Ancient Athens - Spartan Girls

Spartan girls would also stay with their parents until age 6 or 7, after that they were required to get an education. Just as boys were expected to be physically fit women were also expected to be like this. Since they believed healthy women produced healthy babies. Spartan girls would even learn combat, fighting, and gymnastics just in case they need to defend themselves or Sparta. They would also learn educational things such as poetry, history, drama, reading, writing, music, and art. The next test in life for Spartan girls would occur when girls turned 18, when they would take a test to become a citizen. This test was a mix of physical and mental testing. This allowed them to prove their worth and become a citizen of Sparta. However if they were to fail this test she would not become a citizen and be middle class which they referred to  as perioikos.  

Boys in Athens were taught at home by their mother or a male slave until age 6. After age 6 all the way to age 14 boys went to primary school. The teachers in this school were always male. Once the boys turned 16 their basic education was complete. Boys who didn’t work now studied sciences and philosophy. Strong, and healthy men however had to take military training for the arm or the navy from ages 18 to 20.  Athenians wanted their sons to have a superior education so they would acknowledge things and appreciate them better.

A “respectable” lady's major part in Athens was to stay home, stay beautiful, and have kids. Her life focused on the house and the kids. Most wives had slaves to do the cooking, cleaning, and shopping for food. When she had a kid, her dad couldn't take her back. It was hard, but not impossible, for a lady to separate, but easy for her husband to separate. After separation, her property (which was handed over to her husband during marriage) came back to her dad or male relative. She would lose all rights to her children. Her husband was allowed to keep her in the house if she wasn't doing  what he thought she should be. Publicly, she would just be seen at religious events, weddings, and funerals.  Labor happened at home, usually without the help of a midwife. Some contraception techniques were accessible but not available to most ladies. The mortality rate for both moms and infants was high. Infanticide was not uncommon depending on whether or not the father of the child chose to keep the infant or not. Unwanted or deformed  babies were placed in pots and left out or if not uncovered, dying due to natural causes (exposure, dehydration, asphyxiation, etc.).

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