FEMALE
PURSUITS
Despite a lack of access to formal
education, some women pursued many
of the same intellectual and physical
activities as men. In Athens (unlike in
neighboring Sparta), educational and
sporting activities were carried out in a
strictly segregated environment.AT PLAY
This fifth-century B.C.
hydria (water vessel)
features nude women
washing in a basin,
possibly after engaging
in some type of physical
exercise. They hold
strigils, instruments used
by athletes to clean
their skin. Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston
ACI