Athens And Sparta Compare And Contrast Essay

Many ancient civilizations thrived around 700 BC. Two of those happen to be Athens and Sparta. Although the Athenians and the Spartans had several similarities including politically, like both having assembly, their cultural differences, like the Athenians valuing the nobles, were shown to have more impact.

When it comes to the system of government Athens and Sparta differ greatly. Sparta on one hand had an oligarchy, a government ruled by a few men. Sparta had two kings who were elected and had all the power. Normally one king was in charge of the government while the other was in charge of the army. This led to something like a dictator in charge. You could just get rid of them after a while. On the other hand Athens was operated under a democratic government. All Athenian male citizens could hold government positions. Athens had 3 government groups. Assembly, the council of 500 and the courts. This was a lot like our present day government. Culture constitutes another major difference between Athens and Sparta. Athenian culture deprived

women from basic human rights. In Athens women and slaves were condemned to own property, vote, go to school and attend plays! How in the world did they have fun? In Sparta things were a little different. Since the men were out training and fighting, the women were the top dogs. They made all the decisions till the men came back. That caused some relationship problems between the men and women. Athenian culture was more based on the arts. True beauty was considered symmetry to the Athenians. While the Spartans had a more militaristic culture. They spent all their time on war and training. This concluded that the Athenians and the Spartans were not the best that they could be because women were not able to contribute.

While there are several topics you can contrast about Athens and Sparta , there are also a few comparisons. The Athenians and the Spartans both deprived the slaves from their rights. A slave in Sparta was someone who did not want to be a soldier. In Athens a slave was someone who owes someone money. They both got treated the same even though they had the same position. They both believed in a strong army and allowed citizens to pursue that career. The Athenians were very open minded, they would let men choose any career that they

could pursue. The Spartans on the other hand were very closed minded, they were very hubris and felt that everyone should pursue a career in the army. Both in Athens and Sparta only men could get jobs and do other regular things. But the Spartans let the women pursue athletics. The Athenians only let the rich women do so. This showed that they both had similar beliefs deep inside .