Athens Vs Sparta Essay

Sparta’s government was said to have a mixture of the major types of government which is oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy. While Athens seems to only have a democracy. In Document 2, an excerpt from “The Spartan Constitution” by Aristotle there’s a quote that states “they praise Lacedaemon because it is made up of oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy..” This quote tells exactly what type of government Sparta had. It’s also said that Sparta is the foundation for the governments we now have in the world. Athens on the other hand had a democracy as stated in Document 3, an excerpt from “Funeral Orations” by Pericles a quotes from this excerpt states “it is true that our government is a democracy, because it’s administration is in the hands, not of the few, but of many..” This quote clearly states that the type of government Athens has is a

The most distinctive feature of Greek political culture lay in the extent of popular participation in political life that occurred within the city-states. This participation was based on the unique ideas of “citizenship,” of free people running the affairs of state, and of equality for all citizens before the law. Political participation in Greek city-states was much wider than in Persia, but it varied considerably between city-states and over time. Early in Greek history, only the wealthy and wellborn had the rights of full citizenship, but middle- and lower-class men gradually obtained these rights in some city-states.

During the times of Ancient Greece, two major forms of government existed, democracy and oligarchy. The city-states of Athens and Sparta are the best representatives of democracy and oligarchy, respectively. The focus of the times was directed towards military capabilities, while the Athenians were more interested in comfort and culture. It was the oligarchy in Sparta that put a war-like attitude as its first priority and best met the needs of Ancient Greece. These factors empowered Sparta and led to the development of an authoritative and potent state. Other contrasting issues included women’s rights, social classes, and value of human life.

Ancient Greece was comprised of small city-states, of which Sparta and Athens were two. Athens was renowned as a center of wisdom and learning. The people of Athens were interested in arts, music, and intellectual pursuits. Sparta, on the other hand, was recognized for its military strength. A Spartan's life was centered on the state, because he lived and died to serve the state. Although the competing city-states of Sparta and Athens were individually different as well as governmentally diverse, they both managed to become dominating powers in Ancient Greece.

Athens and Sparta were two powerful city-states, different from each other where Athenian democracy focused on economic advancement, while Sparta oligarchy focused on military force. Democracy is a system of government where citizens have the right to vote, whereas oligarchy is a system of government where only a group of people is in control and only their opinion or decision that were taken into consideration. Leading to the thesis statement that people are better served by Athenian democracy than the Spartan oligarchy, supported in three evidence points. Firstly, Athenian democracy allowed citizens participation in government that gave them freedom to vote and take part in legislation. Secondly, the Athenian government provided Athenian men better education, by being taught how to read and write to reach their academic advancement. Lastly, the Athenian democracy’s contribution to Athens military advancement that protected its citizens.

The history of Sparta was the great exception to the political evolution of the city-states. Despite the fact that Spartans in the end were all Greek, Sparta failed to ever move in the direction of democratic rule. Instead, its government evolved into something more closely resembling a modern day dictatorship. If the Spartans had followed the other Greek city-states in their political practices they might have been able to avoid their own downfall and could have even become stronger.

Sparta and Athens were two significant Greek poli, whom each had a unique form of government and lifestyles of their respective citizens and residents. Sparta was a warrior based society, with a strong militia and unique military formation which won them many battles. Athens, on the other hand, was an education based society, who’s citizens could often be found debating politics or sharing ideas about philosophy in the market place. These two societies, despite both being distinctly Greek, could be considered polar opposites because of their governments, the rights, responsibilities, and freedoms of each societies men and women. Government in Athens and Sparta is one often overlooked aspect of these civilizations, but it is equally important

Athens is a better Greek city to live in than Sparta. Sparta is just a place for war and fighting. They don’t care much about anything. They just leave you when you are an infant and make you join a military school at 7! Athens, however, does care.

For Athens, it revolves around a selfish aristocrat view to keep the aristocrats in power without furthering the middle class. In 621 BCE, a lawmaker Draco was advised to set a constitution; the constitution has more depth to its format rather than the opposing eastern Code of Hammurabi. In comparison, however, being more in depth does not make it better in any means at all. The code is not stagnant, and if a society is flourishing then there is no need to change from stagnant social stratification. In 594 BCE, Solon was granted to do the “lifting of burdens”, and inequalities that fall into place with such a constitution like Draco’s law. For instance, Solon outlawed debt slavery and made the punishment of theft to be a fine ten times more in value than what the stolen product is. Life is looking up for the Athenian in the ancient world, but by not having a set constitution that changes within a short time span in the transferring of powers of rulers it does not help the mindset of the citizen. The Athenian citizen does not know what their duty should be due to the inconsistent constitution, therefore does not know in which manner they should act in hopes of furthering the prosperity of the

Athens and Sparta of ancient Greece were significant historic examples of culture and government that have many lessons for us to learn. A brief comparison of the two finds stark contrasts but also some interesting correlations to modern day political systems.

Ongoing governance issues in Athens led to a second set of reforms by Cleisthenes. He broke up the established political classes of the time and ushered the most direct form of democracy yet. Following his reforms, it was possible for any citizen of Athens to take a direct part in government via the large judiciary or vote in a one-man one-vote arrangement. (Farrar,

The idea of sacrificing the needs of the individual Athenian for the benefit of everyone in Athens was at the core of the inner workings of its democracy, thus, a distinct privilege was placed on engaging in the political atmosphere. (Of course, said privilege of voting and serving on juries was only afforded to male natural-born citizens, but that is beside the point.) “Our public men have, besides politics, their

Athens and Sparta were incompatible by principle. Athens was admired for its progressive philosophy, art, music, science, and politics while Sparta was primarily known as a military dictatorship. While sitting back in my chair to consider whether I would choose to live in Athens or Sparta, it is sure; there is a natural answer to this question. However, it would ill serve the purpose of this journal to not ponder about these poleis. Life in Sparta must have been difficult from the beginning to the end. The idea of handing over a baby for an elder to decide if the child will pass the first evaluation seems incomprehensible. Laws may have existed to enforce the approval process, but how did parents accept their position in Spartan culture? Were

Within the walls of ancient Athens stood a revolutionary concept: Democracy. Rule of the people by the people.Head south into the peloponnese and one would find Sparta, a city forged in war, where their only walls were their soldiers shields, ruled by dual kings. From these cities rose powerful alliances forever at odds with each other. Leading the Delian League was Athens, with hopes of expanding her empire and its wealth. Against them stood the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta, with hopes to dismantle Athens empire and take control of Greece. Although the two city-states of Athens and Sparta shared a similar form alliance-based expansion, they polarized each other's political systems, and deriving from the cities political values came

The last Olympic swimmer just touched the wall and the race has ended. Cameras are replaying every single movement from the race and a winner has been clearly decided. Just as these Olympic swimmers will gain a medal for placing, ancient Athens had numerous accomplishments of its own. Athens “prosperity … was due in large part to its stable and effective government” (SOURCE 1). When analyzing the history of ancient Athens, is easy to see how the accomplishments of a democracy, Greek philosophy, and Greek literature all shape Athens.