Comparison Between Athens and Sparta 1
Comparison Between Athens and Sparta
University of the People
22nd June, 2017
Comparison Between Athens and Sparta 2
Athens and Sparta are two rival cities in the ancient Greece. The two cities are opposite in terms of governance as ancient historians view Athens using democracy and Sparta as dictator.
However, in terms of the rule of women in each city, women in Sparta are given huge obligation and that is to conceive a boy that will become a Spartan. On the other hand, in Athens, women are useless as they are not even recognized as Demos. Demos, according to Peter J. Brand (n.d) referred as the rule of the people. To quote, “but only free, native – born males” (p. 29). In the
Delian League, whose purpose
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On the other hand, the Ancient Sparta is located in southern Greece in the Peloponnesus peninsula (Brand, n.d) and has a population of 100,000 where only 8,000 are
Spartiates or adult male Spartan (“Two Faces of Greece”, n.d)
Comparison Between Athens and Sparta 3
Women and Education
In Athens, both boys and girls are educated. Though boys are into mathematics, reading, public speaking, girls, on the other hand are into arts and no political power (“Two Faces of Greece”,
n.d). Moreover, males in Athens spent two years in military training before they reached twenty while women remained prisoners of their own home. Women are considered property of their husbands and few were involved in religious events (“Two Faces of Greece”, n.d). In Sparta, boys, as early as the age of seven, boys were taken from their parents to be in military training
(Brand, n.d). At the age of 20, they will be placed in higher ranks and at the age of thirty, they will become a property of the stat (“Two Faces of Greece”, n.d). They can marry but they will live in the barracks together with their fellow soldiers and their son will have same fate as
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The
Assembly, on the other hand, is open to all citizens except women who are not allowed to
Comparison Between Athens and Sparta 4 participate in politics (“Two Faces of Greece”, n.d). The Assembly passed the laws and made decisions (“Two Faces of Greece”, n.d). During the time of Pericles, the Jury was created so that not only the aristocrats can participate (Brand, n.d). The Spartan government, on the other hand, is dubbed as an oligarchy where only few are running the system (“Two Faces of Greece”, n.d).
However, it also follows monarchy as it is ruled by two kings – the army commander and the other is for religious duties. (Brand, n.d). Moreover, the five Ephors were elected annually to ran the daily operations in Sparta (“Two Faces of Greece”, n.d). They can also veto the rulings made by the Assembly (“Two Faces of Greece”, n.d). The Assembly on the other hand is composed of
30 – year old Spartan males. Like the women Athenians, women Spartans are not allowed to participate in politics(“Two Faces of Greece”, n.d).
Personally, though women have distinct roles in two different cities, patriarchy is prevalent
They believed by training their young at such a young age that they would be the strongest military force there was. (Document H) School was very different for the children of Athens, they did not only educate them in military but in the arts. At the age of 18, Athenians began military training while the Spartans started exceptionally sooner. By doing so, Athenians were prepared for both
Zareef Peeroo Tim Bailey October 15, 2014 Athenians vs. Spartans The differences between government, the role of women, and the education status of Athens and Sparta led to similar yet very different societies residing in the same area; therefor I will deconstruct these issues using an analytical comparative framework. In, Athens and Sparta, it shows all the differences between the Athenians and the Spartans. Although the two City States shared a common heritage, their differences grew so large in their own minds that they were ultimately willing to engage in a life-and-death struggle to support their separate realities (Spielvogel).
The book “Spartan Women” by Sarah B. Pomeroy seeks to reconstruct the lives and the world of the Sparta's women; including how their legal status changed over time and how the women held on to their amazing autonomy. Susan B. Pomeroy generally analyzes ancient texts and to construct the world of most noticed females. Sarah B. Pomeroy is a Classist author in the twenty-first century. Throughout this paper, what will be discussed is: the author credentials, the book’s main aim, the book’s evidence, and the author writing style of the book. Spartan Women would be a powerful credible source to learn the life the Spartan women endured during their time.
In this essay, I would like to answer and discuss the following questions: How did the people in Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community? Who held public office? What rules governed the selection of public office holders? How were two city-states similar in their governmental structures and how did they differ with each other? For the Spartans the right to participate and made important decisions from the entire community were only exercised by the adult and legitimate male citizens of Sparta.
In Athens, women were mostly secluded from many things. They could not vote, leave the house without permission from their husband, and more. In Sparta, the rules for women were much more lenient. Spartan women would train with the men and could own land. In both Sparta and Athens, women could marry and raise children.
I would like to educate the masses on a matter of frequent debate. This is none other then Athens vs Sparta, and I can say the thorough research and facts have lead me to concluded that Sparta is a much better city-state then Athens. Sparta is better then Athens because of its respect of women, more equal school system, integrity of government, treatment of slaves, and superior military. First of all, women were given far more rights than in Athens. First of all, Women in Sparta could own there own land, participate in politics and the olympics among other things.
After all, the women that lived there were granted more rights than most that lived elsewhere. They also allowed girls to get an education. They had a pretty good social structure as well with full citizens at the top, noncitizen in the middle, and slaves at the bottom. Probably one the most renowned facts of Sparta is their military strength. The army was incredible, they even beat Athens in the Peloponnesian War.
A strong military was a top priority in Sparta. At the age of seven the boys in Sparta were taken away to military training. At the age of thirty you would join the professional army and you could marry. Sparta had one of the best, and strongest armies in ancient
In their democracy, every male was required to participate regardless of his social standing. In the Athenian government, “no one, so long as he has it in him to be of service to the state is kept in political obscurity because of poverty.” This represents the Athenians belief that the people should have a role in politics and not just officials. The Athenians wanted to ensure equality and respect throughout the polis. Like the Athenians, the Spartans supported the idea that wealth should not limit a person.
Children were raised to be “Spartans” and mothers were credited to have a large part in this upbringing. Spartans were to respect the elderly, women, as well as the
Greek democracy was able to coexist with military needs and divisions in social classes by rivers, elections, warfare and other things. These things were very important to the greeks. The next couple paragraphs will be talking about some of the things I just listed. One way Greek democracy could coexist is with rivers, The way they coexisted was through this was that the irrigation works needed for these rivers required a government, and since it required this they had to coexist. I got this information from the following quote “The need to control these rivers with dams, canals, dikes, and other irrigation works led people to form complex, organized societies.
Sparta’s women were known for their promiscuity and boldness . On account of Sparta’s strict militaristic lifestyle, their lives were very different compared to regular women in most city-states of Greece. Although their main job is still child-bearing, this job held much more honor and respect because in theory, a Spartan women gave birth to strong, Spartan boys who would in turn become strong and successful soldiers for Sparta’s renowned military . Just as boys were trained to become soldiers from a young age, girls were taught to be the mothers a militant Sparta
For starters, the Spartans lived a frugal, non-luxurious lifestyle, devoting most of their time to the military, while the Athenians lived a more simple, peaceful lifestyle. The second difference between Spartans and Athenians are that Athenians focused on transforming the citizens into educated individuals while the Spartans focused on transforming the citizens into strong, courageous individuals. The third difference is that men only had to serve in the military for 2 years in Athens while men in Sparta basically served in the military for thirty years of their life, training as soldiers before they were even a teenager. The fourth and final difference is all about the rights women had at Sparta and Athens. At Sparta, women were a bit more independent.
Women’s roles has changed dramatically throughout history. By looking at the lives of women, it would be possible to tell how the civilians at that specific period of time were living. In this paper, women’s lives in mainly three civilizations would be discussed, the Sparta, the Athens, and the Hellenistic era. In Sparta, women were needed to live at home, while their husbands remained in military barracks until the age thirty.
Sparta vs. Athens To begin with, Athens and Sparta were both famous in antiquity for their legend, cultures and the character of the people. On the one hand, the two poleis share certain obvious affinities, such as language, geographical scope, a common Greek ancestry etc. On the other hand, they were polar opposites in many aspects, from social spheres, political structures, to military might, which I believe there are some hidden depths in these city-states. Hence, let’s look at how did their people obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community, and who held public office first.