Sparta Vs Athens Essay

They were not sent off to marry or have children at a young age and most did not get married until they gained full citizenship in Sparta, which was at the age of eighteen. Unlike other women in ancient Greece, Spartan women were given some sort of a public education. Spartan girls undoubtedly were educated in a sense other than trained to perform sedentary, and in ancient Greece exclusively feminine tasks (Cartledge, Paul, 91). Sparta was the only city that offered an educational program for both boys and girls (Pomeroy, Sarah, 3). These women were educated with knowledge of arts, music, philosophy, and many more subjects.

The spartans use value, independence, and only a little bit of academics. They used their values for strength, as well as, regulating marriages. They used independence for freedom and exercising or trying to get fit. Lastly, academics, the Spartans didn’t really care about their education. All they were taught to do was read and write.

The female citizens of Sparta were among the very few Greek women afforded public education. It was traditional for Greek girls to stay home and take care of the household while the boys went to school. However, in Sparta the women of the household were allowed to go to school if they wished. They would learn art, philosophy, war, and music alongside the boys.

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.

Athens had a form of government called a democracy which is what we practice here in the United States. They would put all their citizens name in a pot and randomly choose people as representatives. In ancient Sparta on the other hand, they practiced a form of government called an oligarchy. This means that they had a few people ruling, as in fact they had two kings. The issue there is that the power remains in that family line and cannot change, whereas in Athens it can fluctuate.

Education of Spartan boys was known to be brutal and demanding, both physically and mentally. A key part of the education system in Sparta that differed to the rest of the Greek world was who educated the children. The boys were taught in a communal environment that included both rich and poor backgrounds so that equal training was distributed to the children to serve their state to their highest potential. To add to this communal environment, Lycurgus set the law that the boys were to be taught by high standing male individuals in the the society and enrolled in groups in agélai to be trained in discipline and military training into the agoge which ensured that the boys would not be taught by their fathers and slaves. It was traditional in other Greek states to enrol their male children with a tutor and receive their education through the means seen fit by the father and not of the state.

Spartan women received education to brighten their minds and even physical training to keep them strong there training would consist of mostly some type of gymnastics, choral song and dance. Spartan women were trained this way to keep their bodies in shape to produce healthy babies who would grow into great, strong warriors. Women had more rights than even the

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.

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.

Athens: In Athens, the government was controlled by the people. They elected all of their officials into office. These offices were the Ekklesia, the Boule, the Heliaea, and the Magistrates. You had to be a male adult Athenian citizen to take part in government. Sparta: In Sparta, any free male citizen had the right to be active in public life and government.

The education that was provided to Spartan boys was vastly different from that which was provided to Athenian girls. Spartan boys were sent to attend military school where they were to go through a training regiment named the ‘agoge’(Andrews, 2013). They were sent to the agoge at the age of seven and were mostly meant to learn about warfare, stealth, hunting and athletics but they were also taught how to read, write and understand poetry, these boys would

Sparta life was simple. The focus was on obedience and war. Slavery made this possible by freeing the young men from household and industrial duties and allowing them to focus on their military duties. Young boys were trained to be warriors; young girls were trained to be mothers of

All the Spartan men are professional soldiers so all manual labor was always done by slaves, which was known as the Helots. When the Spartan men reached the age of twenty they would go into war and they had to wear a bronze helmet, breastplate, and ankle guards. The soldiers also had to carry a round shield, a long spear and a sword. During each war there was 10,000 men that would participate and fight in during the war. The teenage boys that demonstrated the most leadership potential for the participation in Criteria, which was also the secret police force.

In Athens, the woman’s education was mainly focused around the arts. Girls were sometimes taught how to play instruments, gymnastics, and dancing. Girls in ancient Greece were educated at home. Their mothers taught them how to cook, sew, and do household chores. Their fathers, brothers, or husbands sometimes taught them how to read and write. In Sparta, their education was different. Spartan girls would go to military school and learn not just how to read and write, but also physical activities.

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?