Why Is Athens Better Than Sparta

The city-states Athens and Sparta were rivals in ancient Greece. Geographically the two were very close to each other, but they had a very different economy, cultural values, and way of governing. Both city-states had two very different ways of doing things. I will be highlighting the major differences.

Not so much for the girls, but for the boys they actually had a good education in Athens. They taught all the boys many different subjects like reading, writing, speaking, music, citizenship, and P.E..Now for the girls in Athens, they were educated, just not exactly the same way that the boys were educated. What I mean is that ALL of the girls in Athens were educated by their mothers. The education in Sparta is completely different, for the boys all of their education was training to be a soldier and in athletics for the wars that they have.It was hard for the boys/men because they could only basically “retire” from being a soldier until they are 60.For the girls living in Sparta, they were educated in athletics, like the boys were.They were also taught to raise children or to run a household like their

Spartans military was a hard core and well rounded out military in its time. Part of the reason why they were so successful is because of their rigorous training each boy had to go through. Why I said boy is because the Spartan military training would start at age 7 for a chosen boy. The boy gets chosen to live in spartan society at birth. If the Spartans did not believe that the boy would be rounded out for their society they would leave the boy to die. During the boys training hazing and fighting was encouraged to help improve strength among the boys. During spartan training each boy was mainly taught mathematics, music, and how to fight. Also during their training, they would learn how to steal but without getting caught. If they were caught they would not be punished for stealing but only for getting caught. This type of training continues until the boys would become men. Which is at the age of 20 for the Spartan's. At age 20 Spartan men would have to pass a series of demanding

Women in Sparta were educated and most were physically fit, even though they were not citizens. Spartan women also studied the arts as some surviving statues show women playing instruments. They were allowed to compete in running races such as the prestigious Heraean Games. Spartan men also wanted their wives to be physically fit so that they could bear strong sons to fight for the Spartan army. Spartan babies were left outside to die if they were sick or weak. Even though they were not citizens, they could still own land and represent themselves legally. Another perk of being a Spartan women was that Sparta had a very good army. Therefore the women would have very good protection, without needing to risk their own

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 Athenian people had a very modernized and an opened outlook towards life. In contrast to Sparta, in Athens, males were not obliged to join the armed forces they had the opportunity to pursue a good education and distinct varieties of arts and sciences courses. The people of Sparta were not open to other forms of education they only focused on military obedience and power. They didn’t also associate with people outside their territories. Family ties in Athens however, were much stronger. Women were officially dependents of their spouses or their fathers. Women in Athens had no right to own an asset apart from their family. In Sparta, women enjoyed more privileges than women in the other Greek countries did. Women in Sparta were stronger and they formed close relations with their men as they chose. Women could also possess their own assets. In the Athenian region females worked on house chores such as cooking or weaving but in Sparta, the females were free of all of such chores. (Differ,

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.

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.

women didn't have to fight in the army, and women still got to be trained. In the

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.

In terms of geography, Athens and Sparta were both located in Greece, close to each other. They shared many similarities, however, there were also differences. The lifestyle in Sparta was very simple; they lived in the barracks or farms and they were not open to getting a good education. However, they were more focused on preserving military power by forcing their boys to join the army from a young age. In Athens, their boys continued schooling such as the arts or the sciences, but also had their father teaching them. When they were of age, they were given the right to vote and officially became a citizen. Furthermore, Athenian men were supposed

In the passage by mr.duckworth it explicitly states “ Unlike sparta, in athens boys didn't have to join the army.” Additionally, boys at the age 7 would have to join the army and work. That's is too young to be fighting and working every day. In athens they focus on education more than fighting and strength. Sparta was mainly about getting strong and ready for battle not learning.

The ancient Greeks made city states that functioned as their society. These were small, usually consisting of a population of around eight to ten thousand people. Some of the famous city states are Sparta and Athens. Sparta imposed many tensions on the individual. Sparta was a highly militarized state and would pull the boys away from the family usually around age seven and put them into a state sponsored training regimen that would make them highly skilled warriors. If the boy was unable to complete the training for any reason they were seen as unable to be a Spartan and were usually seen as an outcast and removed from society. The Spartans, just like most other societies in ancient times, valued boys over girls. “Spartan parents often exposed female babies to the elements and leave them to die they also made decisions on male infants testing them and seeing if they would develop into a mature warrior and if not they would face the same fate as females.”1 This

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.

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.