Comparing Athens and Sparta
Athens and Sparta are two of the most well-known Ancient Greek city-states. Throughout history, their reputation has been built on their many achievements and incredible development for people of an ancient era. Although they were both a part of Ancient Greece, they had stark cultural differences.
Athens was considered to be cultured and intellectual. Athens had a very strong navy but was also known for so much more than their military strength.
Athenian society was built on democratic values. They valued education greatly, and children learned reading, writing, and math. Promoting childhood education was considered advanced for this time.
Athens was the leader of the Delian League. The Delian League was created in order to save Greek independence from Persian rule. Another important part of Athenian life was its economy and trade culture.
Merchants and citizens traded goods at the “agora.” The agora was what we might imagine as a public square. It was the hub of the city, where goods as well as ideas were exchanged. It was here that Athenian culture grew and flourished.
Sparta was less interested in aesthetics than Athens, and more interested in military success. Sparta was the leader of the Peloponnesian League.
This is important, because the Peloponnesian League was actually at war with the Delian League during the 4th century BCE
The Spartan army was very strong and is considered legendary to this day. It was very advanced in terms of tactical movement and organization. The Spartan government was an oligarchy, meaning that it was ruled by a very small group of people.
The culture was dominated by the value of militaristic success. Of course, there was other work to be done besides going to war. People still needed to eat. The agricultural work was done by helots. Helots were essentially serfs, owned by the Spartan government for agricultural labor.
Although Athens and Sparta had very big differences in culture and values, there were some basic similarities. First, they were both Greek city-states. Even though they appear to be opposites, they both show different sides of Greek culture: beauty, intellectualism, militarism and order. Finally, they were actually united in the war against the Persians.