Athens Vs China Dbq Analysis

Athens and Hans China are two ancient societies that had successful, thriving civilizations. Each civilization invented new and useful items that influence today's time period some examples are paper, a pulley, and a flush toilet. Although these two civilizations are six thousand miles apart Athens located in the district of Attica and China at the end of the Eurasian land mass they had three moderately similar differences: the way the citizens opinions/views impacted the running of the government, treatment of Infants, and women's rights.
In China and Athens the people heavily influence the government's decisions. The Athenian government was a democracy: everyone was equal under the law and “no man is kept out of public office by the obscurity
In Athens in order for a child to live he or she has to be “worth rearing”, so “For ten days after birth the father could inspect the baby, and if he found it deformed or weak, he could order it to be exposed in some public place to die”(Document N). Athenian children have no worth or place in a family unless he or she are born healthy and strong physically and mentally otherwise they are killed. Treatment of Infants in Athens is extremely barbarous because the Athenians want their children to be the model of perfection and if he or she is not than they are killed; however, the treatment of raised children is not any better because if a child was not obedient or willing to improve they were “fixed” by beatings and threats. Similarly in China the life of a child was in the hands of its parents because “an infant's life was not automatically preserved….. (A) child's life was not formally acknowledged until the third day of life, and it was at this time that the parents made the decision to raise or reject it” (Document O). In China certain limitations whether political or economic determined the fate of a child. A parent struggling to provide for themselves could decide to reject his or her child because they can not provide the infant with essentials or the parent could simply reject his or
In Hans China women are expected to follow certain traits, so that they do not disgrace their reputation; however,“If a women lacked these three traits, she will have no name to preserve and will not be able to avoid shame”(Document R). In China a woman's reputation is everything and as soon as she is not obedient and industrious she will not be able to avoid shame and mistreatment. Likewise, in Athens “with fewer or no slaves, women had to do more, take more responsibility, and get out more” (Document R). Athenian women had multiple responsibilities, yet had few laws and their worth was compared to a slave or child. Both women in China and Athens were expected to act a certain way to preserve their name, but their responsibilities