trouble. It is not at all clear that Athenian education is better than Spartan. The Athenians only showed superiority in their advanced education. The Athenian system of advanced education was the best in the world for over a thousand years. But the Spartans probably had better early education. Spartan women spent all their time on the care and education of their children. This education eventually allowed the Spartans to defeat the Athenians. But after the conquest of Greece by Alexander the advanced education of Athens allowed it to prosper. The system of Sparta collapsed. Today it is clear that both types of education are required.
Question: In reference to one of the questions below (Greek men are sexist!) and your reply, (then how did women get so far in their society?) I pose this: If Greek men weren't sexist, then how does the conflict between men and women come up in "Lysistrata?"
Answer: Surely some of the Greek men were sexist. But the women were protected from these men by being isolated. They were also protected by marriage conventions and fear of the goddesses. But the facts of Lysistrata involve a comic inversion that requires interpretation.
Question: Spartan women when they reached the age of 30?
Answer: Spartan men could live with their families after age 30 but the women were usually married by the time they were 18.
Question: In Homer's epic "The Odessey" why were women treated the way they were?
Answer: Custom, Religion, Necessity.
Question: why are you going on about this, all the acient greeks are long dead. i know women have long way to go but going on about how acient greek girl were taught or not taught isn`t going solve any prlomblems women face in the workplace is it p.s. i am a woman
Answer: It is unlikely that women will ever get anywhere without a lot of hard work and study. The fact is that studying about the ancient Greeks is one of the best ways to get a good education. Ancient Greek learning is the foundation upon which much contemporary learning is based. It takes only a little study of ancient Greek women to realize that the study of these women will provide many valuable insights. You may be a woman but you have yet to achieve a good education. Why wait?
Question: if women stayed most of thier time at home, what did they do?
Answer: Women were not caged or kept under lock and key. They stayed home because of custom. The wealthier women spent more time at home than the poorer ones. There were many things to do in the home. Mainly the wives had to bear and raise children. They also carried water and wastes and cleaned. Cooking was a common activity. Weaving was a creative activity that even rich women performed. Women also performed music and read books sometimes. Often slave women would do the menial cleaning while rich ones wove and read books. There did not seem to be much visiting from house to house. Visiting was accomplished at the many festivals which included the women.
Question: Prove/Disprove - women living in oligarchic sparta were more liberated than women in democratic athens
Answer: The proof is provided by references which I will not now provide but I will provide statements which I believed to be true for which references can be found:
But
Question: was school in side or out side
Answer: Mostly school was outside under a shade tree. Sometimes it was on a porch. More rarely it was inside. To the ancient Greeks school was a place where the students gathered at their leisure to listen to the teachers who gathered there.
Question:
Answer:
Question: who was phallaria?
Answer: Someone who has a butterfly named after her. 'φάλλαινα' means 'whale'. But the Latin spelling of this word is 'ballaena', This is from the Indo-European 'bhel-2', 'To blow, swell, with derivitives releted to various round objects and to the notion of tumescent masculinity'. The second part of the name 'aria' is from 'we-', 'to blow' and relates to the English word 'air'. The name might mean 'balloon'
Question: What were schools like?
Answer: Schools involved a teacher who spoke to students to teach them. Sometimes the teachers and students asked questions of each other. Students had few books to read. They did learn to read and write. They carried books with pages made of wood. Each of the pages had a recess that was filled with wax or clay. The students wrote in these books with a stylus. Students were taught rhetoric, mathematics, music, and athletics. Often there was no school room with classes taught in the shade of a tree. Students were often accompanied to school by a slave who helped them learn.
Question: why dont u put imformation about young girls on this website because i am trying to find imformation for my report
Answer: Young girls were taught mainly by their mother. Some got to go to school. There they learned music and athletics mainly, but girls that were preparing to be a hetaera learned rhetoric as well. Some girls were taught academic subjects by their brothers or fathers.
Question: did women want to be educated
Answer: Some women were naturally inquisitive and sought all the education they could get. Some felt obligated to learn the trade of their husband so they could help him out. Others wanted to please their husband so they listened to their husband's instruction. But others were more interested in women's work and remained uneducated.
Question: What was required of Spartan girls during their education process?
Answer: Though they had more educational opportunities than other Greek girls, very little was required of them. They were encouraged to taunt the boys by exercising naked in front of them and shouting at them as they exercised. Some of their education was devoted to physical training which was supposed to make then be better able to endure childbirth.
Question: why did women have very few rigts in ancient societies?
Answer: For the most part no one had any rights. Only a few men in ancient Greece had rights because these men invented the concept of rights. We are lucky that they did this because now we can talk about rights for all people.
Question: i need pictures on anicent greece education
Answer:
Question: What are the differences between the education of women in Ancient Sparta and women in Ancient Athens
Answer: Education was prescribed for women in Sparta while in Athens it was optional. Spartan education emphasized athletics, while Athens emphasized music and dance for women.
Question: Where can primary sources (copies of) regarding the education of women in ancient Greece be found?
Answer: This is tough. I think most of the primary sources come from hellenistic and Roman commentators on Greek works. Pausanius and Plutarch are examples of this type of person. But there are a number of scholars who have compiled collections of these writings as relates to women and you may find resources there. For example: Click here. Mary R. Lefkowitz also wrote Women's Life in Greece and Rome: A Source Book in Translation Click here which may be helpful.
Question: why were the Hetaerae educated in ancient greece if they were little more than prostitutes? what was the reasonong or the benifits of education women deemed for such a life, espically if they were not classed as greek citizens?
Answer: Hetaerae were much more than prostitutes. They were more like Dolly in the play "Hello Dolly"(1964). They were expected to be entertainers and the Greek men expected them to hold an intelligent conversation. They were also expected to make interesting speaches. They were not citizens because no women were citizens. In Greece Hetaerae were free women. Prostitutes were slaves. They were freer that the wives and daughters of Greek men who were confined to their house except for special occaisions.
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