To
what extent did the differences between the socio-cultural constructs of Sparta
and the other Greek poli influence the ideals of female beauty that each upheld
during the Classical period?
The
ultimate paradigms of female beauty differed almost antithetically between the
cultures observed by the Spartans and all other Greek poli. In spite of Greece’s general condemnation of the way in which
Spartan women conducted themselves, they were famed for their beauty. Homer
referred to Sparta as, “kallignyaika”[1],
“the land of beautiful women”[2];
it was common knowledge also that, “the face that launched a thousand ships” [3],
belonged to Helen of Sparta. These endorsements clearly show the admiration
other poli felt towards these women,
but it is important to note that the Spartans themselves, though still reverent
of beauty, were practical rather than romantic in their ideals. The Spartan
perception of female beauty centred on the physical manifestation of
athleticism and fitness, and not on the artificial enhancement or subjugation
of women, as was the case in other parts of Greece. Furthermore, although the
Spartans were fixated on physical prowess to the point of narcissism, they were
not inclined to material vanity in the contemporary sense, as evidenced by the rulings
of Lycurgus, which forbade women from wearing, “any kind of makeup or
enhancements”[4].
Even coiffure was not a matter of beauty in Sparta; the Spartans used
hairstyles to, “[distinguish] maidens from the newly married women, for the
latter… wore their hair short”[5],
and were not concerned with the elaborate braids and twists favoured by other
women. The other Greek poli, however,
had very different standards of female beauty to Sparta. In spite of the open
admiration with which the rest of Greece, particularly the men, observed the
Spartan women, other poli’s distaste
for women participating in politics, sport, or any other activity in which they
opposed men or demonstrated their capacity for free thought, caused them to
prefer women who showed little evidence of physical exertion and much evidence
of oppressive chauvinism and, “ingrained misogyny”[6].
Women were expected to wear a long, sleeveless article called the chiton that fell to the ankles and
concealed the legs, in contrast with the Spartans, who wore short, practical
skirts that earned them the derogatory appellation, “thigh flashers”[7].
Pale, healthy skin was a particular mark of beauty in a female, as were dark
eyes, red lips, heightened colour in the cheeks, and, for a time, “connected
eyebrows”[8]. Demos and aristoi women universally wore their hair long. The majority of
Greek women also wore jewellery in the forms of, “earrings, bracelets and
necklaces”[9]. Aristoi
women commonly wore elaborate pieces of jewellery, and women of the demos wore simpler jewellery; however, a
raped woman would, “no longer be allowed to wear jewellery”[10].
It is evident, then, that there are substantial differences between the
epitomes of beauty that were upheld by the Spartans and all the other Greek poli.
The conflicting archetypes of beauty
observed by Sparta and the other Greek poli
were undoubtedly the result of their different socio-cultural structures. The
female athleticism that was uniquely encouraged in Sparta was undoubtedly due
to its, “totalitarian”[11],
militaristic society. As the life of every male citizen was devoted to military
action, Spartans being, “liable for military service to the age of 60”[12],
strength in men was valued to the point where the state, “took upon itself the
right to determine a new baby’s viability”[13].
It was common practice to commit infanticide by abandoning male infants in, “a
place near Mount Taygetus designated for that purpose”[14],
if they were deemed to be too weak to make a good soldier. The Spartans
believed that only a strong mother could bear a strong son, and so women in
Sparta were required to be fit and athletic. The
simplicity of the Spartans’ hairstyles is another result of the Spartan
military system, specifically of their practice of mentorship through
compulsory pederasty. At the age of nine, boys were assigned a mentor: an older
man to whom the entirety of their education, outside of what the public system
provided, was entrusted; this included their sexual education, due to the
Spartan belief that, “erotic relationships between members of the same sex
were...educational”[15]. Because of this mentorship system, Spartan men
were universally unused to female lovers by the time they were expected to
marry. To solve this problem, a Spartan girl would be made as boyish as
possible in preparation for her marriage; her hair would be cut short and she
would be dressed in a boy’s tunic for the wedding night. Because of this, short
hair denoted a married woman and long hair an unmarried one. In other Greek poli, the standards of female beauty
were based on an almost entirely different set of societal conventions and
restrictions, the only point of commonality between them being the women’s
fundamental reproductive function. Despite this, other poli did not share Sparta’s belief in the importance of female
strength and fitness, and, by contrast, valued the hallmarks of privilege and
inactivity. Pale skin was considered beautiful because it alluded to wealth;
except for the purposes of attending weddings, funerals, and certain religious
festivals, or briefly visiting female neighbours, aristoi women rarely ventured out in public, whereas demos and helot women were obligated to work outdoors and visit the agora, often in the stead of the aristoi women. The aristoi women were, “virtually imprisoned in their homes”[16], within the gynaikonitis,
a specific set of rooms reserved for the, “wives, daughters, and female slaves”[17], of an oikos.
This rigid seclusion of aristoi women
from all men was due to the patriarchal societal constructs of Classical Greece,
and the resultant imperativeness of producing undeniably, “legitimate heirs”[18]. Similarly, fragility and slenderness of form was
encouraged as it indicated that a woman was not required to perform manual
labour, which was thought to be the activity of helots. As in Sparta, certain hairstyles signified the marital
status of the wearer; unmarried women wore their hair loose, while married
women conventionally wore elaborate braids and hairpieces; “only slave women
would wear their hair short”[19]. The, “imposition of headgear…and other trappings”[20], was considered a necessity in order to bind and
regulate women, who were thought to be, “pollutable, polluted, and polluting in
several ways at once”[21], owing to their being, “as individuals”[22], “formless”[23], and, “without firm control of personal boundaries”[24]. Ergo, it is apparent that the divergence of the
paradigms of female beauty adhered to by Sparta and the other Greek poli was the consequence of their
distinct socio-cultural differences.
The methods by which the women of Sparta and the
other Greek poli attempted to attain
the ideals of beauty favoured by their respective societies were equally
influenced by their socio-cultural differences. The athleticism admired in
Spartan women was the result of their militaristic ideology, and the polis ensured that all citizen women
attained the muscular physique required of them through the enforcement of the
public education system in a similar (if less murderous and more reasonable)
manner to the way it was imposed on males. All female Spartan citizens received
a public education that was, “prescribed by the state… at state expense”[25], wherein they were required to, “run and wrestle
and throw the discus and javelin”[26], in addition to their academic endeavours. At the
age of eighteen, girls were required to undergo a compulsory test of fitness
and skills, and if they passed, they were, “assigned a husband and allowed to
return home”[27]; if they failed, however, they would, “lose [their]
rights as a citizen”[28], and become members of the perioikos. In further consideration of the Spartan ideology,
Spartan women were well-nourished, unlike the women of other poli, who were, “regularly given less
food than men”[29]. In all other poli,
beautification was a personal endeavour. The poli had no involvement in the development of women; thus, beauty
was aligned more to the economic status of individual women, as opposed to the
equal opportunity enjoyed by citizen women in Sparta. Because of the
association between pale skin and wealth, women frequently used cosmetics,
including, “white lead (which was toxic)…[and] chalk”[30], to, “lighten their complexion”[31]. Other facial beautifications went in and out of
mode throughout the period; “connected eyebrows”[32], achieved by judicious use of, “dark powder”[33], were considered highly fashionable at one stage.
Powders, most of which were comprised of soot, were used for various other
things, including the darkening of the eyelids and the rouging of the cheeks,
while crushed mulberries were used to colour the lips. Therefore, it is clear
that the socio-cultural differences between Sparta and the other Greek poli had a profound effect on the ways
in which the women of both cultures attempted to attain the paradigms of beauty
observed by their respective poli.
[1]
‘The Spartans. The battle for supremacy’, in History Heads, http://moodle.shcs.nsw.edu.au/pluginfile.php/2251/mod_resource/content/0/Sparta/documentary/spartans_episode_2.pdf, (Accessed 7 August 2013).
[2]
ibid.
[3]
Christopher Marlowe > Quotes >
Quotable Quote, http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/55215-was-this-the-face-that-launched-a-thousand-ships-and-burnt, (Accessed 8 August 2013).
[4]
The Women of Sparta: Athletic, Educated,
and Outspoken Radicals, http://www.ancient.eu.com/article/123/, (Accessed 6 August 2013).
[5]
S. B. Pomeroy, S. M. Burstein, W. Donlan and J. T. Roberts, Ancient Greece. A Political, Social, and
Cultural History, Oxford University Press, New York, 1999, P. 142.
[6]
D. D. Gilmore, Misogyny, http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Misogyny.aspx,
(Accessed 10 September 2013).
[7]
P. S. Baker, The Role of Women in Ancient
Sparta, http://www.helium.com/items/1843769-a-look-at-the-women-of-ancient-sparta,
(Accessed 10 September 2013).
[8]
ibid.
[9]
ibid.
[10]
H. Wojtczak, British Women’s Emancipation
since the Renaissance. The History of Female Oppression, http://www.historyofwomen.org/oppression.html,
(Accessed 10 September 2013).
[11]
S. B. Pomeroy, op. cit., P. 138.
[12]
S. B. Pomeroy, ibid., P. 139.
[13]
ibid.
[14]
ibid.
[15]
ibid. P. 145.
[16]
W. J. O’Neal, The Status of Women in
Ancient Athens, http://www.ancient.eu.com/article/447/.
(Accessed 10 September 2013).
[17]
M. K. Mason, Ancient Athenian Women of
the Classical Period, http://www.moyak.com/papers/athenian-women.html,
(Accessed 10 September 2013).
[18]
J. C. Meyer, Women in Classical Athens.
In the Shadow of North-West Europe or in the Light from Istanbul, http://www.hist.uib.no/antikk/antres/Womens%20life.htm,
(Accessed 10 September 2013).
[19]
ibid.
[20]
A. Carson, ‘Putting Her in Her Place: Women, Dirt, and Desire’, in Before Sexuality: The Construction of Erotic
Experience in the Ancient Greek World, Princeton University Press,
Princeton, 1990, P. 156.
[21]
ibid. P. 158—9.
[22]
ibid. P. 159.
[23]
ibid.
[24]
ibid.
[25]
S. B. Pomeroy, op. cit., P. 141.
[26]
ibid., P. 142.
[28]
ibid.
[29]
ibid., P. 141.
[30]
Fashion in Ancient Greece, http://historylink101.com/2/greece3/fashion.htm, (Accessed 8 August 2013).
[31]
ibid.
[32]
ibid.
[33]
ibid.
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