In Sparta, however, unwanted neonates were reportedly exposed to the elements and wild beasts, guaranteeing death. When an Athenian couple exposed an unwanted infant, they took steps to ensure that it would survive to be brought up by another family. Infanticide was common in those parts but Spartans may have taken matters to a new level by implementing the “survival of the fittest”. Since fatherhood in Sparta was mostly reduced to a patriotic duty (while in Athens it was about the family bloodline), paternal rights and responsibilities were diminished too. Men retained the upper hand, including in managing their wives’ sexual lives!” “Despite the apparent ‘freedoms’ enjoyed by Spartan adult women in contrast to Athenian women, it was still masculine - because martial values ruled the society and polity as a whole. Spartan men did not consider that a diminution of their masculinity as perhaps Athenian men would have,” points out Prof. “Unlike Athenian women, Spartan adult women could both own and dispose of private landed property. He believed that nature intended for men to rule over women, yet in Sparta, their peculiar definition of masculinity seemed to have the opposite result.īut only seemingly.
The old-fashioned Aristotle was not impressed by the Spartan situation.
