The Women of Ancient Greece

Overall, it is obvious that in all of Ancient Greece women did not have nearly as many rights that women today do. However, the land called Sparta was home to women with much more power and say than those of Athens. For instance, the females in Athens were at the very best considered in the class of a prostitute. They were only offered an education if they were hetaerae women. The simple role of all women throughout Ancient Greece was to be producers of healthy children and caretakers of the household. However, Sparta women had less restrictions and because the men were almost always away in battle or with other military men the women had the power to take charge and make more decisions for the community. Although Spartan females had more freedom than their other Greek sisters they were not appreciated or treated with a fair amount of respect. However, this is how things worked at this time. Unfortunate, but true.
Although Greece was a very advanced and progressed nation, they failed to establish hardly any women's rights and they made little progression for equality among men and women. I believe that this was due to the need for healthy and quantitative reproduction. I'm unsure why these women were considered unintelligent and less than that of a man. Perhaps it was the fact that throughout history men have been stronger and more powerful leaders. It makes sense that as time moved along men saw themselves as the most appropriate leaders for everyone and that because of this, they were thought to be wiser.
Assuming that art was a reflection of the way people interacted and the social setting of the people, I believe that art probably consisted of images of strong male leaders and soilders. As far as art portraying Ancient Greek women goes I would most likely assume that they were images of elegant while still insignificant females. Also, because pregnancy and reproduction was such a giant role of a Greek woman, it is possible that this was expressed through art as well.