Spartan Women by Sarah B. Pomeroy (PDF)

Description

Sparta, which existed from 800 B.C. until A.D. 200, was renowned in the ancient world as a stoic and martial city-state, and most of what we know about Sparta concerns its military history and male-dominated social structure. Yet Spartan women were in many ways among the most liberated of the ancient world, receiving formal instruction in poetry, music, dance, and physical education. And the most famous of mythic Greek women, Helen of Troy, was originally a Spartan. Written by one of the leading authorities on women in antiquity, Spartan Women seeks to reconstruct the lives and the world of Sparta’s women, including how their legal status changed over time and how they held on to their surprising autonomy. In this book, Sarah Pomeroy covers over a thousand years in the lives of Sparta’s women from both the èlite and lower classes. This is the first book-length examination of Spartan women, and Pomeroy comprehensively analyzes ancient texts and archaeological evidence to construct the history of these elusive though much noticed women. Spartan Women is an authoritative and fresh account that will appeal to all readers interested in ancient history and women’s studies.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Much has been written on Sparta, in both contemporary history (

⭐,

⭐), and popular historical fiction (

⭐,

⭐.) While women are addressed ancillarily in these works, little has been written about them specifically. Pomeroy does a magnificent job in righting this.There is a dearth of primary sources on Sparta in particular, let alone women in ancient Sparta. (

⭐devotes some attention, although his observations are questionable,

⭐is considered somewhat prejudicial;

⭐discusses much of early Spartan history, but demonstrates a typcial Greek attitude to women by its absence;

⭐and

⭐are the most referenced.) Using these sources, as well as art and sociological metrics, Pomeroy writes as complete and detailed a history of women in ancient Sparta as one is likely to find.To the ancient Greeks, Spartan women were an analomy: they were educated equally to men, they were encouraged to speak up, they had property rights. As a result, many ancient sources were prejudicial in their treatment of them. Pomeroy places these differences within the broader Spartan social context, arguing that given Spartan culture (one that as a matter of state policy subverted individual wants to those of the collective and the state), the treatment of and attitude towards women not only makes sense, but is to be admired. Her discussion of the education of Spartan women and the social roles of wife and mother were the strongest chapters in the book. Her discussion of elite and working-class women (Spartan, Helot and perioikoi) was not as tightly supported.For those interested in classical history or women’s history, I highly recommend this work.

⭐This is a one-of-a-kind exhaustive study on the lives of Laconian women. As Sparta was a closed society, not a whole lot is known about how the men lived, and even less is known about its female denizens. The sparse availability of primary sources on Spartan women makes any study of them rather difficult.Sarah Pomeroy has consolidated just about everything we know, we think we know as well as what we might hypothosize about knowing about the lady Spartans. This book is a well-researched treatise on what their lives were, or at least could have been like some 2,500 years ago.Ironically enough for a militaristic state, Spartan women enjoyed myriad freedoms and rights that were denied basically all other women of the classical age. As we look in hindsight, these factors weigh in to give them much more historical interest than women in other Greek city states. Pomeroy does an excellent job of delineating these various traits that separated them from alternative Greek social norms.This book is highly recommended for both aficionados as well as persons interested in historical women’s studies. Either way, this text has a wealth of information that will elucidate the lives of both Spartan women as well as Spartan men.

⭐In Archaic and Classical Greece (800 to 500, and 500 to 330 B.C.E), there was but one place in the Greek world where women were approximately equal to men: Sparta. Girls were provided with an education that, intellectually, was at least equivalent to that of boys. In contrast to Athens, where girls were “given in marriage” by age 15 by their male guardians to someone at least twice their age, Spartan women had a voice — a stong one — in agreeing to the man they would marry. Certainly life was difficult in those times, but women engaged in athletics, hunted in the mountains, and managed the family property when their husbands were away on frequent and extended military duty. Battle deaths for Spartan soldiers were so high in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries that from one-third to 40 percent of property in Sparta was owned by women. Sarah Pomeroy is a leading scholar of the topic and the period, her book is the leader in this field, and I was delighted to receive a copy of it promptly and at a fair price. I recommend it most highly.

⭐Pomeroy does a fantastic job in this book. The Spartan civilization is interesting but they did not leave a lot behind for us to really know about them. Pomeroy organizes the sources and does a fantastic job focusing in on one subject. Having written several books, I know what it takes to research and this subject HAD to be difficult to research so kudos to her for that. As for the content and subject matter, spectacular. I now have a better understanding of the Spartan women, and its shockingly different than the rest of Greece.

⭐I am only writing about the shipping and handling of the product here. I am not sure of the contents of the book since I haven’t read it yet, but I expect to enjoy it nevertheless.The shipping was great. It came in at a timely manner and the book was in working order. The book did not seem to be damaged in any way and it looked exactly like it was described when it came time to purchase it. Very much pleased.

⭐Some books just seem to repeat the same material. I understand that alot of what the subjects were intertwined but try to lessen the amount of times you repeat the same thing. Overall, I think it is a good thing to have a book on just Spartan women, see how they were with the hypermasculine society.

⭐Pomeroy is my absolute favorite historian. Her texts are easy to read and understand, they’re very interesting, and very thorough. I own almost all of her books, but Spartan Women is my favorite.

⭐Great information, but a difficult read. If it wasn’t for my deep interest in the Spartan culture I would have put it down before finishing it. It is a bit repetative and becomes boring. Recommended for Sparta enthusiasts or any feminists looking for an amazing culture of strong women.

⭐very interesting book…sadly many things are not explained and is probably meant for professionals working in the field of anceint greece .

⭐A much overlooked population in ancient Greece. Appropriate treatment with references for all relevant topics.

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