Comparison of the Greek City States- Athens and Sparta

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.

Athens is more superior than Sparta through, government, economy, and culture. Athens government is a democracy which means all citizens get to take part. In Athens “ all men are on an equality” which means “ Not of the few but of the many” (doc 3 pericles). Every citizen in Athens is allowed to take part in government, even poor citizens. Unlike Sparta, who has an oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy. The Spartan government is made up of kings and elders only. Not everyone gets to participate.

During the times of Ancient Greece, two major forms of government existed, democracy and oligarchy. The city-states of Athens and Sparta are the best representatives of democracy and oligarchy, respectively. The focus of the times was directed towards military capabilities, while the Athenians were more interested in comfort and culture. It was the oligarchy in Sparta that put a war-like attitude as its first priority and best met the needs of Ancient Greece. These factors empowered Sparta and led to the development of an authoritative and potent state. Other contrasting issues included women’s rights, social classes, and value of human life.

Athens and Sparta are the two famous city-states in Ancient Greece. The Athens was more superior then Sparta. The Athenians were stronger because they had a better geography, government, cultural achievements, and I would rather live in the Athens.

Athens and Sparta are two powerful city-states, different from each other in such way that

When comparing power levels and women’s rights, Sparta was a leader in its time. Athens and Sparta, though both Greek city-states were different in the way they operated. More specifically, Sparta was different in the way that they treated their women. Athenian woman were treated quite appallingly compared to the standards of today’s women. The stem of this difference seems to lie in how these two city-states were governed. Sparta, known for its’ militaristic ways, was an oligarchy and Athens, known for its’ philosophers and thinkers, was a democracy. Sparta’s oligarchy was ruled by a counsel of 5 men, on being a lawmaker or giver. The lawgiver’s name was Lycurgus. Lycurgus was

Ancient Greece was comprised of small city-states, of which Sparta and Athens were two. Athens was renowned as a center of wisdom and learning. The people of Athens were interested in arts, music, and intellectual pursuits. Sparta, on the other hand, was recognized for its military strength. A Spartan's life was centered on the state, because he lived and died to serve the state. Although the competing city-states of Sparta and Athens were individually different as well as governmentally diverse, they both managed to become dominating powers in Ancient Greece.

In the period known as classical Greece in the years 800-323 BCE, Greece comprised of small city states (poleis) which were considered and operated as independent small countries. Amongst those city states Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful and considered in Greek history as the most influential states to western civilisation. These two city states shared some common characteristics whilst in some instances they were very different from each other. Sparta and Athens had differences and similarities in the way they governed their city states, in how they established their military forces, how they treated women, their marriage customs and social gatherings

Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful and well known cities among all the Greek nations. Most would find it easier to find more similarities among these two groups of mighty people. But there are some differences between these two power houses. For instance the way that these cities were governed and their political procedures and functions were quite different from each other.

     As we look back upon the two significant differences in the governmental systems of Sparta and Athens, there are also many other characteristics that distinguish the differences and similarities of these two city states. The difference in land as well as population perceives a relative historical comparison. Sparta lacked land area and was forced to seek other land in the fertile plain of Messenia. Although, if we look at the Athens, we see that they had no issues with plentiful land, as they possessed large and populous territory.

Athens is superior towards Sparta throughout ancient Greek history. During the Archaic Age, Sparta was solely focused on fighting wars and training their children for these wars. Athens on the contrary, was a city that focused heavily on the arts and was a very relaxed and peaceful city to live in. In Athens, all men born to Athenian parents were citizens, in Sparta, only the wealthy were citizens. In 594 BCE, Salon, the new leader of Athens, he created a constitution that ended the political control of the wealthy. Unless someone was part of the 1 percent, Athens gave members of society more rights than Sparta. By 508 BCE, Cleisthenes came to power in Athens and creates a democratic constitution of all people. While this advancement occurred

The most important city-states of Ancient Greece was Sparta and Athens. Both of these city-states shared similar characteristics such as both would remain the foundation for the Greek political world. Both Athens and Sparta had a similar government system. Their members were elected by the people. Athens is said to be the of democracy. Athenians were educated(except girls) but they never knew much about brute force, unlike the Spartans. The Spartans changed their society to remove all social distinction and became the greatest soldiers in Greece. Even girls were trained to become soldiers because for the Spartans there is no such thing as inequality; women can do the job of mem. However, in Athens, girls did not receive an education like the boys in Athen did but, instead, were expected to become housewives. The Greeks never unified

In historic times, there existed a divergent people, the Greek way of life was one of the classical civilizations which is considered the melting pot of politics, poetry, art and military of ancient times. Ancient Greece was constructed of a variety of villages that were known as city-states; the aforementioned city-states existed within the known territories, however each of these city-states had their own culture, values and customs. Various city-states cooperated with one another, however they also had a history of fighting with one another, but the most powerful city-states were considered: Sparta and Athens. The Athenians were known for political practices and culture, whereas Sparta was famously known for its disciplined military and vast weaponry. The predominant goal for the Spartan Empire was to establish an elite state of hoplites (infantrymen), while the supreme ambition for the Athenians was to construct a society of well-balanced attributes. Although Sparta and Athens both operated their societies in a different manner, there were few similarities that could be seen in certain aspects of their city-states.

The two Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta were similar in that they both had social societies that favored men. Both civilizations didn’t believe women were equal to men as well. On the other hand, their cultures were very different. Sparta had a main goal of a strong military while Athens focused on art and music. Politically, Athens had a democracy and Sparta had an oligarchy. It is important for us to study the similarities and differences between the two city-states because it will enhance our understanding of how Athens was eventually defeated by Sparta. Clearly, Sparta and Athens had more differences than they did attributes in common.

The ancient civilization of Greece contained many different city-states; two of these city-states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta and Athens were different in their values, politics, and societies. Sparta was focused on their military, discipline, and to have a strong state. Athens was a democratic state that was peaceful and where women were open to culture and democracy. How do these two city-states differ?