The Roles, Rights and Lives of Women in Ancient Greece

The roles, rights and lives of women in Ancient Greece varied depending on which city-state you were from, your social class and your wealth. Women in Ancient Greece had very few rights compared to men and, due to our lack of specific information on most Greek city-states, we know most about women and their lives in Athens and Sparta, the two city-states best-chronicled overall, Athens and Sparta. In general, we have more information about some professions and roles held by women such as women in the home and prostitutes and courtesans or Hetaira, than others. Overall though, Athens was known for its distrust towards women and extreme misogyny as women were seen as good for one thing only: childbearing. With this being said, there were some women who broke through the social and cultural restrictions placed upon them in Ancient Greece. In general, women could participate in rituals and ceremonies, and perform as priestesses for certain deities like Demeter, Aphrodite, and Dionysus and perhaps the most