Athens is located on the bottom right side of Greece near the Saronic Gulf Islands. The city is surrounded by the Aegean Sea, Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Evoikos, the Saronic Gulf and the Gulf of Corinth. Not only is Athens surrounded by various bodies of water, but on land surrounded by the mountains: Aigaleo to the west, Parnes to the north, Pentelikon to the northeast, and Hymettus to the east. The city’s location being at the bottom of the country instead of more north and inland, gives it a typical mediterranean climate (which would be no different than Sparta’s). Athen’s values align primarily with education, progression, and the well-being of its society.
Athens is well known for its education; primarily schools of thought
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Athens was the first ancient civilization to implement democracy which certainly wouldn’t have come without their contemplation and value of education and wouldn’t have been sustained without it either. The assemblies and commonalty of courtyard discussion concerning major topics of life lead to some of the most considered profound thinkers as well as a romanization by more modern cultures of the time. Even though the rights of women were limited (no right to vote, job is to take care of children; expected, typical standpoint), notable feats were reached. In the same society that brought democracy into their government ahead of their time, they had a man question it (Socrates). Most people in modern societies don’t do this. But not only was this progression evident, but the concern with well-being. For both philosophical and religious reasons, they believed it to be wrong to eat a domesticated animal that wasn’t sacrificed to the gods first as well as thought some foods to be dirtier or cleaner than others. Along with this they had very little taboos. This promotes the well-being of a society because it considers what is good for your body to and to not eat. As well as concerning taboos, it eliminates a lot of temptation and unnecessary bickering about the moral applications of actions people are going to do …show more content…
Many of them denounced wealth and as I’d assume the students of the school of thought probably did not desire luxurious lives. One of the more humorous philosophers, Diogenes of Sinope (arguably just a comedian) lived in a tub/barrel (debated) in the middle of Athens for some time due to how much he stood against wealth and that type of lifestyle. Also due to the society’s contemplation and value of education, it would be reasonable to assume they valued other things and weren’t that concerned about wealth as a
Approximately 2500 years ago a series of changes and reformations in political thought led to the creation of the ancient Athenian democracy. Through the changes implemented by Solon and Cleisthenes during the Golden Age of Greece, democracy was born in Athens. Although it was somewhat impractical, exclusionist, and only open to a very small percentage of the total Athenian population, its impact is still felt today. Athenian democracy is widely recognized as the model from which all other forms of democratic rule has evolved from. Through the principles handed down from that Athenian democracy, ancient Greek culture remains a prominent presence in contemporary life, particularly in regard to its democratic policies.
This also lessens the power of the people within the current democracy and its makes it where if your elected official does not agree with the law he will not submit the law for debate and passage. Making the elected official in more of a power position than the people. When democracy was officially built on the power of the people not the power of high ranking officials, therefore, ruining the whole point of having a democracy in the first place. Another difference between the two democracies is that in the Athenian democracy, the people who were able to vote were taught and given a proper education, unlike today where everyone can vote, whether they are educated or not. In Athenian time you had to be a boy who was most likely to become a landowner. This eliminated the chances for advancement in technology significantly and made the process of evolution slow down even more. Likewise, now days everyone is given an education. Rich, poor, white or black everyone is given equal opportunity to pursue an education. If they choose to is all up to them.
In Athen, “Schools taught reading, writing, and mathematics, music, poetry, sport, and gymnastics”. In Sparta, “Boys were taken from parents at age seven and trained in the art of warfare. They were only given a cloak - no shoes or other clothes, and not enough food so they had to steal (to learn survival skills)”. Overall, I think Athens is better and safer to live in then Sparta.
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new,” said Socrates, a famous Greek philosopher. Athens was one of many city-states in Ancient Greece. This city-state had a form of government that was for the people to have a say. Athens had great geography that was advantageous for them. Athens also had many achievements culturally such as architecture and philosophy.
In turn, this political equality enabled all citizens to become involved. As a result of the freedom within one's private life, citizens of Athens kept to the law in matters regarding public life. Pericles discusses the Athenians' deep respect and commitment to upholding the laws in which the representatives, whom the people elect, create. With limited legal restrictions on what citizens can and cannot do, free enterprise flourished as well; living in such a dominant, prosperous state such as Athens opened up many international economic options. Through obeying the laws, regulations, and customs set forth by elected officials and supported by Athenian culture, as well as serving their country, the people of Athens stood to gain profit.
In ancient Greece there were two major polises which allowed the Greek culture to achieve greatness during the 400-500 B.C.E. era. These two polises were Athens and Sparta; both city states differed in many ways before the start of the Persian War. There were low rugged mountains that separated these two city states so communication and travel were difficult. The government of these two city states can be seen as a primary difference between the two. Draco, Solon, Pisistratus, and Cleithenes were four leaders that greatly influenced the political development of Athens. Athens and Sparta differed primarily in their political, social, and economical aspects. But there were other difference that Athens and Sparta share which I will examine in this essay.
“Virtue can only flourish among equals.” - Mary Wollstonecraft. In Athens, all citizens were equal, therefore a strong community thrived. Starting in 500 BCE a new idea of citizenship was starting to form. This idea was used by Athens and Rome, and included giving citizens a balance between rights and responsibilities. This paved the way for modern day citizenship in our countries and many others. Athens had a better system of citizenship because they chose government offices by lottery, to keep a strong democracy they made sure no one had too much power, and citizens in all social classes could participate in government.
It really flourished during the Fifth century and we have a lot of stuff due to them. Athens is arguably one of the oldest democracies that we know of and especially one of the most successful during that time. Because of them we have a government that’s very similar to what theirs was. I also think that Athens was a just society. They didn’t really go out of their way to pick on cities like Persia did, they were more so interested in protecting their way of life and all Greeks. They looked out for other Greek states and kept them safe, when they really didn’t have to. They did get greedy at times, but that’s understandable because they were anxious about the threat Persia posed to them. But I think most of the time they went out of their way to do the just and noble thing. You can tell my their democracy, everyone had a chance to be involved, it was about making the rich richer and the poor poorer. They wanted to make the standard of living for all Greeks
Athens was located in the region of Attica, a fertile valley and rich in minerals. The city was a cultural powerhouse: the cradle of democracy, the birthplace of many great philosophers, of politics, of architecture and theatre, of history, science and mathematics, with a formidable naval fleet that defeated the Persian army. Athenians had access to education and freedom to pursue their interests in war or business. (Mark, 2011)
Our world today puts huge amounts of emphasis on education, specifically in order to get a better job, make more money or take enjoyment in what we do. We see a similar importance placed on education in Socrates’ make believe city, as described in Plato’s Republic. However, Socrates has made it clear that this education is not for personal betterment or gain, but rather for the common good. Socrates has created his Republic with education of its citizens at the core. This education is put in place to serve many functions, such as development of preferred character traits for the warrior class, creation of equality between the sexes and as a means of indication as to what jobs would suit which
Athens and Sparta are two rivals of ancient Greece. Athenians and Spartans lived their lives different, and they valued different things. Athenians and Spartans had an Assembly, whose members were elected by the people. Sparta were ruled by two kings, those two kings either ruled until they were died or forced out of office. Athens were ruled by archons, they were elected annually. Athens in the birthplace of democracy. Spartans focused on war and obedience. Young boys were trained to be warriors. Young women were trained to be mothers and warriors. Athenians could get good education and could pursue several kinds of arts or sciences. For many years Spartan armies provided much defense of the Greek lands. The Spartans bravery and courage at the “Battle of Thermopylae” during the Persians Wars, inspired all of Greece to fight back with all their might against the invading Persians. Athenians and Spartans fought side by side in the “Battle of Platea”, which ended the Persians invasions of Greece. Spartans provided assistance for Greece when necessary. Athenians wanted to control land around them. That led to war between all the Greeks, this was the “Peloponnesian War”. After many years of fighting the Spartans won. In Greek spirit Sparta refused to burn the city of Athens. The culture and spirit of Athens was allowed to live on, as long as Athenians no longer desired to rule Greek. Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. Sparta is known as Sparti in Greek. Sparta is
Socrates is also one of the great character in history who does not agree with things that he does not belief or important to him. He disagreed with the Athens god, because they worship the body, also known as the Greek Idea of the body (what the male or female should look like: beautiful fat, muscle, etc.). Society of Peacock in which people walk around with self- appraiser of their body image. Socrates always disagree with the people of Athens and there democracy system and religious belief. “Socratic dialogue” is conversation of question and answer, almost close to debate. Socrates education principle is still important to the educational system. He believed, that “the educated person cannot be educated until you realize what you
Athens was and still is known as the original culture to create the ideal of democracy and was the first democracy in the ancient world. (Pomeroy, 2012)(Levack, Muir, & Veldman, 2011). However; Ancient Athenians were not an equal society, they reserved citizenship for only a select group within the population.
The two of the biggest things that makes Athens so iconic are the education and government. The boys would go to school at the age of seven while the girls were taught by their mothers. The education of Athens focused on philosophy, astronomy, law, math, and science. A few famous scientists and philosophers are from Athens such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. It was so good that many people of different countries sent their sons to Athens. The government of Athens is the earliest form of democracy. All male citizens had the ability to vote at an Assembly. An Assembly is a place where debates about new laws and policies could take place. New laws and policies are created in a Council made up of 500 citizens, 50 from the 10 Athenian tribes.
From 6th about century B.C to approximately 6th century A.D the Roman Empire was the greatest and most flourishing empire of its time and endured. Numerous things the Romans did ascribe to the achievement and life duration of the Roman Empire. The Romans had another method for administering its subjects and had a to a great degree solid military. They had numerous new developments that made less demanding to oversee, and empowered amusement. Romans changed the life of people as making prosperity in economic, cultural and military issues, thereby it made their empire so powerful and fame. The Roman government was the aggregate