Greece saw several different government types in its history. New governments were being established and installed to see which was the most successful in the cities of ancient Greece. Each of cities had monarchical governments implied, oligarchy, and democracy. Democracy and Oligarchy were the most successful types of Greece during that period. Athens had implemented the government of democracy, which served its people best. The people were able to vote and bring in new laws and make decisions by and for the people. Everyone also had a say in his or her city government. Oligarchy was used in the city of Sparta. Very few people ruled under the government type of oligarchy. In Sparta, there was more people, they had a larger, and more …show more content…
The people were highly educated. They were more educated than the people of Sparta were. After the Persian War, the Athenians obtained a “Golden Age in Athens. The city was located near the coast. It had a great navy. It was a leading commercial center. This led to both economic and military strength. The Persian War also radicalized Athenian politics, which resulted in the growth of democracy. Democracy had grown over time in Athens” (Week 2: Section 7: Athenian Democracy). Democracy made its first appearance in 700 B.C. and lasted until 500 B.C. (Week 2: Section 7: Athenian Democracy). The military of Athens was compromised of poor farmers who fought in the Persian War (Week 2: Section 7: Athenian Democracy). In Athenian democracy, the people decided when it was time to go to war, had a say in the construction of implementing laws into their society, and had a say in the city’s economy. The people made these decisions …show more content…
The Athenian women had more political freedom than Spartan women did. Women in the Athens could be politically affiliated and have a say in government. In Sparta, men were predominantly in charge of the government. A Spartan woman’s “central task was reproduction—bearing warrior sons for Sparta. However, to strengthen their body for childbearing, Spartan women were encouraged to take part in sporting events—running, wrestling, discus, even driving chariots” (Week 2: Section 8: Sparta). Athenian women had very little citizen rights. The Athenian law stated, “Women were forbidden to buy or sell land. Both the male and female could obtain a divorce but children remained with the father after the divorce. Wives spent most of their time in women's quarters, not even dining generally with their husbands” (Week 2: Section 7: Athenian Democracy). Spartan women were treated better and had much more rights and freedom rather than Athenian
Her response here shows that Spartan women were brought up to be tough like their male counterparts. Spartan women had more freedoms than the Athenians. For example, unlike the “housebound life of the Athenian matron” , Spartan women were able to go out in public and even interact with other men. Despite both being Greek, women had very different roles to play in their societies. These differences
As a woman one would rather stay in Sparta than in Athens because the women of Sparta got to have sovereignty, mobility/status, rights and respect. The women of Sparta got greater independence than the Athenians because the Spartans believed that in spite of the person’s gender all Spartans had a responsibility to serve the warlike end of Sparta. Furthermore, Spartan women were taught to read, write and protect themselves, they were taught these things just so that they could be independent and so that they would not have to depend on men to do their work for them while they were at war, another reason was so that women could produce strong babies if they were strong. The women got their freedom in exchange of being warriors and guarding their properties.
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 school both boys and girls would learn reading, writing, mathematics, basic-combat, and self-defense. Even Athenian philosophers like Plato and Socrates praised this education system. In Athens only the boys were educated for the most part, so most women went through there lives being illiterate. Other then the blatant gender equality issues the Athenian government had many problems as well. Athens may have had a democracy, but that didn't save the, from corruption.
Who was the better Greek city-state? Athens or Sparta? A question asked for quite some time now, probably since they existed. It’s time we get an answer! If you ask me, I think it was Athens that was the better Greek city state.
Democracy, a form of government, allows the people in their own nationality to vote for people in order for them to become representatives as a result to vote on new laws that would affect their own nationality. One of the many states of Greece, ancient Athens was indeed not truly democratic as a result of not inclusive, other than male citizens, to gain authority in ancient Athens, ¨Demokratia was ruled by male citizens only, excluding women, free foreigners(Metics) and slaves.¨(Document D), therefore ruling Athens was only accessible to male citizen since since women, free foreigners(Metics), and slaves were not allowed to rule as a result of not being male citizens. One of the many states of Greece, ancient Athens, was indeed not truly democratic as a result of not even using the essentials of democracy that is used today, “Thus, by our standards, it was oligarchy, not democracy.¨(Document D), therefore ancient Athens was not using democracy as their form of government, they were using oligarchy,another form of government in which a small group of people has power and control, as their form of government instead of democracy.
Unlike the Romans, Athenians had a strict but fair schedule that allowed them to enjoy citizenship equally. Equally, hard workers have brought Athens power just as much as hereditary leaders. According to Document B all citizens should be allowed to speak their opinion and have a share in election because of the hard work they do to make the city powerful. Athenians allowed poor and common men to win a position in government which was a transition from the wealthy having power to everyone having power.
Women were thought of as dependents of the father or husband. Women lived in gynaeceum: women’s quarters where they could oversee the running of the home and have very little contact with the male world (O’Pry, 2012). Spartan women, on the other hand, seem to have a bit more freedom and were able to own property. Sparta allowed for women to get educated in the same manner as the males. Sparta had a laid back culture and men were to serve in their military.
What is a good person, and how does one achieve the good life? These were the questions asked by the ancient Greeks. Arete, or excellence, was what the Greeks strove for in everything. In a quest for excellence, the Greeks experimented with new types of politics. Greece was divided into individual city-states that each had their own form of government.
The Romans had a system of indirect democracy where the people had the power to vote for representatives who would advocate for them on the state level. The Greeks had a government in which the people directly were involved in the governmental and legislative process. In addition, both systems were flawed in their representation of their people in their respective governments through neglecting a large portion of their population. Both societies did well to create term lengths to decrease the likelihood of corruption and abuse of power through creating accountability. However, the Greek democracy was a caliber above its counterpart.
Athens, located in southern Greece, experienced an expansion in culture and education during the years between the Persian War and Peloponnesian War (477-431 BC) which set the stage for future expansions of culture in civilizations like Ancient Rome and Europe during the Renaissance. Although Athens was very prosperous, innovative and ruled by strong leaders during their Golden Age, they still didn’t have a perfect government or social structure which puts into question how successful this period actually was. 1st Paragraph (Outline) Pericles 's had great success in beautifying Athens and increasing its culture, through innovative art and architecture, as well advances in theater, which created a Golden Age because the people of Athens experienced
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
The Spartan women were able to own plots of land and run their own households, they even got an education. At Athens, got a little amount of formal education and had less
Clearly, Sparta and Hellenistic women had more freedom and social rights than Athens women. The reason of how this phenomena occurred might be that at that period of time, Athens had the largest population of Attica. This indicates that the in this male community in Athens, the males could carry on almost all of the responsibilities of a society while the women could just stay at home and serve the men while they took part in public life. However, in Sparta and the Hellenistic era which there were not so much people around, women’s role would be more than simply taking care of household and children, they would need to shoulder some responsibility for their society, which brought along freedom and rights for
the idea of representative government began to take root in some city states, specifically Athens. Athenian reformers moved toward democracy, rule by the people. In Athens citizens participated directly in political decision making. However there were limitations on citizenship to ensure that only the most rational people were able to vote. Through the construction of democracy in Athens, equality of all citizens became greater, and the city would become the top democracy of all the democracies.