Why Were Sparta And Athens Rivals?

The city-states Athens and Sparta were rivals in ancient Greece. Geographically the two were very close to each other, but they had a very different economy, cultural values, and way of governing. Both city-states had two very different ways of doing things. I will be highlighting the major differences.

Envision a world where the people are ravenous and yearning for any remnant of food they could obtain, where the society is overrun and no one has a free say. This is the type of society the ancient Spartans would have lived like unlike the ancient Athenians. The Athenians lived a far more diverse life if compared to Sparta. Ancient Athens was better to live in than ancient Sparta due to its efficient and honorable government and flourishing economy.

Athens and Sparta were the main rival poleis in Ancient Greece around 4th century BC. Besides the fact that they were both called polis, the two cities had very little in common. Athens controlled the whole Attic region and could

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

The Eastern Roman Empire, also known as Byzantine Empire, was superior to its Western partner. Christianity was the sole religion and was practiced throughout the Byzantine Empire. Trade had a dominant role on the economy of the Eastern Roman Empire. Their strong military and defensive strategies had a huge role on their longevity. The Eastern Roman Empire was more successful than its Western counterpart due to various factors including religion, economy, and longevity.

Athens and Sparta, two rivals of ancient Greece that made the most noise and gave us the most traditions. Though they were close together on a map, they were far apart in what they valued and also how they lived their lives. Spartan and Athenian society were very different in many parts. The differences are what set these two apart, and the things they shared in common are what unified them as Greek city-states. Sparta and Athens shared similarities and differences in their systems of government, military, judgment and views of their women. In addition to this, the social gatherings of Athenians and Spartans that were also similar and different.

Athens, the most famous and richest of the Greek city states dominated the ancient world for a long time. The Athenians developed, many new war tactics that were adopted by other Greek city states. Sparta was also a powerful Greek city state and one of the most feared military powers in the ancient world. Spartans grew up in a different society and used many war tactics that were different from traditional Greek warfare (Paton). At one point in time, Athens and Sparta were the most powerful civilizations in the whole world thanks to their very effective war tactics. Some strategies they used were good armor, intense training and surprise attacks. Spartans began training at a young age and were fierce fighters. Athens was rich and had a good navy. In the Persian war, Athens and Sparta worked together and ended up winning. But Athens and Sparta were two very different societies (Hayes 117). Even though the Spartans won the war the golden age of Greece ended this show how military power can make or destroy a great civilization.

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.

Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful city-states. They were similar in the way that they both feared revolt and civil war. But how they dealt with it was different. Sparta, concluded that the only ways to survive was to create a strong city state and they adopted a strong set of laws where boys had to leave for training at the age of 7 and stayed in the service for many years. Athens dealt with the fear of civil war by making timely reforms, creating a democracy. Sparta and Athens also differed in the way that Sparta may have had the strongest army in Greece, they lacked excitement of the mind and Athens educated people and raised them to act as free people. The Golden age came about after the Persians were finally driven out of

The destructive aftermath of Germany’s defeat in World War I led to a decline in nationalism and morale of the German people. However, Hitler and his Nazi regime’s passion to bring back patriotism quickly generated a contagious sense of pride that ultimately split the once unified country into a dichotomous society among the German youth and adults. Hitler’s propaganda indoctrinated the youth of the false realities of war and forced them to think the same ideologies as him. With the absence of parental guidance, they easily had their own perspectives about politics, war, and the real world which did not concur with the rest of the older population. Therefore, parents remain at fault for allowing children to believe the skepticism of propaganda set forth by the government because objection to anything in relation to Hitler's ideology instilled the fear of treason witnessed by their nationalistic children.

Greece’s Golden Age can be defined as a time of flourishing. There are many changes that occurred during this time that changed Athens for the better. Athens made the important decision of splitting itself from Sparta, who they constantly differed with. “It is from this split that the Athenian Empire was created” (Hunt 80). This split illustrates the certainty that the Athenians possessed in terms of creating a better nation. Athens developed an empire because democracy was expensive. In order for democracy to be created, you need an empire to raise money. The Athenian empire was well-known for its excellent trading along with the arts and sciences that developed during this time. When trade flourished, the polis grew which created

Okonkwo desires nothing more than to become a man “resting on solid achievements”, or achievements displayed through strength, hard work, and wealth (Achebe 1). He desires nothing more than to become a man unlike his father. His violent and peaceful actions displayed throughout Things Fall Apart depict his success and compelling faith in Umuofia’s traditions. By deciding to take his own life, Okonkwo courageously reveals to the people of Umuofia that a tradition dominated by fear and weakness, which opposes the society’s already established customs, would lead to their downfall. His death acts as the last resistance before Umuofia falls to the colonizer.

The purpose of a society is to provide a place where certain views and values can be pursued. I think that neither Athens or Sparta were "right" in terms of what they valued because neither of them had a well-rounded society. They each had certain values, but left out some important ones. Athens, while being successful in learning and the arts, needed a stronger military aspect so that their polis would be protected well. However, when looking at Sparta, the opposite is true. Their citizens need the choice of learning about arts and philosophy, not only military strategies and discipline. I think that society should value military/ physical activities, learning and history, and the arts. Their citizens should have choices so that they will

During ancient times, the people that lived in Athens and Sparta led completely different lives. Although Athens and Sparta are located within the same nation, they were worlds apart when it came to their traditions. The article Ancient Olympia History, which was published in 2009, discusses the variances between Athens and Sparta when it came to marriage in the two powerful cities. “The father of the bride always arranged Athenian marriages, when the daughter reached the age of 15, the groom would receive a dowry, in the event of the grooms death the daughter and the dowry would be returned the father of the bride, divorce was not an option and the chances to remarry for a women were not high”(Ancient Olympia History 2009). Marriage in Sparta

During 750-500 B.C.E, Ancient Greece is a place that is known for some city-states, called poleis. Each polis differ particular on economically, politically, and military, When in doubt, however, the city-states did not get along. Two of the most well known and powerful city-states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta is far better than Athens on the grounds that their armed force was strong and defensive.