Why Athens Is Better Than Sparta

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

Imagine you had to choose between two very, very risky places to live in. Well, that is what people had to do 7,000 years ago. The two places are called Sparta and Athens, both had very harsh and violent laws. Trust me we are all very lucky to live in the places we do now compare to these two places. Now on to having to choose between the two, the only reason on why I would choose this place is because of the different laws for the men. Obviously, I would say that because I am a boy. I would rather live in Athens because of how fair the laws are compared to Sparta. There are many laws in Athens that are better than Sparta. One of the laws includes how they rule their kingdom. In Ancient Athens, it was run by the people themselves in the city. All of the citizens in Athens were happy they had that they had that freedom. In Ancient Sparta, there was not much freedom from voting for their rulers. The only reason that is because only a small group of wealthy, powerful men could rule Sparta. There are many more reasons why I think that Athens is better/ fairer.

Sparta, a military city-state, and Athens, a very ethical city-state more concentrated on the arts and a better education, were two powerful city-states in Greece and were often at war with one another. Sparta and Athens were very different from the way they ruled, to the way they conducted their normal life. In my opinion, the better place to live depended on who you were. If you were a boy, Athens would be a more beneficial place to live as boys had many privileges during their childhood. Sparta would be the better place for a women to live because the rights they had, were more than an Athenian women had. If you were a man, the best place to live would be Athens, as he would have more freedoms and choices.

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

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.

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.

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.

EDUCATION IN SPARTA HELPFUL OR HARMFUL? Sparta is the strongest city-state in all of Greece. Their army could smash through their opponents with their battle formation, the phalanx. What made it so that this powerful city-state so strong?

Sparta Is far superior to Athens because their army was fierce and protective, girls received an education, and women had more freedom. The sparta believed this made them strong and better mothers. Lastly, is the best polis of ancient Greece because women had freedom.the series of laws written to address these inequities was provided by the statesman draco .In conclusion, Sparta Is the city state In Athens, an understanding of the world and the arts Is just as important as military strength. Yet in both Persian wars, Athens led the two major battles that led to the defeat of the Persia.

Sparta is a better place to have an exciting or joyful life because you would be isolated by mountains and oceans. These mountains and oceans would make Sparta would be in a condition of prosperity and comfort. Sparta also has a great military strength, it is much better than Athens military because the men go to war at the age of 7-30. The Spartan men get more and children become great warriors because they at war and war training for 23 years. Spartan women are better than Athenian women because they have more rights, these rights coclude of being able to marry anyone they wish to. Spartan

Sparta a city filled with uncultured discipline, a city that was filled with the most relentless warriors of all time, the Spartans. The Spartans dedicated their lives to combat and training. Spartan children were removed from the homes of their parents at the age of 7 to begin their training called 'agoge ', which was a military style training regimen to craft and mold them into the warriors the once were. They were trained to endure the worst of elements and trained to overcome cold, hunger and pain. They were accustomed to the to the Spartan code which was to follow orders, fight hard, and without question, die in the line of battle and not withdraw or surrender to the enemy. To achieve success in their military tactics and training Sparta sacrificed all the pleasures many other regions were accustomed to such as, the arts, culture, religion and other various things that made life worthwhile. To the Spartans, their true purpose in this world was war and their entire life was to be focused around it. "From the vigorous iron-hearted warriors of this city-state has come the adjective Spartan. Sparta prided itself not on art, learning, or splendid buildings, but on its valiant men who served their city in the place of walls of bricks." (History of Ancient Greece: Sparta)

So would rather live in Athens or Sparta? Athens is definitely the most superior city-state. Athens and Sparta had lots of things in common, but Athens had and did stuff better than Sparta. Like Athens’

Sparta and Athens are two very different city-states, with Sparta valuing pure military strength, on the other hand Athens boasted their intellectual and artistic skill. However, each of their skills was surprisingly based on the geography around the city-state. With Sparta being located in southern Peloponnese they were exceptionally isolated, comparative to the Athenian land which was located off the coast of the Aegean Sea. Since the Athenians had access to the sea they were able to trade with nearby city states and specialize in areas relating in aquatic studies. Such luxury of trade dismissed the idea of self-reliance in the Athenian land, instead they could grab all they needed from nearby cities. However, the Spartans were very secluded

If I had the choice to live in Athens or Sparta, which would I choose? This is a very interesting question. As a woman, I would be tempted to say Sparta, as Spartan women had freedoms unheard of in Athens. But this freedom comes at a high cost. Being a Spartan mother means handing over your sons at the age of seven to the state to be raised as a warrior. (Brand, n.d., p. 6) I am not sure I could so willingly hand over my child at such a young age knowing he would be a soldier.

Athens and Sparta were incompatible by principle. Athens was admired for its progressive philosophy, art, music, science, and politics while Sparta was primarily known as a military dictatorship. While sitting back in my chair to consider whether I would choose to live in Athens or Sparta, it is sure; there is a natural answer to this question. However, it would ill serve the purpose of this journal to not ponder about these poleis. Life in Sparta must have been difficult from the beginning to the end. The idea of handing over a baby for an elder to decide if the child will pass the first evaluation seems incomprehensible. Laws may have existed to enforce the approval process, but how did parents accept their position in Spartan culture? Were