Essay Comparing Athens And Spartan

Athens is more superior than Sparta through, government, economy, and culture. Athens government is a democracy which means all citizens get to take part. In Athens “ all men are on an equality” which means “ Not of the few but of the many” (doc 3 pericles). Every citizen in Athens is allowed to take part in government, even poor citizens. Unlike Sparta, who has an oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy. The Spartan government is made up of kings and elders only. Not everyone gets to participate.

I would have preferred to live in Sparta because, Sparta made the men strong and brilliant in the military, they had more freedom for all women, and they accepted homosexuality. Firstly, Spartan boys started their military training at the age of 7. The boys lived together under harsh conditions. They were forced to participate in physical, competitions, given not enough food in order to become excellent at stealing food, among other useful survival skills they needed to know

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.

In Athen, “Schools taught reading, writing, and mathematics, music, poetry, sport, and gymnastics”. In Sparta, “Boys were taken from parents at age seven and trained in the art of warfare. They were only given a cloak - no shoes or other clothes, and not enough food so they had to steal (to learn survival skills)”. Overall, I think Athens is better and safer to live in then Sparta.

The most important city-states of Ancient Greece was Sparta and Athens. Both of these city-states shared similar characteristics such as both would remain the foundation for the Greek political world. Both Athens and Sparta had a similar government system. Their members were elected by the people. Athens is said to be the of democracy. Athenians were educated(except girls) but they never knew much about brute force, unlike the Spartans. The Spartans changed their society to remove all social distinction and became the greatest soldiers in Greece. Even girls were trained to become soldiers because for the Spartans there is no such thing as inequality; women can do the job of mem. However, in Athens, girls did not receive an education like the boys in Athen did but, instead, were expected to become housewives. The Greeks never unified

For one, Sparta is a better place to live in because women had more freedom. In the article Mr.Duckworth states,”In Sparta women had rights that other greek women did not have.” women were more free than other women in ancient greece.

Mr.Duckworth states, “ As an Athenian, one could get a good education and could pursue several kinds of art and sciences. Sparta people, on the other hand, were not open to education and they only concentrated on military strength and obedience and they didn’t interact much with the outside world.” This proves that Athens would have been a better place to live because is that Athens has a very open and modern outlook, and that Athenians grow infrastructure wise in the ancient times. Another major reason that Athens would have been a better place to live is because boys were not forced to join the army.

Then,consider how well the military in Sparta were trained because after you served your time in the military you were very well protected from outside threats.Life in Sparta was very good for women they didn’t even have to go to the military! The Spartans were very open minded about the people in their society.Spartan government was a mix of many different kinds of government and if you were a man you also had a chance to be in government after serving military time.

Sparta and Athens were the two strongest city-states and bitter rivals in ancient Greece, but who was better? They had some similarities, but also many differences in culture, government, and lifestyle. Over the years, they did not get along well together. Sparta was superior to Athens because Sparta had superior training, had a more effective military, and gave women more freedom. First of all, Sparta was superior to Athens because Sparta had superior training.

Unlike Sparta which was a government only run by few. This led to a lot of corruption causing a not as stable and tranquil society . People would most likely live in an area where their choices mattered than an area where they had no choice and the government took advantage of them. Moreover, people of Athens had more freedom of choice. All Spartan males were constrained to serving in the military, while the women stayed home and did nothing worth mentioning .

Sparta’s economy was mainly based on agriculture. Sparta kept to itself and trained for battle, and provided an army whenever it was needed. Sparta would be better to live in because the women there had more rights than any other women. They could form friendships

Sparta was a military-based city-state, on the other hand, Athens was a generous, art based community. Athens was a greater city to live in because they had education privileges, a strong government, and had characteristics for agriculture. One reason Athens was a greater city to live in is because they had many education priviledges. According to the article, “Athens and Sparta,” by Mr. Duckworth, “Unlike Sparta, in Athens, boys were not forced to join the army. As an Athenian, one could pursue several kinds of arts and sciences.

Sparta people were not open to education and they only concentrated on military strength and obedience and they didn’t interact much with the outside world.” Athenians valued education while Sparta only valued their military strength. Therefore, Athens would have been a better place to live because they valued education and the arts. Also, the Athenian lifestyle is very modern and easy to adapt to.

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

If I had to pick between living in Athens and Sparta, I would choose Athens. In Athens they had a type of government called democracy. This means all the citizens have the right to say what they think about something. Also if someone is about to make a law and you don’t like it you may be able to prevent it from being a law. In sparta life must have been hard, no visitors were accepted and for a boy after you turned 7 you were brought into the army. The training was tough, you wore light clothes and no shoes. If you did not pass the training they would leave you to die.Any baby born in sparta would be inspected by the elderly, if you were thought to be weak you would be left on the hillside to die. Even if a baby girl is very strong and healthy,