Personal Narrative: My Life In Sparta

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

Sparta was a very unique society which could be defined as Utopian Militaristic State. Spartan boys all were devoted their entire lives from an early age to the Spartan army. This heavily militarist society was also unique in terms of women's position in society. They had much more rights and freedoms than other Greek women, but in terms of family life they were not so lucky. Women were living separately from spouse during their whole lives. Their husbands were only coming to home at night, they were secretly removed after a short time. And also they were separated from their sons for military training. Women had to be strong in family and social life. Spartan lawgivers wanted girls to receive a good education in order to prepare them to their womanhood duties.

Brayden Drury Coming of age can mean many different things for various cultures. Coming of age is the process of maturing or entering into adulthood. Most cultures and religions have specific events, ceremonies, or celebrations associated with coming of age. For a boy in ancient Sparta, coming of age includes many spiritual, physical, intellectual, and emotional elements to overcome. Coming of age in Sparta started moments after birth.

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.

This tradition allowed for a city-state with an exceptional army, women with a substantial amount of liberties, and a gene pool that was superior to those around it. The Spartan way of life was one that focused itself on the importance of a physically strong society, and the people of this city-state went to great lengths to ensure that they maintained this tradition. As a result of this mentality, the authoritative figures of Sparta gave women more freedoms, as society did not see them as inadequate versions of men, but more as the mothers of society, whose job was to be the backbone of the strong Spartan army by birthing and raising robust young men. In fact, this lifestyle was so prevalent and noticeable that soldiers and writers from Athens and other outside lands took notice. Many documents from almost all areas around the Mediterranean Sea demonstrate this, especially in Xenophon’s “The Constitution of Sparta”, which describes the importance of physical ability in Sparta, as written by an Athenian soldier. The people of Sparta preserved this physical superiority in many ways. Boys moved into barracks at the young age of seven to train and become a part of the renowned Spartan army, and mothers abandoned babies with medical issues as soon as possible. This not only ensured that all citizens were able-bodied and working to improve the city-state at all times, but improved the gene pool of the civilization by eliminating any possible genetic disorders with visible phenotypes within the society. All these factors contributed to the health, wellness, and overall success of the Spartan

Over the course of history there have been several attempts at defining what it means to be the ideal person, and by extension how to create an ideal society. In doing so, several characteristics are generally defined, some of which are courage, moderation and self control. The concept of courage has been fluid in its meaning but has been highly valued across ancient Greece. In this paper I will be observing two societies and the ideals that they hold for generating better people, as well as what values they would want to instil. One city is theoretical, and one real: Kallipolis, Socrates’ economic city, the city that would essentially be the opposite of Athens if it were established, and Sparta.

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.

In the fifth century BCE, Sparta developed in the Eastern Mediterranean. Sparta was limited in size (population), but its military was famous for its toughness. Even with a small population of an army of about 8,000 men, they managed to defend Sparta from incoming attacks. Unfortunately, Spartan boys were forced to join and receive training from age 7. Like the battle of Thermopylae, Sparta was able to shield itself, but all the warriors died.

Imagine fighting to the death with your peers in 8th grade, battle training from the age of 7, and never meeting your parents for 14 years! Well, all Spartan boys had to go through this and much more. They had to fight against their peers to survive in harsh conditions of the Spartan culture. The Spartan civilization was one of the most well renowned Greek city-states. This civilization had the strongest warriors and defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War.

The progressing city-state of Sparta was infamous for many things. Sparta was known for its powerful army, strict guidelines, and eccentric values. Due to these unique characteristics, residents of Sparta had to keep up to continue its legacy. Being a resident of Sparta meant taking numerous risks yet for reasonable causes. These risks were taken for the progression of the city state. Risks included krypteia mindlessly killing Helots to prevent them from rebelling. Despite this lack of respect for human life, Sparta had atoned for this by providing relevant teachings for women and lessons on survival. Sparta, being a city state with a small population , was primarily focused on winning battles. Thus they perpetrated many feats that were meant to benefit this major cause. Although there was a lack of respect for human life in Sparta, the strengths of a Spartan education are clearly greater than its weaknesses because of the education provided for women and teachings on survival.

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.

Spartacus is one of the most well known heroes to this day. He lead a whole slave revolt that lasted for two years. His history with Rome is so complicated, it's hard to understand how he ever became a gladiator. He fought alongside the Romans for a time, and then switch sides and defeated the Romans in numerous battles. Spartacus will forever be remembered as the hero gladiator that helped slaves escape and was the man that defeated legions of Romans time and time again.

I’ll start with the unavoidable and irrefutable challenge that I, a new bother will endure due to my lack of experience. My inexperience with Greek life will be one of my biggest challenges. However, I have forever enjoyed and been up to dispute my challenges. In order to grow as an individual and as an organization, challenges must be attacked head on, overcome and as a result one grows. It’s kind of like building muscle. You lift causing small tears in your muscle tissues which cause the soreness following your workout but as your body heals itself you come back with bigger and stronger than ever before. Therefore, I believe my strongest assets that I bring to this organization as a new member is my strongly motivated mentality, hardworking

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.

Citizenship in Athens and Sparta had their similarities however, were in-fact quite different. Citizenship in Sparta was generally only for males but not all men living in the city state could be citizens. In order to be accepted as a full Spartan citizen one had to; show that both parents were descended from the original Dorian's, completed all six stages of the 'agoge', which was the Spartan military and educational system and be a member of the 'syssitia' a military club. Spartan citizens were called 'homoioi' meaning peers or equal and were full-time soldiers, forbidden to do any other work. Total loyalty was expected to the state and authority. Other requirements included: being physical fit and prepared for war, they were expected to attend the assembly to vote on issues and any man would much rather prefer death that defeat in war. In Athens, to prove citizen eligibility, an