Athens and Sparta
The two biggest City-states in Ancient Greece were Athens and Sparta. Because Athens and Sparta were the two greatest city-states in Greece it arose a big conflict between the two, the conflict between Athens and Sparta lasted for decades. Even though they were each other’s worst enemies they also helped each other to conquer other city-states. Sparta and Athens were very different in many diverse areas. The differences that affected the both city-states the most were education, women and society.
The education in Athens and Sparta was very important but in different ways. In ancient Athens girls were not allowed to go to school but still most girls learned reading and writing at home. However the boys started school at age 6-7, until then they were taught by their mother. The main purpose of Athenian education was to make well-behaved citizens. In Athenian schools they learned the words of Homer (a famous ancient Greek poet) and how to play lyre. The teacher could also choose to teach: public speaking, drama, art, government, writing, reading, math or he might choose to teach the very popular Greek instrument: the flute. In ancient Sparta the education was very different from the Athenian way of learning. In Sparta they focused on military knowledge. In Sparta the girls were allowed education, which included athletics, outdoors exercising and competing events such as foot races. The boys in Sparta had a little bit more intense education. The boys started their training at age 7, they went through a procedure where they learned military knowledge and strength. This procedure lasted till age 20 and was called Agoge. As we can see education in Athens and Sparta played a big part, the girls were not put in favor in either of the city-states and the boys were trained to become well-behaved citizens and very strong warriors.
Women in Athens and Sparta played different roles. In Athens the women were not allowed to take part in the government. The women in Athens were only supposed to be good mothers and wives. In Sparta they treated the women differently. In Sparta the role of women was important, they had to take care of the city-state while the men were at war. The women in Sparta were supposed to be educated, strong and athletic. Even though the women in Sparta got a little bit more respect than women in Athens still women was not the priority.
The education in Athens and Sparta was very important but in different ways. In ancient Athens girls were not allowed to go to school but still most girls learned reading and writing at home. However the boys started school at age 6-7, until then they were taught by their mother. The main purpose of Athenian education was to make well-behaved citizens. In Athenian schools they learned the words of Homer (a famous ancient Greek poet) and how to play lyre. The teacher could also choose to teach: public speaking, drama, art, government, writing, reading, math or he might choose to teach the very popular Greek instrument: the flute. In ancient Sparta the education was very different from the Athenian way of learning. In Sparta they focused on military knowledge. In Sparta the girls were allowed education, which included athletics, outdoors exercising and competing events such as foot races. The boys in Sparta had a little bit more intense education. The boys started their training at age 7, they went through a procedure where they learned military knowledge and strength. This procedure lasted till age 20 and was called Agoge. As we can see education in Athens and Sparta played a big part, the girls were not put in favor in either of the city-states and the boys were trained to become well-behaved citizens and very strong warriors.
Women in Athens and Sparta played different roles. In Athens the women were not allowed to take part in the government. The women in Athens were only supposed to be good mothers and wives. In Sparta they treated the women differently. In Sparta the role of women was important, they had to take care of the city-state while the men were at war. The women in Sparta were supposed to be educated, strong and athletic. Even though the women in Sparta got a little bit more respect than women in Athens still women was not the priority.
Athens was the first city-state using democracy. Democracy meant that the people could vote at the assemblies. Of course the democracy was different back then, it was limited; only the free men were allowed to vote. In Sparta democracy hadn’t really reached out so Sparta used another government, they used oligarchy. Oligarchy was a small group of people who ruled the government; oligarchy was a little bit like aristocracy. Aristocracy was controlled by a small group of people, same as oligarchy but the people who ruled in an aristocracy could only be from the upper class. The picture on the left is modern day Sparta.
It’s easy to compare Athens and Sparta because they have many similarities and differences. For example we have the education, women and society, which we can see is very different. Today Athens still exists; it is the capital of Greece. Athens has a number of approximately 3.2 million citizens and the year of 2012 it was ranked the 39th richest city in the world. Sparta also exists today; today Sparta is the capital of the Greece region Laconia. Today Athens might be a little bit more successful than Sparta but we will always remember the two great city-states of ancient Greece history. The picture to the right is modern day Athens.
“Wisdom begins in wonder”. - Socrates
I chose this quote to have on our website because I think it`s so true, everybody wonders over something, which makes them want to search knowledge.
I chose this quote to have on our website because I think it`s so true, everybody wonders over something, which makes them want to search knowledge.