Pans Labyrinth Analysis Essay - 1020 Words

Pan’s Labyrinth Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro delivers a unique, richly imagined epic with Pan’s Labyrinth released in 2006, a gothic fairy tale set against the postwar repression of Francos Spain. Del Toros sixth and most ambitious film, Pan’s Labyrinth harnesses the formal characteristics of classic folklore to a 20th Century period. Del Toro portrays a child as the key character, to communicate that children minds are not cemented. Children avoid reality through the subconscious imagination which is untainted by a grown-up person, so through a point of an innocent child more is captured. The film showcases what the imagination can do as a means of escape to comfort the physical trials one goes through in†¦show more content†¦The language of the film is in Spanish, adding to the enmity as a foreign language to English speakers. The use of subtitles draws in the audience’s attention making them cling on to every word being said because of the i ntensity of the movie. There is also a lot of disturbing visual effects in the pan’s labyrinth which also captures the audiences attention such as the scene where Captain Vidal must stitch his own cheek sliced open from the mouth adds to the realism of the film, leaving the audience to squirm in their senses, imagining the pain. The use of close ups and tracking shots emphasize the hysterical, tragic mood of the story. This causes the audience to feel maudlin and affected. An example is the frame of a close-up high angled shot when we see Captain Vidal shoot Ofelia. We realize the gravity of the crime, watching Ofelia fall to the cold stone floor as her blood drops down the entrance of the Underworld realm. The uses foreshadowing by Del Toro also plays in as a technique in depicting a predictive or predetermined conclusion for the protagonist and what is in store for her later on in the movie. In one scene when her mother is on the bed and the baby starts kicking she tells Ofelia to recite a fable to her unborn brother to calm him down, her story is about pain and loss and the reward in the end granted be eternal life. The fable she tells foreshadows the imagination she has for hardships she faces in reality and her conclusionShow MoreRelatedPans Labyrinth Film Analysis2030 Words   |  9 Pages08516 Chelsea Birks December 5, 2017 The narrative power of sound in Pan’s labyrinth The film that I have chosen as a case study for my final paper is: Pan’s labyrinth (2006) by director Guillermo del Toro, and it is a case of real-fantastic cinema. Here I present my essay entitled â€Å" The narrative power of sound in Pan’s labyrinth â€Å"of Guillermo Del Toro . It will analyze the sound design , the identification of its elements, the ways in which they are presented and their interrelations, to understandRead MorePans Labyrinth Film Analysis Essay1208 Words   |  5 PagesVanessa Salfen 6/29/2012 Visual Analysis Pan’s Labyrinth: A Visual Analysis Pan’s Labyrinth, originally titled El laberinto del fauno, was published in 2006 by the Spanish director Guillermo del Toro. The story is set in the year 1944, in the country-side of a post-Civil War Spain. A young and imaginative girl named Ofelia, played by Ivana Baquero, travels with her pregnant mother, Carmen Vidal, who is very ill; in order to meet and live with her stepfather, a cruel and sadistic man named CapitanRead MoreMyth, Religion, and Violence in Pan’s Labyrinth and Bless Me, Ultima: A Comparative Analysis1346 Words   |  6 PagesRudolfo Anaya’s, Bless Me, Ultima and Guillermo del Toro’s, Pan’s Labyrinth are two coming-of-age stories. Both the novel and the movie are full of events that contribute to the disillusionment of the main character’s childhood idealism and the realization of the real world they live in. Both protagonists absorb themselves in a mythical world full of fantasy and each receives exposure to religious th eology and trauma by the violence of men. Despite the fact that Antonio and Ofelia have differentRead MorePans Labyrinth Film Analysis1347 Words   |  6 Pagesseems to coincide with an unsettling environment. For instance, Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo Del Toro and Night of the Shooting Stars by Giuliani G. De Negri both focus on the idea of fiction centered around a destructive ambience. Both movies take place in a deteriorating war zone in which the main characters manage to escape temporarily but still witness horrific event that they manifest into their own type of dream reality. Pan’s Labyrinth takes place during the Spanish Civil War where a young OfeliaRead MoreAnalysis Of The Cyclops And Pan s Labyrinth 1712 Words   |  7 Pages It seems fitting that analysis of The Cyclops would be done alongside Pan’s Labyrinth given the satyric nature of the former and the allusions to the greek god Pan of the latter. However, while the monstrous Pan (or, the Faun ) may be represented as such in the film, the purpose for his inclusion is largely different from the purpose for the inclusion of Polyphemus in Euripides play. Modern storytellers having recognized that monstrosity may exist in any number of forms helps to develop a basisRead MoreThe Effects of Oppression on the Innocent Mind: A Comparative Analysis795 Words   |  4 PagesThe Effects of Oppression on the Innocent Mind: A Comparative Analysis In my early childhood, I have many memories of my summers in Greece. Greece was an idyllic tropical paradise, where the air was laced with the alluringly sweet smell of peace. The golden sun shined resplendently, releasing waves of bliss and life. My family lived together in harmony, and laughed together happily; life was good. Some children experienced the exact opposite. They lived on a decaying wasteland, where the air reekedRead MoreEssay on Spanish Cinema After the Dictatorship in 19751822 Words   |  8 PagesFernando Trueba and Guillermo Del Toro in the late 20th century and early 21st century. These directors have created films which dealt with themes of nationality and national history, such as Todo sobre mi madre (Pedro Almodà ³var, 1999) and Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006). Although Spanish cinema only started to develop into a distinctive style later in the 20th century due to the end of censorship and propaganda regimes, some film makers such as Luis Brunel gained international acknowledgementRead MoreThe Crucible; Belonging and Identity. Pans Labyrinth and the Company of Wolves as Related Texts1999 Words   |  8 Pagesof belonging. By the decision to act contrastingly to a set of opposing values, Proctor is still allowing his identity to be dependent on the sense of belonging established by the group he abhors. Similarly, Ofelia from Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) finds her identity in the rejection of the ‘belonging’ established in her Stepfather’s (Vidal) military base in the mountains of Spain at the close of the civil war, 1944. Consider the following, lifted from an EnglishRead More Analysis of Animal Characters in Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll2568 Words   |  11 Pagesby Thomas C. Haliburton. It is related to my thesis because the animal characters in Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland felt that they had authority to disobey the animal characters in other traditional fairytales. This is similar to Del Toro’s Pan Labyrinth because there are main animal characters like fairytales, faun, and paleman. They have the weird physical features. It was really gross to see them. This applied to Lewis Carroll’s book because he used the animals in a weird way. For example, TheRead MoreLiterary Criticism : Not Just A Pretty Face 2609 Words   |  11 Pageswritten word. He contends that it suffers not only from inconsistencies internally because of Socrates analogy between memory and writing, but also because his ideas come to us only through his written word. Many deconstructive arguments center on the analysis of its oppositions. The person doing the deconstruction looks for ways in which one term is more privileged than the other in a particular text because it is considered the general, or normal, term, while the other is considered special or exceptional

Essay on 20th Century Latin American Literature - 3323 Words

20th Century Latin American Literature Global literatures in English have always played a key role in developing international understanding and appreciation for the social realities and cultural developments beyond Western lifestyles and familiarity. For anthropologists seeking to perceive the social realities of 20th century Latin America, the work of popular authors and novelists of this century is invaluable. Popular authors are the modern mouthpieces of the people and societies who read and love them, and thus, novelists can serve as reliable representatives of the social climate from which they draw material and compose their works. Writers manipulate dominant languages of Latin America â€Å"inherited from rejected colonial†¦show more content†¦I am grouped along with the rest of the English speaking international community, who rely on translators to appreciate the power of Latin American new novelists, and the nature of regionalist novels from the past. All of the writing from Latin America emerges from a context of â€Å"underdevelopment† economically speaking, instability governments left by colonial residue and yet a lively cultural and artistic richness that will never fade. As a foreigner studying the social constructions of Latin American literature, I am drawn into â€Å"the process of reflection about underdevelopment† that â€Å"leads† me to question â€Å"transnational integration† of literature and writing styles (Candido 1980: 276). As Candido points out, in global literature â€Å"what used to be imitation [of a style or theme] is changing more and more into reciprocal assimilation† and the process of inventing new cultural realities is a very present in our globally connected world. During the 1960s, the movement referred to in western slang as â€Å"The Boom† brought the concept of the modern Latin American novel into international consciousness. â€Å"Before 1960, it was very uncommon to hear laymen speak of the â€Å"contemporary Spanish American novel†: there were Uruguan or Ecuadorian, Mexican or Venezuelan novels† (Donoso 1977:10).Show MoreRelated The Importance of Latin in the Curriculum Essay examples1287 Words   |  6 PagesThe Importance of Latin in the Curriculum My memories of Latin in high school are less than fond. I remember slouching in my chair, staring blankly at my desk as I tried to remember the form of the word agricola (farmer) in the ablative plural. Much of the class consisted of mundane activities like this. We translated endless Bible passages from Latin, translated what seemed like the entire body of Greek mythological literature, and read hundreds of lines from The Aneid, The Odyssey, andRead More The Short Stories of Gabriel Garcia Marquez Essay969 Words   |  4 PagesThe Short Stories of Gabriel Garcia Marquez Short story writer. Novelist. Journalist. Political activist. Nobel Prize winner. Most beloved of 20th century Latin American authors, Gabriel Garcia Marquez was born on March 6, 1928, in the small coastal town of Aracataca, Colombia. He published his first story, The Third Resignation, in 1947 and began studying law and journalism. His first novel, Leafstorm, was published in 1955, the same year the Colombian government shut down his employer, theRead More20th Century and Atonal Music Essay examples862 Words   |  4 PagesHumi 16 Professor: Leslie Berry Midterm Bella Lee 1. Between 1900 and 1925, traditional norms were violated or abandoned in art, music, and literature. What factors might have brought about this situation? Offer specific examples to illustrate your general statements (think of Picasso, Matisse, Brancusi, and Mondrian). Pablo Picasso, who was born in Malaga, Spain, changed and created new style of painting while moving from a place to another. He went throng his blue period, in which he usedRead MoreEssay on Magical Realism1238 Words   |  5 Pageswhere each evolving form expresses an idea that may overlap another, yet at the same time branches off and creates something very different. What began in the visual arts has become a contemporary literary genre due to divergences. Contemporary Latin American writers of this mode include Alejo Carpentier, Jorge Luis Borges, Isabel Allende, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Octavio Paz, Pablo Neruda, and Majorie Agosin. At the same time there are many writers of the genre world wide, though every form may takeRead MoreAmerica s World War II870 Words   |  4 PagesWorld War II is a rich source of literature and a theme for many writers. As result, they wrote many works about war literature, such as novels, poetry, plays, diaries, and personal narrative. The American Literature was formed by the history of the state that produced it just like in other nationwide literature. America was just a cluster of colonies scattered alongside the eastern seaboard of the North American continent for approximately a century and a half. After they had succeededRead MoreThe Post War Era Of Reconstruction1313 Words   |  6 Pagesgovernment in the context of the economy. This shift in dynamic and approach to economic thought was felt especially in the fledgling Latin American economies. Out of this thinking, a radical approach to increase the self sufficiency of these Latin American countries was embarked upon. The concept of Import Substitution Industrialization was pioneered to assist the Latin American countries into formulating an economy that can compete and build a better society for the citizens of their countries. The economicRead MoreRomanticism : Romanticism And Romanticism1141 Words   |  5 Pagesmany literary movements. Although Romanticism and Modernism differ in their styles, values, and ideology, they were both important periods in literature. Romanticism was a literary movement during the late 18th century until the early 19th century that had an emphasis on the imagination and emotions. The movement moved through every country in Europe, Latin America, and the United States from approximately 1750 to 1870. However, France did not see the movement until the 1820’s. Romanticism was basicallyRead MoreEssay Modernism versus Modernismo1057 Words   |  5 PagesModernism versus Modernismo Both Modernism and Modernismo were movements around the turn of the 20th century which caused cultural upheaval and renovation in times where the society was, or needed to be, changing. Modernism took place throughout Europe and in the United States, while Modernismo was a Latin American movement. The two movements share several general characteristics, but were, without a doubt, two separate and distinct movements, and should not be confused. Therefore, it is usefulRead MoreHistory And Latin American Literature1873 Words   |  8 PagesMany works in Latin American literature can be attributed to the multitude of historical events that transpired within the overtake of the Latin American continent by the Spanish. This interplay between Latin American literature and history gave rise to different movements as well as different styles of writing that the world had not really experienced before. When one is examining the relationship between history and Latin American Literature, it i s important to chronologically analyze its materializationRead MoreThe Between Democracy, Its Processes, And Policing Are Well Established Across A Wide Variety Of Academic Disciplines1562 Words   |  7 PagesThe connections between democracy, its processes, and policing are well established across a wide variety of academic disciplines. Political scientists and economists have developed a literature discussing the various forms police forces take and their positions within certain regime types. Separate from theory regarding democratization and security, like Sklansky’s (2005) work, a great deal of scholarly papers have been written regarding riots and civil disruption. For example, Gunning (1972)

Importance of Social Media in Business Organization-Free-Samples

Question: Can social media assist an organisation to better reach target audiences? If so, how? Justify your answer with example. Describe which social media tools should be used by organisation? Answer: It can be said that the economic relevance and popularity of social media got enhanced significantly over the past few years and thus enabling billions of users to share data, information of products, products and is significantly influencing the managements of the organisations who are building their businesses around that target audience. It is seen that there are numerous of social networks that emphasize on creating social relations among the people and that appeared in the preceding decade providing public new coordination and communication tools, are based on the social characteristics of the use of Technology. It is seen that nowadays users of social media are making new communication practices and are contributing content to the new media aggregators like Amazon, Google, Flicker, Facebook, eBay and many more. It is seen that in recent times, Twitter have more than 200 millions of active users and Facebook have more than 1.1 million active users and not only that linked in als o have 225 millions of active users as online social communities are unprecedented (Tuten and Solomon 2017). This answer emphasizes on finding out how using social media the management of the business organisations can reach the target audiences in order to increase the profitability of their business. It is a matter of fact that the social media websites like Twitter and Facebook provides a significant technological platform to the organisations to establish and multiply the relationships among the business organisations and the consumers which enables the consumers to become visible and to expose their social networks (Khatri et al. 2015). It is seen that nowadays social media websites offer huge potential for what can be better explained as effective communication that indicates that the production of knowledge which made use of the capabilities of huge number of consumers for forecast the challenges or issues (Hyder 2016). The social networking sites are monitored to get an idea of the latest trends to gather information to get competitive advantage and get engaged in conversation with all the stakeholders and consumers; this enables the business organisations to reshape and engage in making strong relationships with the consumers and that immensely helps the organisation to reach the target audience in a better and compact way. Nowadays the social media websites are enabling business organisations to become socially more engaged by exploiting various new business model innovation dependent on the organisations capability to monetize and extract value from the crowd generated content and data (Cherubini and Nielsen 2 016). In this regard, it is worthwhile to mention that social media has enabled the business organisations to set up stronger relation with the community of reference to make the most of the network effect and hardness collective intelligence. It can be said that the social media websites give business organisations an audience on whom they can trust and rely on; and an audience who cares about the activities of the business organisations and their products and the social media provides incentives for the consumers to update the status profiles and to upload new content. For an example, it can be said that the Facebook profiles offer a template for identity that each user of Facebook can fill in with personal information regarding whom they know where they studied where they work and what are their activities and interests are and not only that what their favourite products are in the market (Ashley and Tuten 2015). This information allows the business organisations to get a compact idea o f what their target audiences demands or requirements are and accordingly the management of the business organisations try to satisfy the needs of their customers in order to sustain the growth and profitability of the business organisation. Thus it can be said that in contemporary times, the business leaders are getting inclined towards using social media as an effective tool to reach the target audience and to understand their requirements in a compact and secure manner (Scott 2015). Using social media as a tool to get the necessary information of the consumers can effectively help the business organization to gain a competitive advantage and a fair share of the market as nowadays the demands of the market is rapidly changing and the competition in the market has become fierce. Thus in precise, it can be said that in todays market condition, the effectiveness of social media to help business organizations to reach target audience in a better and compact way is undeniable and it can surely be said that using social media as a tool, the managements of business organizations can surely expect a boost in the profitability and the global recognition of the company. References Ashley, C. and Tuten, T., 2015. Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement.Psychology Marketing,32(1), pp.15-27. Cherubini, F. and Nielsen, R.K., 2016. Editorial analytics: How news media are developing and using audience data and metrics. Hyder, S., 2016.The zen of social media marketing: An easier way to build credibility, generate buzz, and increase revenue. BenBella Books, Inc.. Khatri, C., Chapman, S.J., Glasbey, J., Kelly, M., Nepogodiev, D., Bhangu, A., Fitzgerald, J.E. and STARSurg Committee, 2015. Social media and internet driven study recruitment: evaluating a new model for promoting collaborator engagement and participation.PloS one,10(3), p.e0118899. Scott, D.M., 2015.The new rules of marketing and PR: How to use social media, online video, mobile applications, blogs, news releases, and viral marketing to reach buyers directly. John Wiley Sons. Tuten, T.L. and Solomon, M.R., 2017.Social media marketing. Sage.

Spartan Women Essay Example For Students

Spartan Women Essay Spartan Women And Their Role in Society Compared to Athenian Women Spartan Women were definitely more dominant in society in comparison to their Athenian Sisters. Spartan women had the freedom of equality in their society but were not allowed to vote and they had a reputation for boldness and licentiousness that other Greeks found unseemly. The women of Sparta were known for their education, athleticism, producing children, and their natural beauty. Unfortunately, there is no real historical documentation that spells out the ways of the women of Sparta. Historians rely on the accounts of Archaic Greek (7th century) poets and other subsequent Greek historians and literary figures to piece together the history, and sometimes the mythology, of the lives and culture of Spartan women. Education was a huge part of a Spartans woman’s life and one of the most recognised differences, which made the Spartan women quite diverse compared to the rest of the women living in different cities, especially Athenian women. Athenian women participated in domestic arts such as spinning and weaving. Spartan women were taught reading and writing and such tasks were relegated to the Helots or Perioeci. We will write a custom essay on Spartan Women specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now A girls education was equally as brutal as the mens. Teaching a woman to read and write? What a terrible thing to do! It’s like feeding a vile snake on more poison. -A Menander’s (an Athenian) reaction to a Spartan women’s education. Spartan girls from the age of 7 were entitled to an education. This education however was physical more so than academic, but nevertheless must have been extremely important to Sparta as they are the only Greeks to of instituted it as state policy. The girls attended their own sisterhood barracks where they were taught gymnastics, wrestling and survival skills. It is said that the girls participated in the same activities as the boys which included many events such as javelin, discus, foot races, and staged battles. In many such events Spartan women usually competed naked in the presence of their male counterparts, and were respected for their athletic feats. Plutarch mentions nude rituals witnessed by young men. Athleticism was also seen as a guarantee that the strong and fit Spartan women would reproduce, and when they bore children, those children would be strong warriors in the making. Marriage for a Spartan woman was an almost non-ceremonial event. During the marriage ceremony, the bride wore a white robe, a veil, and jewellery given to her by her husband’s family. The ceremony usually took place in the groom’s tent and the festivities lasted seven days. If a woman was wealthy enough she could have even had a husband for each house she maintained. The night before the ceremony an abnormal tradition was carried out, the woman was abducted in the night by her suitor, her head was shaved, and she was made to wear mens clothing and lie on a straw pallet in the dark. From there on she would meet with her husband for almost entirely procreative reasons. If she was formerly a girl, she became a woman through marriage and her childhood toys were taken and dedicated to a goddess. Any Spartan man could abduct a wife, which led to a system of polyandry (many husbands, one wife or vice versa) in Sparta. Some arranged marriages were even chosen on the women’s athletic ability. Before marrying, a couple was required to wrestle in public to show their compatibility. If compatible the groom’s father would agree to the marriage, and twelve months after this selection the couple would marry. Spartan women could also take another husband if their first had been away at war for too long, which Plutarch recorded in his writings: When king Leonidas left to fight the Persians he advised his wife and presumably other likely widows: To marry good men and bear good children. (The Ancient World, 1997, p104) While there is no proof one way or another, it seems likely that Spartan marriages were arranged by the parents with little thought for the preferences of the prospective bride or groom, but if Spartan women had no say in the choice of husband they certainly had power and status in every other respect. .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844 , .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844 .postImageUrl , .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844 , .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844:hover , .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844:visited , .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844:active { border:0!important; } .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844:active , .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844 .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u9048d489ba27184f44bfd1aa20b72844:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Islam And Buddhism EssayNot every women in Sparta became married, One group of women existed who were unusually free to go out and about as they pleased, they were known as the Hetairai. These women were trained to become companions for men. They were usually well educated and pretty. Usually they were invited to men’s dinner parties to join in with the discussions and to play music to the guests. (Ancient Greece, 1992, p61) Spartan women usually married when they were eighteen and men usually got married in their mid-thirties, much later than the Greeks. Presumably this was to guarantee healthier and stronger babies rather than a large number, but it meant that ost girls were emotionally stronger when they married. In any event other Greeks clearly believed that Spartan women had far too much power for the good of the state. Plutarch wrote that â€Å"the men of Sparta always obeyed their wives. † Aristotle was even more critical of the influence women had in politics arguing that it was contributing to the downfall of the country. Women did not have a vote in the assembly but seem to have had a lot of influence behind the scene. Womens roles in Sparta were not limited to marriage and procreation. They could own and control their own property and did in fact own more than a third of the land in Sparta. They could dispose of their land as they wished. A woman was expected in times of war to be fierce and overtake her husbands property, and to guard it against invaders and revolts until her husband returned; hence many Spartan women are depicted as warriors. Land ownership for Athenian women was certainly unheard of. Women’s tunics were worn in such a way as to give them a little more freedom of movement and the opportunity to reveal a little leg and thigh if they so desired and went anywhere in their city as they pleased. Spartan women were forbidden to wear any kind of makeup or enhancements. Athenian women wore heavy, concealing clothes and were rarely seen outside the house. The end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth centuries BC saw a decline in the number of men relative to women. If boys left home for good at age 7 and husbands and fathers spent the greater part of their life in military training with other men, the impact of all this on the lives of women must have been enormous. Daughters inherited along with sons. Unfortunately, when we get down to the particulars there are some gaps in our knowledge. Attempts were made to get rid of the practice of needing a dowry to get married. It is possible that endeavours by fathers to get around the law have led to considerable confusion in our eyes as to what was a gift and what was a dowry. Daughters may have inherited half of what a son inherited; it is also possible that if you combine dowry with inheritance they ended up with a full share of the estate. Spartan and Athenian women lived much of their lives far removed from the men of their societies. Athenian men spent time away discussing politics and philosophy, but when they went home they expected obedience from their wives and no Athenian citizen would ever admit to taking advice from a woman. Spartan men were absent even more; while they were the only ones who held official office everyone acknowledged the influence women had in decision making. Spartan women may have gained freedom from male domination, but they were even less likely to get any emotional support from their marriages. The men of Athens had to be the boss in public, but there was no such social requirement in the home behind closed doors. The overt power of the husband was replaced in Sparta by an unspoken but very real control by the state. Spartan women remained breeding machines whose purpose was to produce the male soldiers the state needed to defend itself against revolt by the Helots. If babies were seen as unfit when examined at birth they were abandoned on Mt Taygetos and left to die. Mother love was replaced by a mother’s pride in her son’s bravery in battle and disgust with any sign of cowardice. Come home with your shield or upon it† was reputed to be the advice one woman gave her son as he went off to war. She may well have been speaking on behalf of all Spartan women. Another freedom that Spartan women had over other Greek women was their ability to fraternize in public with Spartan men. Along with exercising with the opposite sex came the ability to trade conversat ion and political witticisms with them. In fact, Spartan women were notoriously known for their razor-sharp wit and outspoken natures. This freedom turned heads amongst the other Greeks, and they, of course, disapproved greatly. .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371 , .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371 .postImageUrl , .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371 , .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371:hover , .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371:visited , .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371:active { border:0!important; } .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371:active , .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371 .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf0fa282d5cc2e5314a58869d6740e371:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Enrollement of Institutions of Higher Education EssayBut, if the physical health of a Spartan woman was seen as vital to her ability to produce strong Spartan boys, then her mental and intellectual might have been seen as just as important. When Sparta deteriorated in the 4th century B. C. , their fall from grace was blamed in part on the inclusion of their women in public life, their ability to own land, and thus their supposed ability to exert a certain amount of power over their men. It seems that the general consensus was, if you gave a Greek woman an inch, she would take a mile. Social and economic status was restricted within the Spartan women’s community. This status was only of importance in issues such as marriage, as a Spartan woman could only marry within the Spartan community as well as within their own social and economic status. The jobs Spartan women were eligible for also depended on their economic/social status. It was unusual for well born women to have a job outside of the house, except some did become priestesses in the temples, whilst the lower born women usually became midwives, shopkeepers, dancers or musicians. The worship of Artemis was common throughout the Greek world; only in Sparta was a warrior spirit and sense of equality allowed to flourish among the upper-class Spartan men and women. Plutarchs Moralia contains a collection of Sayings of Spartan Women, including a laconic quip attributed to Queen Gorgo (wife of Leonidas 1): when asked by a woman from Attica why Spartan women were the only women in the world who could rule men, she replied Because we are the only women who are mothers of men. In conclusion, Spartan women were seen as a very important asset to Sparta’s secure future compared to Athenian women as they were respected and expected to produce strong baby boys who would eventually serve in one of the most well known armies of ancient times. Bibliography †¢ http://www. mnsu. edu/emuseum/prehistory/aegean/culture/womenofsparta. html †¢ http://www. womenintheancientworld. com/women%20in%20sparta. htm †¢ http://elysiumgates. com/~helena/Women. html †¢ http://ancienthistory. suite101. om/article. cfm/the_women_of_sparta †¢ http://people. uncw. edu/deagona/amazons/spartanwomen2. htm †¢ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Sparta †¢ http://books. google. com. au/books? id=c3k2AN1GulYCdq=spartan+womenprintsec=frontcoversource=bnhl=enei=GwvRS86cFNGIkAW855yoDAsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=4ved=0CBEQ6AEwAw#v=onepageqf=false †¢ http://www. mnsu. edu/emuseum/prehistory/aegean/amazons/amazonwho. html †¢ Spartan image- http:// www. mlahanas. de/Greeks/images/SpartanWomanShieldBarbier. jpg