Question Home

Position:Home>History> Differences between Sparta and Athens?


Question: Differences between Sparta and Athens!?
What are some of the cultrual,goverment,economy,education and the roles of women differences between the two greek states!.
I need these materials for a test tommorow!.
Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Wow!.!.!. so completely opposite, hahah!. In the economy for starters, Spartiates (citizens) themselves were banned by the reforms of Lykourgos from the production of materials and trade!. So all of that was done by others called the Periokoi, who were or were near to the original inhabitants (I think) of the region!. I'm assuming that in Athens no such rules were around and thus the contributions to the economy were completely different!.
Culturally they wouldn't have been too similar either!. The Spartans were more rougher in, for example, their festivals and such, much more so than the Athenians would've been!. Spartan festivals included anything athletic - even old men eating sausages that were nailed to a wall! Everything was focused on athleticism and ones skills as a warrior, whereas Athens was much more diverse (read about their Golden Age)!.
I don't know much about the education of Athenians, but for Spartans!.!.!. woah!. I'd say it's one of the most unique forms of education in history!. Called the "agoge", it was a complete system and started when the boy was 7 until he died, really!. It was in stages and involved anything from learning how to steal to sleeping with nothing in the snow!. Xenophon hit it right on the head when he said "The Spartans were educated not by persuasion but by violence"!.
I'm not sure what the Athenian government was like either, but you should know by now that the Spartan government consisted of the five ephors, the two kings, the gerousia (council of about 30) and the ekklesia (assembly)!. The ephors are a rather unique system so that's probably a major difference!.
Women in Sparta were also educated rigorously and shared some sports with the men!. This was, however, to make them good companions and, more importantly, good at having children!. Perhaps the children part is similar to Athens!.


Good luck :]
Www@QuestionHome@Com

Thank God we just covered this in history!.!.!.!.
Sparta: They sent their sons off to battle when they were 5-7 years old and none of the men wore shoes until they were about 20 so they could callous their feet!. The Spartans were uber violent and raised their children to be violent, they were very big lovers of wars and carnage!. The women just stayed at home and did the work and stuff

Athens: They weren't very big on wars like Sparta!. The Athenians were based more on education and literature, and the arts, that kind of stuff!. The women's role is pretty much the same!. The government was strong alsoWww@QuestionHome@Com

Politically:
Athens-Usually classified as a "limited democracy"!. Athens claims to be the "birthplace of democracy"!.

Sparta-Usually classified as an "oligarchy" (rule by a few), but it had elements of monarchy (rule by kings), democracy (through the election of council/senators), and aristocracy (rule by the upper class or land owning class)!.

Link for direct comparisons: http://www!.sfusd!.k12!.ca!.us/schwww/sch618!.!.!.

Www@QuestionHome@Com

You should include that the main reason behind the Spartans being such an elite and war driven state was due to the fact that their slaves outnumbered them and they needed to maintain a strong army to keep them under control!.

Kinda contradicts the movie 300 :PWww@QuestionHome@Com