Even though the Athenians and Spartans have similarities such as sharing the same language, religion, and both living in Ancient Greece they have several differences. For example, Sparta focused on military training, whereas Athens focus was on education, and the roles for men and women such as their responsibilities and daily life. For Spartans their military was one of their main priorities. It’s focus was on their army and loyalty to their state. At the age of seven years old boys would begin their training and socialization programs by being removed from their homes. Sparta had a system that focused on endurance, discipline and their responsibilities known as Agoge. The Agoge helped shape the men of Sparta to be warriors. At the age of …show more content…
Children were also encouraged to fight one another to strengthen each other up. It wasn’t just the Spartan boys that would engage in the hazing, but young girls as well. Sparta considered their military to be so strong that the ultimate disgrace would be to surrender during battle. This is because they had spent their entire lives, shaping their soldiers to be brave and never give up. Proving that their military was one of their proudest accomplishments. Education was very important to Athenian society. When an Athenian girl turned of the age of seven they were taught to read and write by their mothers. Mothers also taught their daughters to do things around the house such as weave, spin, cook, embroider, and how to have dinner parties for guests. Athenians believed that if they taught young girls how to act and behave early on they would grow up to become good wives. For boys almost all of them would be required to attend school, and if a family was wealthy enough, they would hire a private tutor, which would also teach their sisters at times. They would either do this or they would go to school in a teacher's house. School supplies included sitting on wooden benches and writing on wax tablets with a stick. Instructors would also teach children how to have manners along with reading, writing, sports and music. Most students would learn arithmetic unless they were to become bankers then they would study more advanced academics. Men would use pebbles or even their own fingers
Spartans military was a hard core and well rounded out military in its time. Part of the reason why they were so successful is because of their rigorous training each boy had to go through. Why I said boy is because the Spartan military training would start at age 7 for a chosen boy. The boy gets chosen to live in spartan society at birth. If the Spartans did not believe that the boy would be rounded out for their society they would leave the boy to die. During the boys training hazing and fighting was encouraged to help improve strength among the boys. During spartan training each boy was mainly taught mathematics, music, and how to fight. Also during their training, they would learn how to steal but without getting caught. If they were caught they would not be punished for stealing but only for getting caught. This type of training continues until the boys would become men. Which is at the age of 20 for the Spartan's. At age 20 Spartan men would have to pass a series of demanding
The Roles and Responsibilities of groups in an Athenian Ancient Society. What were the objectives of education in Ancient Athens, and what were the roles and responsibilities for young boys throughout their education? What were women’s roles and responsibilities in the city-state of Ancient Athens? In the Attica area of Ancient Greece around 500bce-200bce was a powerful democratic city-state called Athens. In ancient Athens, young women and girls learnt household tasks like weaving and sewing. On the other hand, Athenian boys learnt how to have a healthy body and healthy mind.
Spartans were very strict and set high expectations for their men in war. Taken from their families at the young age of 7 to train, the boys were whipped and starved. Spartans also enslaved people, called helots. The innocent helots were killed without warning. Spartans were so
The city-states Athens and Sparta were rivals in ancient Greece. Geographically the two were very close to each other, but they had a very different economy, cultural values, and way of governing. Both city-states had two very different ways of doing things. I will be highlighting the major differences.
As we look back upon the two significant differences in the governmental systems of Sparta and Athens, there are also many other characteristics that distinguish the differences and similarities of these two city states. The difference in land as well as population perceives a relative historical comparison. Sparta lacked land area and was forced to seek other land in the fertile plain of Messenia. Although, if we look at the Athens, we see that they had no issues with plentiful land, as they possessed large and populous territory.
Cultural Beliefs Sparta is known in history as a powerhouse of militaristic power in Ancient Greece. In those times, Sparta was a constant in everyone’s mind, being included in almost anything to do with the topic of war. Raised from the notation that warfare is the complete center of life, it found its way into the culture of the Spartan people inevitably. Spartan people had the mindset that they as a whole collectively needed to be ready for battle, and this differed from the Athenian mindset, causing both to become very much the enemies of each other. Sparta’s cultural beliefs contributed to their rise to power due to their cultural values and education.
The government in Sparta followed a very different coarse than that of the Athenians. It was controlled by an oligarchy in which the power was held by a group of five men called ephors. Working below the ephors was the Council of Elders and an Assembly. Male citizens over age sixty could serve on the Council while anyone, male or female, over the age of twenty could be a member of the Assembly. Though the citizens had little say in the decisions made by the government, the system worked effectively. Over the years, the Spartan's brutal reputation in war grew so great that other nations and city-states were too frightened to attack Sparta even though the Spartan army was no larger then eight thousand men. The Spartan Constitution called for all men to begin their military education at the age of seven, where they were trained to be tough and self-sufficient. Every man in the army fought with a great deal of passion for his country. Life in Sparta may have been rough, but the rest of the Greeks envied the Spartans for their simplicity, straight forwardness, and fanatical dedication. The beliefs of Sparta were oriented around the state. The individual lived and died for the state. The combination of this philosophy, the education of Spartan males, and the discipline of their army gave the Spartans the stability needed to survive in Ancient Greece.
One answer is in the the system of agoge, or could be called as Sparta military school. However, many people think that the Agoge is an awful and harsh environment. Well, in this essay, I will explain how the agoge strengths outweigh the weaknesses. Physical Fitness is very important for a soldier, Spartan education decided to use it in their lessons. Instead of learning Science,
It was ruled by two families which had a dual monarchy. Eventually Sparta decided to take over Messenia and enslave its indigenous people the Helots. The reason for this was because Messenia was fairly good for agriculture which was something very rare since only about 20 percent of ancient Greece was farmable. Due to a revolt by the Helots, Spartan leaders decided to become very strict in their ways of ruling. Spartans kings were determined to make every Spartan loyal to the state. The best choice for this waas to make Sparta a strictly militarized society. Boys were trained at a very young age. An unknown author explains this as “At age 7, Spartans boys entered a rigorous state-sponsored education, military training and socialization program. Known as the Agoge, the system emphasized duty, discipline and endurance”(2009). The purpose of the harsh training of boys and placing them in barracks was for them to be strong and disciplined. Agoge helped transform boys into well trained men capable of taking on any challenges that came their way. It made them both very physically and mentally strong.Taking a child from his family at a young age and training him for years into a warrior made him loyal to his people. What happen if a boy showed signs of defects? Joshua Cole remarks, “At birth, every Spartiate child was examined by officials who determined whether it was healthy enough to
Keep in mind that Sparta was a petite city-state, around 25,000 people, so their military had to be able to defend themselves with an army of around 8,000 men. The threat of attack was almost always on Sparta’s doorstep, both from foreign forces such as the Athenians, and from inside forces like the Helots. The teaching of courageousness helped Sparta survive, and by being very belligerent, helped them win
Sparta was, above all, a military state, and emphasis on military fitness began at birth, imprinted through society and the political system. The education of the Spartan male children prove that the military and war was constantly a huge part of Spartan society, and the laws and systems that Sparta was governed by, only enforced the militaristic attitude into the society of Sparta. That the Spartans needed to be ready for war is proved by the discord between the Spartiate and the helots, who outnumbered and under ranked the Spartans.
Unlike their husbands, Athenian women were forced to stay indoors at all times. They were controlled by their fathers through childhood and by their husbands after marriage. Mostly uneducated, except for learning how to read, they spent their time managing the household and slaves. They were only allowed to leave the house to attend certain religious festivals.
Sparta was ruled by a king or at some point two kings. These two kings were from two separate families of royalty and neither of them had absolute power. The king or kings had to be consulted by the Ephors. The Ephors had a lot of power and authority in the Spartan government. They were a group of five elders, men over the age of 30 who would serve in this position for a year. They had the power to bring up charges against anyone in Sparta, including the king. Unlike Athens who was set on trying to establish a peaceful democratic atmosphere; Sparta was a lot more militaristic and strict. One of the Spartan government’s main priorities was the strength of the Spartan army. They believed that strength, endurance and numbers were a key part in a successful and powerful army. Therefore every Spartan boy at the age of seven would be taken away from their mothers and put into training for the next 13 years.
After an embarrassing defeat at the battle of Hysiai Sparta went through great military change, these changes dramatically changed all other areas of Spartan life, turning Sparta into a military focused state. This militaristic influence impacted greatly on Spartan education, essentially aiming to mass produce the perfect solider. The education and training of Spartan boys aged as young as 7 in the agoge became the crucial
Sparta and Athens societies and values were different as well. As stated in Document E Lycurgus, lawgiver of Sparta, did not allow Spartans to leave the city. This was done because he did not want them to adapt to foreign influences. All of these values/beliefs were based on one thing, to keep the Spartan soldiers strong and disciplined. In Athens Pericles boasts about how Athens is open to all which results in cultural diffusion (Document F). When Athens had festivals everyone except for slaves