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Greek democracy research paper
Comparisons of Sparta and Athens
Comparisons of Sparta and Athens
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Argumentative Essay Athens/Sparta
“Imagine that you have a son in Sparta. You barely saw him because the people in the government took him away to serve the government. Then one day he lost a war and Sparta lost in the war so the boy is dead on his shield. Then you got another boy but then he failed the inspection and then they left him from the top of the mountain and he died.” Sparta were military trained since age 7. But they do not show their power to the outside world and they like to stay alone and they do not interact with the other Greeks, on the other hand the Athenians conquer more and more land. This led them into conflict. Athens is the best place to live because Athens is democracy, the Athenians were called the “King of the
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Which means the people do not get to choose what are the laws. Anyone who does not follow the laws will be slayed. But, in Athens it is not like that they have a government called “Democracy” which is also called “rule by the people” in this government the juries choose 5 laws and then the whole Athens would vote for the laws that they are gonna have. Athens is also called as the birthplace of democracy.
As the Spartans liked to be alone they did not develop their city as much. The Spartans were basic and simple. They could only grow the crops that they could. The Athenians were called the “King of the trade.” The Athenians could trade the crops to other cities that they could not grow. For example the Athenians cannot grow the grains very good but they cold trade those stuff from other places like Mesopotamia.
The Spartans could not grow much of the crops because Sparta was arid. Athens had a mediterranean climate with enough amount of precipitation. Not that precipitation that they could grow the grains. Athens is the best place to live for the
Imagine two countries, so different from each other, that conflicts were inevitable. Athens and Sparta were not countries, however, they were city-states of Greece with many contrasting values. Athens was the city of the arts, reading, and writing. Meanwhile, military was the only thing the on the Spartans’ minds. Athens and Sparta differ in many ways due to their governments, economies, and cultures.
Athens was a much more superior polis compared to Sparta because the Athenians invented new ideas and creations that supported the people, such as democracy, the Athenians led the Delian League, and Sparta created the Peloponnesian League after the Athenians created their alliance, and the Athenians changed the ways of their government many times to suit the people, and the Spartans did not.
The first year of fighting between Athens and Sparta is drawing to a close. As is customary during war, Athens holds a public funeral to both celebrate and mourn their fallen soldiers. Such ceremonies typically feature an oration given by a respected Athenian – with this year’s coming from renowned statesman Pericles. Previous orations had focused on celebrating the Athenian military by recounting their trials and accomplishments. Pericles decided to depart from this convention, believing it was no longer novel, nor necessary, “That part of our history which tells of the military achievements which gave us our several possessions, or of the ready valor with which either we or our fathers stemmed the tide of Hellenic or foreign aggression, is a theme too familiar to my hearers for me to dwell upon, and I shall therefore pass it by.”
Like most Greek states of the Archaic and Classical Era, the Spartan city-state was a militaristic one. Sparta, however, took the idea to its extreme. In order to become the best soldiers, Spartan citizens had to dedicate their entire lives to the occupation. In fact to be a soldier – a hoplite – was the full infrastructure of Spartan society. While most Greek city-states looked down on labor, physical work, and even working for profit, they still had to work for a living, produce something. “The Spartans a...
Sparta was a key city state which was located on the Peloponnesian Peninsula in southern Greek, which today is referred to as Laconia. Sparta is historically known for their strong military training, warfare tactics, and numerous victories. This city state included full citizens known as the Spartans, the helots, and the Perioeci. The men of Sparta had a main obligation to become strong warriors, fight with their brothers, and protect against any invasions or attacks. The helots where owned by city state of Sparta. They came from Messenia and were forced into slavery after being invaded by the Spartans in c.735. The helot’s responsibilities included farming, being of help if needed during battles, used as nurses, and for any other task that need to be accomplished. Unlike many traditional slaves, the Messenia’s were given certain leeway. They had
The book written by Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, contains two controversial debates between distinguished speakers of Athens. The two corresponding sides produce convincing arguments which can be taken as if produced as an honest opinion or out of self-interest. The two debates must be analyzed separately in order to conclude which one and which side was speaking out of honest opinion or self-interest, as well as which speakers are similar to each other in their approach to the situation.
Greece is a country united by its name, but divided by its ways. Although Sparta and Athens were both Greek cities, their societies were different. Sparta was focused on having a perfect military, whereas Athenian daily life revolved learning and knowledge. When Spartan boys were being trained for an army, Athenian boys were being trained for life. Both of these societies revolved around different government, education from when kids to teenagers, the responsibilities each individual had to keep their spot, and how women played a role throughout each city state.
Both Sparta and Athens were Greek city-states. Sparta was a strict military ruled city-state where the people established themselves as a military power early. However Athens was more of a political city-state that was more involved with their economical stature than their military forces. Still changes from the Persian wars would change the powers of the city-state and somewhat unite them.
In the years following the Persian Wars in 479 B.C., Athens had come out on top being the most dominantly powerful of any Greek city with a navy that had superior strength that increased day by day. The Athenians “ruled with heavy-handed, even brutal force as well as with reason” (Kagan 2). This was due largely to the fact that Athens had a stable and effective government, which only increased their advantage in proving themselv...
In approximately 650 B.C., Sparta was formed in the Peloponnese peninsula in Laconia by several smaller city-states that joined together. Located near the fertile farmlands of the Eurotas River, the Peloponnese peninsula was an ideal area to establish a new civilization. Sparta, meaning “to sow,” was appropriately named because of its positioning in one of the only fertile valleys in Greece. After conquering its western neighbor Messenia, Sparta gained even more fertile land as well as the Taygetus mountain ranges. These mountains provided essential raw materials including timber and wildlife. As a result of the Taygetus range, Sparta was somewhat isolated from the rest of Greece. This is provides insight into why Spartan livelihood differed so greatly compared to other Greek city-states.
Sparta, meaning “to sow,” was appropriately named because of its positioning in one of the few fertile valleys in Greece. After conquering its western neighbor Messenia, Sparta gained even more fertile land as well as the Taygetus mountain ranges. These mountains provide essential raw materials, including timber, and an abundance of wildlife. As a result of the Taygetus range, Sparta was rather isolated from the rest of Greece (Michell 4). This provides insight into the reason Spartan livelihood differed so greatly among other Greek city-states.
Athens and Sparta were both city-states in Classical Greece. While Athens embraced democracy, Sparta was a dictatorial fierce warrior state. Sparta was a militaristic community, Athens was a freethinking, and commerce minded city-state. Modern societies have modeled their government organizational structure and military discipline practices from lessons learned of these ancient city-states. There is much is to be praised regarding Classical Greece for their courage, their progressive thinking and the birth of democracy. However, I think it is important to remember that in both cases, Athens and Sparta were able to sustain their lifestyle on the backs of countless slaves, non-citizens and women and that there is a darker and less romantic side to the past.
My impression regarding the comparison of the likely daily lives of the citizens of Athens and Sparta is that they were two very different things. The differences hold true for men, women and children alike. In this discussion I have focused on the "average" person with the understanding that the roles of people of higher or lower social elevation surely led different lives.
Both Athens and Sparta were both Greek imperial power during the time. Athens was known to be elegant and had a great love for arts, architecture and literature. Athens had the strongest navy. Athenians were polar opposites of Spartans. Sparta unlike Athens was known to be rugged and had a very strong and powerful military.
Because of the tranquil times, the civilization’s society had more time to focus on writing, math, astronomy, and artistic fields, as well as trade and metallurgy. Out of all the city-states of Greece, two excelled over all the rest, Sparta and Athens. Even though they were the most advanced and strong civilizations, they were bitter enemies. While Athens focused mainly on the people’s democracy and citizen rights, Sparta were ferocious and enslaved its original inhabitants, making them unable to leave and kept under a close eye to prevent insurgence (History of Greece:The Golden Age of Greece). Additionally, Sparta had strict and trained soldiers that underwent intense physical exercising and instruction.