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Sparta and its Culture. The city-state Sparta was recognized as one of the strongest military oriented city-states in Ancient Greece during the period beginning in 431 BCE until around 192 BCE. The people who lived there were called Spartans. They were great warriors of Greece. A close by city- state called Athens was (and still is) the capital of Greece. This city-state however was different in both geography and culture. The differences in culture between Sparta and Athens were influenced by the differences in geography. The geography of Athens and Sparta were very different. Sparta was located on the Peloponnesian Peninsula right by the bank of the Eurotas River. Even though Sparta was close to a river, Athens contained more ports and …show more content…
Spartans lived in small buildings that were close to the river. There were far less buildings in Sparta than in Athens. This is because there was far less attention to the physical look of the city-state due to the strong emphasis on military training. The Spartans believed that they just needed the bare minimum to survive. They were not about making their town big and beautiful like Athens was focused on. The school system in Athens was mostly private, and paid for by the child’s parents. Families who did not have a lot of money would have their children homeschooled. Boys would start school at the age of seven, while girls would rarely go at all. The boys went to school because they were the future citizens of the city-state and they had to learn the way that the city functioned. The most important thing that children learned in school in Athenian society was the ability to argue a case from multiple …show more content…
In Sparta you learned how to be a warrior. The most important things a person would learn were self-control, courage, endurance and obedience. This is what Spartans believed would make the best warriors. When Spartan boys turned seven they were taken from their parents’ houses and brought to a dormitory. This is called the Agoge. This is where they were required to live until they were 30 years old; they usually stayed until they were about 60 years old, however. A Spartan boy was the property of the state, and a warrior. Some children would be lucky to make it that far in their Spartan career. The infants would have to pass a test in order to test if they were strong enough. That test was to stay up on a mountaintop by themselves for 24 hours. If they survived they were considered strong enough to be a Spartan. If the child were seen as unfit to be a Spartan when it was born, the elders would throw it off a mountain into a chasm. The most important thing a Spartan learned in school was that their loyalty to the state came before everything, including their families. There was a saying that soldiers would come back either with their shield or on it. The idea of dying in the line of battle, while protecting their country was not scary. This concept was something that the men learned at an early age. The reason that Sparta had such a strong emphasis on military ideals in education was because they were preparing for
...litary end even the women in Sparta would have been affected by the military ways of life almost as much as the young men. From childhood they were being primed to raise a family, they were taught in the ways of mid wifery, learning the correct manner in teaching the future young men of Sparta and keeping themselves fit to produce fit children.
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.
Hellenic culture in the Spartan community was that of a humble elite. True Spartan culture is well captured in Xenophon’s work, Spartan Society, as he wrote of how this elitist society viewed not only themselves, but the other countries around them. This work shines light into the three-part worldview of the ancient, Hellenic Spartans of: humanism, idealism, and rationalism. As Xenophon begins to write over the whole of the Spartan society it can be seen how the Spartans lived out the worldview of this Hellenistic society. This living out of the worldview recorded in Xenophon’s, Spartan Society, illustrates their worldview through the noting of Lycurgus’ accomplishments and the contrast of the “other.”
Unlike the Spartan Agrarian based, exclusive economy, the Athenians practiced vast and complex external trade. This is reflected in the very make-up of the Athenian and Spartan militaries. Sparta was a primarily land based military with focus lying on Hoplite formations of infantry, whereas Athens had an extensive naval tradition in their military affairs. Attica had a considerable coastline on the south and east
Firstly, the rejection of luxury and avarice invariably results in a focus on military pursuits. Secondly, the apparent equality belies a vast slave network (common in antiquity, but the unique brutality of the Spartan kind can only bring to mind the Gulag). Lastly, intellectual sterility sets in. Sparta, intellectually, seems to be only good at cracking jibes (Athenian: “I can imitate a sparrow” Spartan: “So what, I have heard the real thing” upon approaching the walls of a city, a Spartan said, "What kind of women live here?"). Their poetry is stale and militaristic; their women are absolutely free; children are encouraged to steal; sex is made to resemble rape; parents mourn when their children return safe from war, and celebrate when they die: this is the weirdest state ever. The book “On Sparta” is a well written book as well is most of Plutarch’s
This article is credible and reliable; it offers two sets of information for the reader. It is also suitable for any age group. This site is helpful for those wanting to compare Athens and Sparta or simply read about one or the other.
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
Sparta was a war-like Greek city-state that had 2 main ranks of society. There were the Spartans, who were citizens that
Sparta was a city-state based on strict military ruling, at the age of seven a young Spartan would start out training and be trained into killing machines. When a Spartan baby is born, high elite Spartan soldiers would observe the baby to see if it was healthy and strong, if not the baby was ill and weak so it would be taken up a mountain and left there to die. This is just one example that shows how Sparta only wants a strong army and doesn't care about anything else. Strict rules of the government made it so that every Sp...
Sparta and Athens - Explain and Contrast 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 ancient Greece during the 7th and 8th centuries, different armies and cities were fighting for control of land and power. During this time period, it was very gruesome and many people died because different states wanted to expand their control over new territories so they could gain more power. With all the different armies and militaries fighting for control, there was one that stood out as the elite of all militaries, Sparta. Quickly Sparta became known throughout Greece as the most highly disciplined and coordinated militaries in the world.
Sparta, an ancient Greek city-state, was most well-known for its militaristic lifestyle and its soldiers’ prowess in battle. Though war was an essential part of life in Sparta, many other aspects contributed to its society. Sparta’s origin, unique government, slaves, bold women, and elite warriors all shaped the legendary city-state and defined its culture.
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.
Only during the Classical period, Sparta began to look strange, not because they had these systems, but because it had held on to them for so long when every other state eventually abandoned them. Once all of that is known it is clear that Sparta was not necessarily special just backward. Instead of moving on from old ideas, the Spartans doubled down on them, gradually developing more and
The ancient Greece was divided among several hundreds of city-states called “Poleis”. Within this poleis, Athens and Sparta were the most powerful, significant, largest and significant states.