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Lesson Plan: What roles and rights did women have in the ancient world?
1. Introduce the Topic: Women’s rights has always been one of the forgotten civil rights struggles.
Women have had to fight for their rights throughout history, and over time their rights and the roles
that they have had in society have changed. Today, we are going to be talking about women in the
ancient world, starting with ancient Greece. Provide background info on ancient Greece as needed.
Students should at least know what it is.
OPTIONAL: Hand out Lysistrata document at end of introduction to the topic. It is a cool document
to get the kids into the topic, and the main take away is that women are highly sexualized, with the
only power they possess is the power of sex. Some students might say that this is nonetheless a
power, which is true, but still provides a rather sexist depiction.
2. Brief mini-lecture. Students need to know there were two dominant city-states in particular in
ancient Greece, and that those were Athens and Sparta. Today, we will start by investigating the
these two cities and what roles and rights their women had.
3. Hand out Oeconomicus (Document A) and Life of Lycurgus (Document B)
- Students complete both documents and questions in pairs
- Debrief documents afterwards. Students will see that Athenians and Spartans viewed
women quite differently, and women in Sparta had more freedom. However, spend time
particularly on the last question for Doc B where students compare Athens and Sparta.
Students MUST see that, while Spartan women had more freedom, their primary role was
still to simply produce children like the women of Athens (Lycurgus’ education is to provide
for this, and even what Gorgo says relates back to making children)
4. Transition: Greece was not the only powerful ancient society around at this time. There were strong
civilizations in the east as well, especially places like Egypt and Persia. The Greeks interacted with
these civilizations and recorded a lot about them. Let’s see what roles and rights their women had.
5. Hand out Herodotus in Egypt (Document C). Have students read the document and answer the
questions in pairs. Debrief the questions after, in particular spending time on whether or not the
students trust Herodotus. He is a Greek writing about Egyptians. Is he the best source? Why might he
exaggerate? The Greeks did think of the Egyptians as barbarians after all.
6. Hand out Status of Women in Egypt (Document D). Have students answer questions in pairs
and debrief. Once again, spend time in particular on the last question
Assessment Option: Have students an informative paragraph answering the prompt “What roles and
rights did women have in the ancient world” using evidence from the documents.
Lysistrata
Source: The following is an excerpt from the play Lysistrata, written by the male
Athenian playwright Aristophanes in 411 BCE. The plot of the play centers on the
Athenian woman Lysistrata leading a sex strike by wives in order to get their husbands to
end the destructive Peloponnesian War
LYSISTRATA: All of you women: come and repeat after me: I will have nothing to do
with my husband or my lover
WOMEN: I will have nothing to do with my husband or my lover
LYSISTRATA: Although he might come to me begging for it (sex)
WOMEN: Though he come to me begging for it. Oh, Lysistrata! This is killing me!
LYSISTRATA: I will stay in my house untouchable
WOMEN: I will stay in my house untouchable
LYSISTRATA: In my thinnest saffron silk dress
WOMEN: In my thinnest saffron silk dress
LYSISTRATA: And make him long for me
WOMEN: And make him long for me
LYSISTRATA: I will not give myself to him
WOMEN: I will not give myself to him
LYSISTRATA: And if he forces himself on me
WOMEN: And if he forces himself on me
LYSISTRATA: I will be as cold as ice and never move
WOMEN: I will be as cold as ice and never move
LYSISTRATA: You have all sworn?
WOMEN: We have.
Guiding Questions
1. Source: Who wrote this play? What is his gender?
2. Close Reading: How does the author depict women protesting the Peloponnesian War?
3. Analyze: Based on this, what role do women seem to have in ancient Greek society?
Oeconomicus (Document A)
Source: The following is an excerpt from the Oeconomicus, written by the Greek
historian Xenophon in 362 BC. The Oeconomicus was mostly about household
management. In this excerpt, Xenophon describes the instructions of an Athenian
man to his new wife.
Isomachus addressed his new wife: ‘It seems to me, my dear, that the gods coupled
male and female together with great care. In the first place, they are joined in
marriage to make children.
Secondly, the gods made the man’s body and mind more capable of enduring cold
and heat, and long journeys and campaigns. Therefore, the gods gave to the man the
outdoor tasks. To the woman, since the gods made her body less capable of
enduring these hardships, I believe that the gods have assigned her the indoor tasks.
Your duty will be to remain indoors and send out the servants whose work is
outside. Also, you will watch over the servants who work indoors, and you will
receive and greet guests. When wool is brought to you, you must make clothes for
those that want them. When corn is brought to you, you must make food.”
Life of Lycurgus (Document B)
Source: The following is an excerpt from the Life of Lycurgus, written by the Greek
historian Plutarch in 67 AD. The Life of Lycurgus was a biography of Sparta’s
legendary founder Lycurgus. In this excerpt, Plutarch describes Lycurgus’s views
on Sparta’s women.
Lycurgus considered education to be a lawgiver's most significant job. He took
particular care about educating the women as well as the men. He made the young
women exercise their bodies by running and wrestling and throwing the javelin
(spear), so that their children would be strong because they would be born from
strong mothers. The women themselves would also be able to use their strength to
withstand the pain of childbirth.
Lycurgus freed women from softness and sitting in the shade and all other girly
habits. He made it normal for girls to walk naked in processions (religious parades)
just like the boys did. The nudity of the girls was not disgraceful because they did it
with modesty and there was nothing sexual about it. Rather, this education
produced in girls simple habits and an intense desire for physical fitness. It gave the
women a taste for nobler things, since they shared with the men a desire for virtue
and glory.
The girls made jokes about young men who had done something wrong, and sang
songs to the young men who deserved them. The man who was praised for his
courage went away proud because of their praise. But the sting of their jokes and
mockery was as sharp as serious scolding from other male citizens or even the
kings.
Once, an Athenian woman is reported to have said to Gorgo, the wife of king
Leonidas, 'You Spartans are the only women who can rule over their men', Gorgo
replied, 'Because only we Spartan women are the mothers of real men.'
Women’s Rights in the Ancient World
Name:____________________________Per.____
Oeconomicus (Document A)
1. Source: Who wrote this document? What is he describing?
2.
Close Reading: According to Isomachus, what are the two reasons the gods “coupled male and female
together”?
3. Close Reading: What are some of the specific jobs/duties of Isomachus’ wife? List at least three
4. Thinking Critically: Based on this document, what role do you think women had in ancient Athens?
Life of Lycurgus (Document B)
1. Source: Who wrote this document? What is he describing?
2.
Close Reading: What type of education did Lycurgus believe Spartan women needed? Why did he
believe they needed this education?
3. Close Reading: How did Lycurgus view female nudity? What was the purpose of this?
4. Thinking Critically: How do you think the role of women in ancient Sparta was different from ancient
Athens? How do you think it was similar? Explain.
Herodotus in Egypt (Document C)
Source: The following is an excerpt The Histories written by the Greek historian
Herodotus in 440 BC. The topic of The Histories is the struggle of the Greeks
against the “barbarians” of the East. Herodotus spent much of his life traveling to
collect information for his book. The following is Herodotus’ account of
interactions between men and women in Egypt.
The Egyptians, because of their climate which is unlike any other, and because of
the Nile River, which has a different character from all other rivers, have manners
and customs that are opposite to other men in almost all other lands.
Among the Egyptians, the women are the ones that go to the market and carry on
trade (have jobs), while the men remain at home and weave. The men carry their
burdens (heavy things) upon their heads in baskets and the women carry their loads
upon their shoulders in packs. The women even make water (go pee) standing up
and while the men do it crouching down!
Status of Women in Egypt (Document D)
Source: The following is an excerpt from a secondary source titled The Status of
Women in Egyptian Society written by Joyce Tyldesley in 1998. Tyldesley is a
British professor of archaeology and Egyptology that works for Cornell University.
An exception (very different) to most other ancient societies, Egyptian women
achieved equality with Egyptian men. They enjoyed the same legal and economic
rights, at least in theory, and this concept can be found in Egyptian art and
documents from the time period. Any differences between people's legal rights were
based on differences in social class and not on gender.
Egyptian women's rights extended to all areas of Egyptian civilization. Women
could manage, own, and sell private property, which included slaves, land,
livestock, and money. They could make business agreements, they could free
slaves, and they could make adoptions. Women appeared as equal partners in
marriage contracts, and were entitled to sue even their husbands.
This amount of freedom was at odds with that of the Greek women who required a
man to represent her in all legal contracts and procedures. It is interesting that when
the Greeks conquered Egypt in 332 B.C.E., Egyptian women were allowed more
rights and privileges than Greek women, who were forced to live under the less
equal Greek system
Herodotus in Egypt (Document C)
1. Source: Who wrote this document? What is he describing?
2.
Close Reading: According to the author, why did the Egyptians develop customs different from other
people?
3. Close Reading: What are some of the ways men and women behave differently in Egypt? Name three
ways.
4. Thinking Critically: Do you trust Herodotus’ description of Egypt? Why might he be telling the truth?
Why might he be exaggerating?
Status of Women in Egypt (Document D)
1. Source: Who wrote this document? What type of source is it?
2.
Close Reading: According to the author, how was Egyptian society different from other ancient
societies?
3. Close Reading: What are some of the rights women had in ancient Egypt? Name AT LEAST THREE.
4. Thinking Critically: Based on the information in this document, why might Herodotus (Document C)
have thought Egyptian society was so strange?