Visiting a Spartan Home-Spartan Woman

 

After realizing that these young Spartan warriors are not the only ones who display acts of bravery I had to head to a Spartan household to see who was raising these brave warriors. On the outside the houses all looked simple and strong, made by stone and with minimal personality. However, inside the house is what left me in absolute shock. Most other Greek city cultures have their woman be a mere shadow and her duties lie in the house only. Here I encountered a strong and active mother who was teaching her young boy to stand tall and show no fear, she was instilling Spartan values into her young child. In other parts of the house I encountered a woman practicing throwing javelins outside and running, as if she was training for war. They are not training for war, Spartan believed that strong women give birth to strong children. Hence why the woman trained similarly to men. Women are also held up to the same values as men, they must be strong and fearless and serve their city by bearing the next generation of warriors. Women here are allowed to own land and manage their homes while their husband is away, which is very different from other places where women are not allowed to manage anything due to fear of lack of power for the men. Children here are never spoiled, their mothers never sugar coat anything they tell it to them straight. I overheard one mother tell her kid to come back with his shield or on it. Very intense if you ask me… she would rather her son come home a winner then at all. After overhearing that conversation I stepped back inside the house where there were simple wooden beds and a small area for cooking. They definitely lack in luxury which they made up for in practicality. Being in this home made me realize that men are not the only strong warriors but so are the Spartan Women in their communities. Yes, the Spartan women had more freedoms than other women in other greek city states but at the cost of being tough and loyal to Spartan. Come join me tomorrow I will go investigate and see the Krypteia, to learn how they kept control over the Spartan people!