Research Paper On Sparta

Life in Ancient Greece: Spartan men and women Bernice Gelin Professor Shepardson November 18, 2008 World History The ancient city of Sparta has had a lasting impression on the world today. Sparta was a model of discipline, conformity, militarism, and virtue. It was a prominent city state, but its society was unique from typical life in Greece. Sparta was a military state, believing in having only the strong and not the weak to maintain the army. At the time of birth, every child considered a property of the state, especially males. If a male child appeared deformed, the infant was left on a mountain at a place called the Apothatae. Spartan values of the state led them to develop

Sparta: The Superior polis During the Greek Empire. During 750-500 B.C.E, Ancient Greece is a place that is known for some city-states, called poleis. Each polis differ particular on economically, politically, and military, When in doubt, however, the city-states did not get along. Two of the most well known and powerful city-states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta is far better than Athens on the grounds that their armed force was strong and defensive.

Athens vs. Sparta 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.

Women in Ancient Greece Women’s role in Greece can be seen when one first begins to do research on the subject. The subject of women in Greece is coupled with the subject of slaves. This is the earliest classification of women in Greek society. Although women were treated differently from city to city the basic premise of that treatment never changed. Women were only useful for establishing a bloodline that could carry on the family name and give the proper last rites to the husband. However, women did form life long bonds with their husbands and found love in arranged marriages. Women in Athenian Society Women are “defined as near slaves, or as perpetual minors” in Athenian society (The Greek World, pg. 200). For women life didn’t

Athens vs. Sparta 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.

The ancient civilization of Greece contained many different city-states; two of these city-states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta and Athens were different in their values, politics, and societies. Sparta was focused on their military, discipline, and to have a strong state. Athens was a democratic state that was peaceful and where women were open to culture and democracy. How do these two city-states differ?

Athens and Sparta both had very different economies. Their economies were both based around different things. Athens economy was based around trade. A quote that reinforces this statement is found in Document 9, excerpt from “The History of the Peloponnesian War” by Thucydides a quote from that excerpt states “He made a law that no son was obligated to support his father unless he had been taught trade..” this quote show how greatly trade influences the Athenian economy. On the other hand Sparta was completely different. Sparta mostly depended on farming and strengthening their military A paragraph from Document 8, an excerpt from “ Parallel Lines: Lycurgus” by Plutarch reinforces this by stating “Each man’s

Women in Athens lived in a society dominated by men. They had very few rights and essentially, there was nothing equal about it. The education of Athenian women was to say the least, lacking. Unlike men, they weren’t taught in school by actual teachers. They were taught at home by their mothers or tutors of some sort. Much of their education focused on household skills and many men viewed women as being inferior. Women were held back from participating in the sports that were ever so popular with the men.

     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.

Sparta's Agoge The Agoge was a harsh, tough education program which all men of Sparta were required to participate in. The agoge would begin when a Spartan boy was at the age of seven. All boys would receive the same education which was harsh, brutal, and torturing. It was designed to condition the boys to become ready to fight rather than learning about traditional subjects. In the end, some Spartan boys turned into strong hoplite soldiers while unsuccessful boys were outcast from society. Despite the hardships many Spartan boys had to endure, the agoge would prove very useful for Sparta. Out of all the Greek poleis, Sparta was the one known for having the strongest army.

Sparta is considered by many people as the greatest and most powerful city in Greece for its great strength and power among the other city-states on the Peloponnese peninsula. When you look at Sparta compared to its rival city-states, is it really as great as we think it is? After

Athens was the warm welcoming city-state in Ancient Greece, most unlike the horrific neighboring city-state, Sparta. Athens was full of life and the people living there appreciated all of what others had to offer: arts, music, life, and new cultures. Athens offered many activities for all men, women, and children. Sparta was cruel, disgusting, and uninviting… each day would be a struggle to survive. Children were tortured to become “stronger”and all men would be fighting and stealing things just to survive. Women were forced to go through training to become strong, to male healthy babies, it was tough. When women were forced to produce offspring, many of the “weak” babies were left to die. Athens was more inviting and had many more fun things to do, which is why Athens is a better place to live.

Even being from the same time frame in history, the Roman women from Sparta and the Greek women from Athens were completely different. Their ideas, habits, and daily activities were majorly impacted by the community they lived in. Some of the main differences between the lifestyles of these women include the rights they were given under the government, the daily and professional attire of the women, and the marital and divorce rituals of each of the women. Though they had many different things about them, they also had some similarities that connected them together. Both the Athens and Sparta have two completely different statuses for their women in the society, in many different aspects as well.

Sparta and Athens were both prominent city-states or poleis in Ancient Greece. Sparta, meaning “sown land” or “broom shrub” was also called Lacedaemon and was located on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia on the southeastern Peloponnese. Sparta was a model oligarchy and a very unique city-state because of its social system which was entirely focused on military training. “The Spartans were secretive and anti-intellectual. They rarely let in visitors and left behind few writings. Most modern knowledge of Sparta comes from information preserved by the Ancient Greek writers Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Aristotle, and Plutarch who were not themselves Spartans” (Sacks). Their inhabitants were classified as spartiates (Spartan citizens), mothakes (non-free Spartan men raised as citizens, perioikoi (free men), and helots (non-Spartan serfs and slaves). Sparta was a subject of fascination or disgust for Ancient Greeks. Athens was also a Greek city-state and is one of the oldest cities in the world that has been continuously inhabited for 5,000 years. Athens is named after the Goddess Athena, their patron. Athens stands on what was once a defensible settlement, called an acropolis. Athens was known

POLITICAL DIFFERENCES OF SPARTA AND ATHENS Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful and well known cities among all the Greek nations. Most would find it easier to find more similarities among these two groups of mighty people. But there are some differences between these two power houses. For instance the way that these cities were governed and their political procedures and functions were quite different from each other.