One of the most well known Greek city-states was Sparta. The people of Sparta were very well-known and feared by others who lived around them. This was rightfully so since the Spartans were a rather fierce people, whose lives were mainly lived only to make up strong armies. The Spartan lifestyle for men was very harsh. Even from the beginning, male babies were tested to see if they were healthy and strong. If the required standards of health and strength were not met, the baby was left to die. Strong and healthy babies lived with their mothers until they turned 7 years old. After this age, the boys would go into the Agoge where they were taught obedience to the state and how to handle hardships like lack of food and pain. Spartan boys were encouraged to steal from nearby farms since this was believed to be a sign of cleverness. Spartan boys were even put in competitions of endurance, where they would be whipped, to see who could handle the most pain. It was not uncommon for boys to die during their training. Boys were taught till they reached the age of 20, at which they would enter the army and continue to live in a …show more content…
The head of the government was made up of two royal families and two kings. Their primary obligation was to lead the Spartan army in their wars. The ephors’ power came after the head of the government. They were elected every year by the gerousia. The ephors really had more power than the Spartan kings and royal families. The gerousia was the next level of government and was basically a council. This group included the two kings and 20 council members who had to be above the age of 60. Their job was to make laws and choose different propositions which they might take. The next level of government was the apella. The apella was made up of all citizens of the age of 30. This level of government would vote by yelling yes or no. The group of voters who were the loudest would win the
To look at this epistemologically, there is an understanding that almost every aspect involved in this culture was derived for the good of the polis. This seemed to be a very proud and arrogant people. A city with no walls, and in almost certainty, only natural born were allowed to earn citizenship. To even be called a Spartan meant years of fighting, service and status. Tyrtaeus states this argument best in the last line of his work. “Thus a man should endeavor to reach this high place of courage with all his heart, and, so trying, never be backward in war.” These writings are great resources for Spartan’s war enhanced values and societal customs, but lack in evidence of governmental affairs and religion.
Religious and Funerary Practices were thought of as extremely important by the citizens of the city-state of Sparta, in fact, their beliefs reached such an extreme that the other city-states mocked the Spartans. The three principal sub-elements that affected religious and funerary practices in Sparta are, the Gods/Goddesses worshipped, the festivals celebrated and solemnized, and the myths and legends passed through the generations.
The main summary of the book is “Plutarch's vivid and engaging portraits of the Spartans and their customs are a major source of our knowledge about the rise and fall of this remarkable Greek city-state between the sixth and third centuries BC.” “Through his Lives of Sparta's leaders and his recording of memorable Spartan Sayings he depicts a people who lived frugally and mastered their emotions in all aspects of life, who also disposed of unhealthy babies in a deep chasm, introduced a gruelling regime of military training for boys, and treated their serfs brutally. Rich in anecdote and detail, Plutarch's writing brings to life the personalities and achievements of Sparta with unparalleled flair and humanity.” This is only a small summary of
This is exactly how Spartans acted, and expected their children to act. This hardened personality starts at birth, when parents gave their child to the elders so they could examine him or her and make judgement on whether or not they should live. If a baby is weak or feeble, it was left on Apothetae, as Plutarch states in source two. This occuredd because the elder’s thought process was that if a baby is weak from the beginning, it is not worthy to live in Sparta, and would simply use up resources without giving back to society. When men went to war, their mothers often used the phrase “with your shield or on it,” when saying goodbye. This essentially meant that the son should either come home a hero or die for the state. This phrase’s meaning was quite literal, if a woman’s son came home after losing or doing something cowardly in war, she would oftentimes kill him and bury him without dismay. Using this for motivation, Spartan soldiers did all they could to win battles using both force and tactics. The way they acted ultimately brought great success to the state and they never lost a
Sparta was a strict military city-state. The people were Dorians who conquered Laconia. This region lies in the Peloponnesus, which lied in southern Greece. The invaders turned the conquered people into state owned slaves, called helots. Since the helots greatly outnumbered their rulers, Spartans established a strict and brutal system of control. The Spartan government had two kings and a council of elders who advised the monarchs. An assembly made up of all citizens approved all major decisions. From child-hood, a Spartan prepared to be part of the military. All newborn were examined and the healthy lived and the sickly were left to die. Spartans wanted future soldiers or mothers of soldiers to be healthy. At the age of seven, boys trained for a lifetime in the Spartan military. They moved to the barracks and endured brutal and extensive training.
But Spartan society itself changed, evolving into a city-state. The state determined whether children, both male and female, were strong when they were born, leaving the weak in the hills to perish. At the age of seven, every male Spartan was sent to military and athletic school teaching discipline, endurance of pain, and survival skills. At twenty, the Spartan became a soldier spending his life with his fellow soldiers to live in barracks with his fellow soldiers. Only at the age of thirty, did the Spartan become an "equal," and was allowed to live in his own house with his own family, although he continued to serve in the military. Military service ended at the age of sixty.
Sparta, an ancient Greek city-state, was most well-known for its militaristic lifestyle and its soldiers’ prowess in battle. Though war was an essential part of life in Sparta, many other aspects contributed to its society. Sparta’s origin, unique government, slaves, bold women, and elite warriors all shaped the legendary city-state and defined its culture.
Athens and Sparta were both city-states in Classical Greece. While Athens embraced democracy, Sparta was a dictatorial fierce warrior state. Sparta was a militaristic community, Athens was a freethinking, and commerce minded city-state. Modern societies have modeled their government organizational structure and military discipline practices from lessons learned of these ancient city-states. There is much is to be praised regarding Classical Greece for their courage, their progressive thinking and the birth of democracy. However, I think it is important to remember that in both cases, Athens and Sparta were able to sustain their lifestyle on the backs of countless slaves, non-citizens and women and that there is a darker and less romantic side to the past.
...litary end even the women in Sparta would have been affected by the military ways of life almost as much as the young men. From childhood they were being primed to raise a family, they were taught in the ways of mid wifery, learning the correct manner in teaching the future young men of Sparta and keeping themselves fit to produce fit children.
When discussing the Spartan economy it is essential that the structure of Spartan society is explained. This structure directly effects Spartan economic production and its primary agrarian focus. The social structure of ancient Sparta was made up of three classes of individuals, the Spartiates, the Perioikoi, and the Helots. The Spartiates were native Spartans, those who had ancestry back to the first inhabitants of the settlement. The Homoioi—peers and equals—were at the top of the social pyramid, they were citizens with full rights, Spartiates. It was strictly forbidden for the Spartiates to engage in any economic activity at any time, rather they were devoted to military service and training. Family life for a Spartiate was limited, a
One of the greatest responsibilities a woman had in Classical Sparta was giving birth to the Spartan males. Through physical training when a young teen with the Spartan boys, the women needed to be healthy and strong to produce healthy children capable of going through the agoge training. “…By athleticism they made sure that their children would be up to the standard of physical fitness demanded by the Spartan system.” (H.Michell, Sparta). The Spartan mother would prepare the young Spartans prior to the agoge; she would have minimal interaction and supply minimal clothing and
Sparta was a city-state based on strict military ruling, at the age of seven a young Spartan would start out training and be trained into killing machines. When a Spartan baby is born, high elite Spartan soldiers would observe the baby to see if it was healthy and strong, if not the baby was ill and weak so it would be taken up a mountain and left there to die. This is just one example that shows how Sparta only wants a strong army and doesn't care about anything else. Strict rules of the government made it so that every Spartan was trained to be physically and mentally fit for war.
Like the Athenians, women were expected to bear sons. Boys were taken away from their mothers at the age of seven and put under the control of Spartan leaders. The boys were taken to live in military camps and were “subjected to harsh discipline to make them tough and given an education that stressed military training and obedience to authority”. For most of the Spartan men’s lives, they lived in these camps, and trained for battle. Once the males turned 30, they were allowed to vote in an assembly. They were able to marry and live in their own homes, but had to remain in military service until the age of 60. Spartan women, unlike Athenian women had more control and power in society. Woman like men contributed in physical activities because it was “thought that is both parents were strong their children would be more
Because of the tranquil times, the civilization’s society had more time to focus on writing, math, astronomy, and artistic fields, as well as trade and metallurgy. Out of all the city-states of Greece, two excelled over all the rest, Sparta and Athens. Even though they were the most advanced and strong civilizations, they were bitter enemies. While Athens focused mainly on the people’s democracy and citizen rights, Sparta were ferocious and enslaved its original inhabitants, making them unable to leave and kept under a close eye to prevent insurgence (History of Greece:The Golden Age of Greece). Additionally, Sparta had strict and trained soldiers that underwent intense physical exercising and instruction.
In conclusion Athens and Sparta were both very different Greek city-states, so different in fact that they could not get along. Trade, democracy, foreigners, individualism, thought, and the arts were all a part of Athens. Contrasting was Sparta whose focus was on the state, achieving power and independence, and their military. They were not able to ever unite, because of their sociological and cultural differences. Geographically they were so close that they could not ignore one another but fought for the top position among the Greek city-states. For in the end, it was their differences drove them apart.