Summary:
Athenians always wanted to display ideal beauty, Spartans valued strength, duty and discipline; Athenians had several forms of government, mostly similar to which today's government is, while the Spartans had 7 branches that were the assembly, Council of Elders, and a couple of other groups that sorted the people of Sparta; their lifestyles differ greatly: women were treated like they are treated today, meaning they got considerable freedom comparing to the Athenian women, and education in Sparta only consisted of military training, while Athenian men learned every subject, again similar to today's schools.
Topic: How did the Spartan society differ from the Athenian society? Contrast their values (culture), their government (political) and lifestyle.
Spartans and Athenians differ greatly in their values, government, and lifestyle. They have the complete opposite ways of living. It seems impossible that two neighboring city-states can differ greatly but, the world, to this day, contains such countries that a two-hour journey can take one to a completely different culture, language and lifestyle. The reason may not be because of rivalry, but it is the way the residents of the city-state think. Therefore, while Athenians always wanted to display ideal beauty, Spartans valued strength, duty and discipline; Athenians had several forms of government, mostly similar to which today's government is, while the Spartans had 7 branches that were the assembly, Council of Elders, and a couple of other groups that sorted the people of Sparta; their lifestyles differ greatly: women were treated like they are treated today, meaning they got considerable freedom comparing to the Athenian women, and education in Sparta only consisted of military training, while Athenian men learned every subject, again similar to today's schools.
Values or culture is one of the differences between the two city-states. After the Mycenaean empire fell, the Dorian empire ruled Greece. The result was Greece lost most of it's writing economies collapsed, and rapid advancement quickly dropped to no advancement. Spartans valued strength, duty, and discipline over everything the Greeks valued which were freedom, individuality, beauty, and learning. While the Greeks wanted to display ideal beauty, Spartans didn't give it much importance or attention. The Olympics were also part of their culture. There, playing games made celebrations to the gods and goddesses. Winners were not given any wealth, but were honored by parades in their names, and a tax-free life!
Government is always the most important section for the formation of a civilization. Greek city-states had many different forms of government. Examples of a few are: a king as the ruler, which is called monarchy. A government rules by a small group of noble landowning families called aristocracy. Lastly, oligarch is government ruled by a few powerful people. Spartan government had several branches. An assembly, which composed of Spartan citizens, elected officials and voted on major issues. The Council of Elders consisted of 30 older citizens who proposed laws. Five elected officials carried out laws passed by the assembly. Therefore, government also differed greatly. Even though being neighboring civilizations, their government didn't seem to have one similarity.
Lifestyle in Greece and Sparta also differ. Staring from the beginning of life in Greece, only sons of wealthy families received complete education. Schooling began around the age of 7 and mainly prepared the boys to become good citizens. They studied something very similar to what today's students study: grammar, poetry, history, mathematics, and music. They also learned rhetoric, which was the art of public speaking. When boys got older, they were sent to military school to learn how to and to defend Athens. The opposite gender, meaning females, did not attend anything even similar to school. Instead, they were to remain at home and learn child-rearing, weaving cloth, preparing meals, managing the household, and other skills that made them food wives and mothers. They had very little to do with the outside world meaning the outside their house.
Spartans are completely different. Men's daily life centered on military training. Boys received training starting at 7 and stayed away from home until the age of 30. They spent their days marching, exercising, and fighting, their diet consisted of a little more than a bowl of black porridge. In conclusion, boys had to live a hard life, similarly to the girls. Unlike the Athenians, females received some military training, they ran wrestled, and played sports. Spartan women had considerable freedom compared to the Athenian women. They were in charge of the household while the men were gone. While in Athens, men and women are significantly different, Spartans have a few similarities among their men and women.
In conclusion, these two neighboring city-states had major differences in values, government, and lifestyles. They all varied greatly. Even though many similarities are present, none of them are more important than these three.
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