Preview

Cultural Differences In Ancient Greece

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
487 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cultural Differences In Ancient Greece
1) Polis, "a city state in ancient Greece, especially as considered in its ideal form for philosophical purposes", came prominence in the Aegean basin. This happened during the 9th century B.C.E, induced by the furthering of relationship and contact between the Greeks and Phoenicians. This formation of society came into eminence and notability, as the ancient Greek associations were in dire need of structure and stability. This lead to development of many 1,000 different polis, with city states of Athens, and Sparta being the most successful ones. These vastly superior polis were all similar in their success but also shared many distinct differences that all made them unique. For instance, while they all shared a common Greek culture and religion, they were quite different in what they prioritized. While they all focused on stability and protection from the external forces, such as the Persians. The spartiates were the only one to truly prioritize this, as they valued their military prowess above all. Their tradition based, conservative culture allowed them to achieve this, as they displayed the greatest military strength in the greek world. Unfortunately, unlike their Athenian neighbors, there efforts …show more content…
This was their greatest weakness, as it kept them from engaging with the outside world. This isolationist strategy kept Spartiates from participating in many activities, such as trade and commerce. This also, in my opinion, led to them being considered far less advanced and sophisticated, than their Athenian counterparts. On the other hand, the Athenians were quite progressive and innovative, traits that helped create a strong agricultural economy. Although, when compared to the polis of sparta, the Athenians did lack in military strength, they made up for through their efforts in fields of government and the arts.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Aristocracy: In ancient Greece, the aristocracy was more pronounced in Athens than in Sparta. The Athenians placed a lot of emphasis on democracy and democracy itself since time immemorial have created directed and/or indirectly created an aristocratic class within that democracy. The Spartans where more war-like and placed more emphasis on physical prowess and ability.…

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The geography of Sparta enabled provision of sufficient resources to the Spartans. The lands of Laconia and Messene, which were captured by Spartans (and the Laconians and Messenians enslaved/subjugated) became a good food source for Sparta.…

    • 1168 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In ancient Greece era (ca 800-323 BCE), Greece was consisted of hundred of city states called “Poleis”. Each polis was an independent small country and many were only like a small town or a small village. A polis sometimes controlled very small territories. However, among all of the “Polies” in Greece, there were two poweful city states named Athens and Sparta. These two city states were powerful and influential among other Greek city states or poleis1.…

    • 1661 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    unit 2

    • 278 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The rural areas of Greece separated from one another by mountains became to form a community this is known as polis or city-states. The city-states came together to honor the gods at sanctuaries.…

    • 278 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Athenians and Spartans were rulers in their own right and developed different political systems. Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece, the birthplace of democracy. Athenians were patrons that support, protects, and believed in living and dying as a champion. Their foundation was primarily focused on economic growth. Spartans believed in being resilient and self-disciplined. Sparta was extremely powerful after defeating rival city-state Athens in the Peloponnesian War. Sparta was dedicated to the military and to the state. Spartans believed in education and military training.…

    • 88 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    How Did Sparta Change

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In its early days, Sparta was social, and had contact with other city-states. Until, they made some drastic changes. They became warlike, and were almost undefeatable in land battle. Eventually, they built a fleet as well. Today, Sparta is well known for being the strongest, and most warlike of the ancient Greek city-states.…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How Did Sparta Decline

    • 872 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This fault, although it manifested in a number of disparate ways, could be summed up in one word: short-sightedness. This short-sightedness occurred in areas such as its attitudes, its failure to modify the rigid Lycurgus system, its tactical naiveté, its failure to adapt when opponents began hiring mercenary armies, its misconduct, its lack of negotiation and cooperation with its own allies. Although Sparta had great military strength, it dissipated the effect of that strength by obtusely refusing to consider anything outside its narrow field of vision. It was like a bulldog on a single-minded mission, resolutely forging ahead as though no one else were worth caring about not even its own allies. Ultimately, Sparta's incredible and overweening short-sightedness caused it to lose its domination and become demoted from a world-class reigning military power to a much lesser…

    • 872 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Athens Vs Sparta Essay

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Did you know that Spartans were so harsh and strict, they banished citizens that were overweight! Spartans were hostile and stern, which made them very powerful. They were solitary people that were simple but strong. Also, they were very protective, and fearful of other city-states trying to weaken the government through new ideas. On the other hand, Athenians were cultured and artistic people. They had creative minds, and loved to socialize with other city-states to spread new ideas. Athenians and Spartans had many diversities and differences, thus causing the Peloponnesian War that had tragic effects which impacted Greece for many years.…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    How Did Rome Become Good?

    • 1907 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In ancient Greece there was a situation where there were multiple city-states in a relatively small area that all had different political ideologies. These City States had highly regarded philosophers that wrote great lengths about them. This gives us a great foundation to try to understand the different systems and how they were based. The goal is to analyze some of the different ideologies and find why they were thought to be so good, and what made them good.…

    • 1907 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Both the Spartans and Athenians had different military trademarks. The Athenians were known for their navy, while the Spartans were known for their hoplites. The Athenians navy contained a type of boat called a trireme, which was one of the fastest ships in this time period and allowed the Athenians to do something very different then they had in the past. Before the creation of the trireme the way of war on ships was that two people at war would jump on each others boats and begin fighting. The trireme changed this by allowing the Athenians to ram into the enemies' ships, which caused them to sink. The Spartans peculiar form of government enabled them to be professional soldiers. To be more precise: it not only enabled them, it even forced them to be superior soldiers as a small group of Spartans had to dominate an enormous amount of subjects and unwilling allies. The Spartan's hoplite phalanx was not different in the way of formation it was different, because the Spartan's were trained to be soldiers from the age of 7, and were taught to be very fierce and strong. The Spartan army was superior in Hellas, and in the rest of the known world. No other army was so well trained, and had such excellent equipment. They believed that a traditional training was the key to success, and for centuries they were right as they had never lost a battle in spite of their small numbers…

    • 2611 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The two most well known city states of this time were Athens and Sparta. (ahistoryofgreece.com) These two cities were responsible for bringing Greece to its pinnacle as a society. Athens in general was the stereotypically more refined and sophisticated city state of the two. The Athenian society put great emphasis on the humanities and the arts. Sparta, on the other hand, favored the individual for his athletic ability and for his greatness as a warrior. Sparta, as a whole, was a very warlike and militaristic society. The Spartans formed the backbone of the Grecian Army and were the go-to guys when war broke out. Together, these two city states set the precedent for modern day standards of living, as well as established many laws that form the basis of modern legal systems today. (ahistoryofgreece.com)Grecian art, as we think of it today, made significant developments during Greeces Golden Age. The art of Ancient Greece is divided into four…

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sparta In Ancient Greece

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages

    As victors, the Spartans found themselves dominant in a Greece where polis was suspicious of polis and where, within each polis, faction disputed with faction. From Ionia, which the Spartans sold back to Persia as the price of their assistance, the Persians loomed once more as a threat to the whole Greek world. The new Macedonia in the north menaced the Greeks. Perhaps wiser or more vigorous leaders would have been able to create some sort of federation among the individual poleis that could have withstood the Persians and the Macedonians, and still later, the Romans. But since this did not happen, it seems more likely that the polis as an institution was no longer thought to be the appropriate way for the Greek world to be organized. Perhaps it was too small, too provincial, and too old-fashioned to keep the peace and provide scope for economic advancement and intellectual growth.…

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sparta was the dominant force in the Hellenic world for a long time. With Athenian power growing quickly, Sparta felt threatened. Sparta had a militaristic form of government, which was its form of government for over four hundred years. It allowed them to develop…

    • 1593 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Greek Polis

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages

    After this period, the concept of the polis began to change. The regulation of power changed, along with the rights and duties of the people. The Greeks located the source of authority in the polis. Policy was decided in open discussions. In order to be a citizen in the polis, one had to be an adult whose ancestors were Greek and from that particular polis. Children, foreigners, and slaves could not be citizens. Citizens had many exclusive rights, including: the right to vote, own property, and contract legal marriage. The city-states differed in different regions of ancient Greece. Even though the states kept the concept of the polis, the way in which each was governed differed. Two of the most important city-states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta developed as a war-like polis, while Athens developed as a democratic one.…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ancient Greek Culture

    • 1522 Words
    • 7 Pages

    There are so many ways in which history has been documented over time all serving as a permanent record of a culture and its people for future generations to have access to and learn from. The study of the visual arts and architecture in a given time period showcase the basic ideas about a group of human beings giving insight into their beliefs and cultural message. These insights are presented with a specific point of view intended by its creator, influenced by its historical experiences. And so, it is the responsibility of the observer to examine pieces of art and architectural structures taking into account the context in which they were produced. By doing so, we can more accurately understand the ideas that are trying to be conveyed. Political,…

    • 1522 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays