Athens Sparta
Greek culture in 400-500 B.C.E. achieved greatness through two city-states, called Sparta and Athens. To better understand the interaction between Sparta and Athens and their desire for Greece to be a strong nation, it is imperative to know the situation of these two city-states in the early 400's B.C.E. Throughout this essay I will briefly describe Athenian and Spartan social structure in the Classical age. In particular, their culture, military, and the role of women within society. Athens had a democratic government and a dynamic society. They were culturally open to trade, painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, poetry, and philosophy. Athens had become the second most powerful Greek city-state because of their wealth, trade, navy, large population, and great harmony of art and learning. Athens was made up of three distinct classes, slaves, citizens, and foreigners. Each class had a specific list of duties and responsibilities. Wealthy citizens paid to attend formalized schools in the gymnasium. Citizens could own land and slaves, but not all did because they differed in wealth. Also, citizens had equal formal rights, and participated in the year round religious festivals. Slaves and foreigners, on the othe
As trading increased, Athens created a naval confederacy known as the Delian league. From birth, a girl was not expected to learn how to read or write. They had to be protected from themselves and they had to be prevented from doing damage to others. This was because the women were expected to help run the society when the men were away serving in the military. The ideas men had of women in Athens were that they had strong emotions and ignorant minds. Their training was brutal, but they were expected from birth to have bravery, patriotism, and courage. r hand, did trade work and housework, but were denied citizenship. Due to aristocratic ideals, women were kept in seclusion. Many of them participated in public election and lotteries. In Athens, women had no political or legal rights, no public education, were bound to their husband, managed the home, and raised children. All of the soldiers were subjected to numerous training events and staged battles. The Classical Greeks were male-centric, and the public role of women was diminished. Although athleticism and strength were stressed, the education of a soldier did not stress reading or writing. Sparta had the largest leading army in terms of military power. Athens and Sparta were different militaristically mainly because Athens focused on a navy, and Sparta an army.
Common topics in this essay:
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Due Athenian,
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Aegean Sea,
Athens Sparta,
Helots Soldier-citizens,
Sparta Athens,
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athens focused navy,
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society athens,
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