Sparta and Athens

If I were to ask you to tell me all you knew about Greece, you would probably name a handful of Greek Gods, where Greece is on the map and a couple cities, and nothing more.  What you are missing is their daily life, how they fight war, their education, etc.  This essay reveals that, and much more.

Athens and Sparta are worlds apart, but not literally.  Athens is a beautiful city-state that is into the arts, well established, and civilized.  Sparta, on the other hand, is cruel.  Even though women can own a business, learn to read and write, and have many other privileges, Spartans don’t respect human life.    

Athens

Athenians believed in all the Greek Gods.  They were Aphrodite, Athena, Zeus, Hera, Hephaestus, Apollo, Hermes, Artemis, Ares, Hestia, Poseidon, Hades and Demeter.  These are only each of the Gods that have a throne.  I did not list the Minor Gods.  Out of all of the Greater Gods, Athens mainly worshipped Athena, goddess of wisdom and war.  Her symbols are the owl, olive tree and armor.  She had long, flowing, dark brown hair with storm cloud gray eyes.

Religion was very important to Athens.  Athena and her symbols came up everywhere!  Even on the back of the Athenian coin was the sign of the owl!  In fact, Athena was so important to Athens that they built an immense statue of her near her temple, the Parthenon, not to be confused with the Panthenon.  It was built out of gold, and many gifts were laid at her feet.  Citizens of Athens adored Athena.

Athenians lived an easy life.  Why?  Well, they had so much time because slaves did all their work.  Because these slaves worked so hard, the Athenians could do whatever they wanted.  Go to the bathhouse (More of a pool) to take a bath, shop in the market for food and toys.  Most of the time, the slaves went to the market, in place of the masters, because, like I said earlier, slaves did all the work.   But boys could not do whatever they pleased.  They had to go to school.  Their school is different from ours.  They learned music, poems, reading and writing.  Toward the middle of the day, the boys would exercise.  They became tough by racing each other.  This made Athens extremely famous in Greece.  Because of their agility, the Athenians won the Olympics.  Even tough, Spartan boys, were not a match. 

Now, these schools did not have roofs.  They were completely open.  This kept the Athenian citizens to stay healthy.  They enjoyed open air, and could not be torn away from this life.

Another activity the Athenians loved was Drama.  No women could act in these shows, so males would have to play all the female parts.  If there was a part where a character had to fly, they lifted you up on a pole.  These shows were very popular.     

Women, though, learned at home.  They learned how to maintain a household, cook, clean, and other chores.  They could not go anywhere without their husband’s permission.  Women were expected to look over the family while the husbands were away.

Athens fought in many wars.  These are two of them:  The Trojan War and the Peloponnesian War.  The Trojan War started when Paris awarded Aphrodite the Apple of Beauty.  She had promised him the most beautiful wife in the world, although Helen was already married.  So Athens built a large wooden horse.  They rolled it to Troy, with the stealthy men inside.  The Trojans thought the horse a gift for them, so they dragged it inside.  In the middle of the night, the warriors jumped out and kidnapped Helen, claiming her for Paris.

The Peloponnesian War was divided into three separate parts.  In the first, Archidamus, leader of the Spartans, tried everything to make Athens surrender.  But the Navy was just too strong.  The second was arranged by strategic Nicias, but, like Archidamus, he failed. In the third part, Sparta fought hard.  They were vicious, and after all these tries, Athens fell under Spartan rule.

Sparta

Sparta also worshipped the twelve Major Gods.  But they mainly worshipped Artemis.  In Sparta, she is extremely cruel.  But in Athens, the only thing that people have to offer her are their toys, and only when they no longer want them.  The Spartans feared Artemis.  They feared her so much that they created Artemis Victors.  These men were randomly chosen to take Artemis’ beatings.  They were whipped and tortured for a Goddess that doesn’t even exist.

Spartans enjoyed pottery.  At their peak, Spartans were producing beautiful sculptures out of ivory and metal.  They also produced drinking cups, plates, bowls and jars for olive oil, or water.  The Spartans (what do you know) created poetry.  They wrote it about war, and other things going on in their daily life.  The Spartans had farmers, called helots, who supplied them with fruit and vegetables and other foods.  The Spartans also enjoyed drama, likewise the Athenians.

The Spartans took boys away from their families to be trained in war when they were only seven.  The boys learned their battle positions and memorized Homer’s poems.  They hunted animals, wrestled and learned how to wield a weapon.  They gathered reeds each day for their bed, and were not fed much.  After time, these boys became very tough, and were able to withstand much.  There is a tale that once, a Spartan boy stole a fox from a neighbor.  He was going to eat it, because he was ravenous.  The guards spotted him, and he hid the fox under his shirt.  Although it was biting him, he showed no signs, and was able to eat it!

If I could choose which city I would live in, I would choose Athens.  Even though women have more of a say in Sparta, I would not want to live in a city where they do not respect life.  Where would YOU want to live?

-Bella Dortch  Oct.17^th, 2011-10-18