Spartan Essays

  • Essay On Spartan Life

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Life of a Spartan Spartans were a people of war who thrived on fighting, so naturally physical might was a much needed and wanted attribute. The children who were strong excelled to high levels in society while the weak either became farmers or scholars. The deformed or mentally handicapped were either shunned or exterminated. When a boy reached manhood, he would undergo a series of tests that involved surviving on his own and not returning to his home until he had brought home a trophy

  • Spartan Society related

    2027 Words  | 5 Pages

    Explain the importance of the role or religion in Spartan Society. Religion in Sparta, like in many societies, had a purpose. Religion was important in Sparta to support the ideals of a militaristic utopian society which, after the Messenian wars, the governing forces were aiming to create. “Those who honour the gods most finely with choruses are best in war” [Socrates]. The Spartan ideal of an elite military state influenced the approach to religion and the ways in which religion would be moulded

  • Spartan Culture Essay

    619 Words  | 2 Pages

    Who are the Spartans? If someone were to look at popular movies, books, or comics that mention or include Spartans then they would think they are an ultra militaristic tough as nails ancient Greek city-state. One such movie is 300 directed by Zack Snyder and is arguably a very popular depiction of ultra militaristic Spartans grossing $456,068,181 worldwide. When someone watches or reads one such depiction of Spartans they would likely understand that it is somewhat an exaggeration but not to the

  • Athens vs. Sparta: Was War Between the Two Inevitable?

    2610 Words  | 6 Pages

    In 480 and the years prior the Athenians and Spartans, banned together to defeat the Persian Army. The Spartans stand at Thermopylae, allowed the Athenians time to prepare, and ultimately allowed the victory. With both of these great city-states located so close together in Hellas, there differences would ultimately lead to dissension. Throughout the course of this paper, I hope to explain the reasoning behind the dissension between Sparta and Athens, made war between these former allies inevitable

  • Halo: The Fall Of Reach

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    and resulting from the conflict or major problems in the work. 1. Spartans' (super soldiers, highly advanced warriors, specially bioengineered and technologically augmented, the best in the universe - quiet, professional, and deadly) completion of training camp on the planet REACH (human's last station of defense to stop the covenant from finding the location of earth) – After the completion of the training camp the Spartans were used for their main purpose, to protect and save human civilization

  • The Search for True Moral Authority

    2211 Words  | 5 Pages

    In reading The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, one is struck by the two major political education ideals described in the book: the Spartan regime, praised by the Lacedaemonian king Archidamus, and the Athenian ideal, supported by Pericles, the Athenian ruler. Socrates discusses both of these regimes in Plato’s Republic in an attempt to make a statement about what constitutes true and effective education. After close analysis, it is clear that Socrates does not support either educational ideal.

  • History of physical education

    501 Words  | 2 Pages

    opportunities. If the cycles of physical education continue, these new professions will hopefully pave the way to future discoveries and studies of physical education. The Spartans and Athenians were the first to have a type of physical education. Though very different, both systems served the people and their needs. The Spartan system was similar to a dictatorship. Male children were taken at the age of seven to learn basic military skills while living in barracks. When the children reached the age

  • Democracy Or Oligarchy? A Comparative Essay

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    outnumbered the amount of citizens, making Spartans constantly paranoid of a helot revolt. In order to prevent this fear, "the ephors declared war on them every year. In spite of these precautions, the Spartans frequently had to suppress helot revolts"(Davis 90). The Spartans felt this was an efficient way to keep the numbers of slaves down, and to further subdue the slaves hopes of one day being free. Since slaves were treated horribly by the Spartans they were constantly trying to escape. In Sparta

  • What Caused The Downfall of Sparta?

    1871 Words  | 4 Pages

    overtook these fellow Dorian settlements and their helot populations, as well as control of the whole of Laconia. The Spartans kept the helots as a huge, strong slave race and, although they did not enslave their fellow Dorians, the other Dorians were made perioci, meaning "those who live round about". The perioci were needed to be the craftsmen, tradesmen and manufacturers for the Spartans, who were trained as full time soldiers. At the end of the Dark Ages, there was nothing exceptional about Sparta

  • Athens and Sparta

    1496 Words  | 3 Pages

    strength and magnitude of the Persian threat. Although the Greeks had managed to force Persians retreat from the Greek mainland, the danger of reconquest by the Persians was still present. In the battle of Plataea (479 BC), the Greeks, under the Spartan regent and general Pausanians, obliterated the Persian army. The Greeks also won a naval victory at Mycale. Although the war drugged on for many years, these two victories marked the end of the Persian threat to Europe and the beginning of the period

  • Mary Renault's The Last of the Wine

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    experiences as a soldier, and his society's reaction to the ravages of the Peloponnesian war. This was a time when the Spartans had the city of Athens under siege. They burned the surrounding farms, cutting off the food supply of the Athenians who sought refuge inside the city. Alexas recalls the hardships the Athenians faced and their gallant efforts to protect their city from Spartan invasion. The main themes in this book are war, power, heroism, love, loyalty and growth. We are given further insight

  • Demolition Man

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    an action/science fiction movie staring Sylvester Stallone as a police officer named John Spartan, Wesley Snipes as a criminal named Simon Phoenix, and Sandra Bullock as an SAPD officer named Lenina Huxley. The movie begins in the year 1996 in the "out of control" city of Los Angeles. The city is out of control. John Spartan arrests Simon Phoenix for a hostage situation, but the hostages are killed and Spartan is charged with their murders. Both men are then sent to a prison where they are to be frozen

  • Ismenes Indecisiveness in Antigone

    1371 Words  | 3 Pages

    burying Polyneices, she would in the end be with her family in life or in death, and be better of than being left alone on earth alive. Also the actions of the characters in the play are very comparable to the ideas and strategies of the Greeks and Spartans in Thucydides, written shortly afterwards. Ismene's indecisiveness and lack of action is starkly contrasted with the actions and beliefs of Creon and Antigone, the characters who are most often thought of as the victims. For Antigone, the punishment

  • Sparta: Uncultured Discipline

    1731 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sparta: Uncultured Discipline The Spartans were the most formidable warriors in all of history. They dedicated their entire lives to warfare. They were taught to endure cold, hunger, pain, their courage on the battlefield was second to none. The Spartan code was to fight hard, follow orders without question and to die rather then retreat or surrender. To achieve all this, Sparta sacrificed everything; the arts, culture, and other things that make life worth while. I believe the price was to high

  • Did Sparta Achieve Her Goal

    516 Words  | 2 Pages

    she proved that strength didn’t lie in numbers, it lay in Spartan discipline. Sparta started out as a small city fighting only to survive against enemy invaders. Her goal was to avoid defeat from other city-states and she very nearly succeeded in achieving it. Using self-denial, strong discipline and harsh training, Sparta focused almost all her attention on achieving her goal. Known as the ‘tamer of men’, her strength made all but Spartan men shrink in fear. However, Sparta did not wage war any more

  • Causes Of The Pelopenesian War

    1302 Words  | 3 Pages

    conflict. When looking for a single cause of the peloponnesian war none can be found. Over time many events contributed to the eventual war between Sparta and Athens. I believe the peloponnesian war evolved because of Athenian support for Spartan enemies, Spartan alarm at a rise in Athenian power, and the drastic differences between the two cultures. In 435 B.C., Corcyra, a Corinthian colony declared itself independent of Corinth. Corinth responded by sending a fleet to reduce the rebelling island

  • Athens-Greece

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    Athens - Greece During the fifth century of Ancient Greece the city-states of Athens and Sparta represented two very different forms of living. Spartans directed their time towards their military capabilities while the Athenians were interested in comfort and culture. Sparta’s and Athens’ political and environmental differences along with their different views on women caused the two city-states to be very dissimilar. Two major forms of government existed during Ancient Greece: oligarchy and democracy

  • Milton's Passage

    1814 Words  | 4 Pages

    famous battles in history, as presented by the father of history, Herodotus: the Spartan duels with the vast Persian force of the Great King Xerxes. In the first battle, at Thermopylae, the Spartans stood their ground faithfully, and through obedience and discipline shamed their (in Herodotus' portrayal) morally inferior foe by forcing them to pay an outrageous price for victory. In the second, at Plataea, the Spartans this time defeat their more numerous foe, again due to their inherent superiority

  • Justice in Socrates’ City

    793 Words  | 2 Pages

    Justice in Socrates’ City While Adeimantus and Glaucon appear to enthusiastically accept Socrates’ conclusions about the nature and benefits of justice at the end of Book IV, even going so far as to complete his argument about the profit of justice themselves, they only do so because they have followed Socrates’ argument linearly without going back to test new claims against established premises. Had they done so, they would have been to discover the gaps in Socrates’ logic and the full implications

  • Comparing Divine Punishment in Oedipus Rex and Leda and the Swan

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    Helen and Clytemnestra who later marry and experience the fall of the Trojan empire and the killing of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra's husband.  The story of Leda and the Swan creates a vivid portrait of a rape between an all-powerful swan and Leda, the Spartan Queen.  It is peculiar that two such powerful individuals are the subjects of the horrendous act of rape. Zeus is the most powerful of all gods, and Leda herself has great power, being the Queen of Sparta.  Aside from this however, lies another topic