Download STUDY GUIDE FOR SPARTA AND ATHENS: BE ABLE TO WRITE

STUDY GUIDE FOR SPARTA AND ATHENS:
BE ABLE TO WRITE HOW SPARTA AND ATHENS ARE ALIKE AND DIFFERENT AS WELL AS ANSWER QUESTIONS
HOW THEY ARE ALIKE AND DIFFERENT. THE UNDERLINED WORDS HERE ARE WORDS YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON
FOR MEANING ALSO…..
Sparta is located in southern Greece, on the banks of the Eurotas River. The Spartans were a very war-like society,
much different than Athens. Boys were taught to be obedient to commands and overall victorious in war
situations. These boys were sent to public at the age of seven with the goal of becoming “military men”. Sparta
actually had three social classes ranking from low to middle to high. The three classes were the Spartan citizens,
the periokoi and the helots. The lowest class were the helots who were basically like Spartan slaves! Even the
girls in Sparta learned to fist fight, wrestle and handle weapons! The Spartans had a powerful army, defeated
many other armies.
Athens, named after the goddess Athena, on the other hand, was not a war-like society like Sparta. Athens and
Sparta were considered enemies. Unlike Sparta, Athens was more devoted to literature and art. When the
Athenians were educated, their education focused on music, art, literature and politics. Even though the city of
Athens began as a monarchy, or a system with one ruler, the government eventually evolved into one where the
citizens were allowed to vote. Eventually the government became a democracy, which our own country is today.
Education in Athens did not seem to focus on fighting and warfare like Sparta. Remember how the boys and girls
in Sparta were both taught war-like things? The boys and girls in Athens were educated very differently from
each other. The boys in Athens DID start education at about the same age as a Spartan boy, but boys in Athens
learned to read and write and play musical instruments. However, there is a similarity in Athenian boys and
Spartan boys – the Athenian boys at High School age did attend military school.
The girls in Athens were taught by their mothers at home. When you think about the role of the girl, it seems as if
girls were not equal to boys. Girls were not considered citizens of Athens (citizens were males born in Athens)
and often they could not participate in city-state activities. That seems a bit unfair according to our present
society!
The acropolis was important in Athens. The acropolis contained several buildings built on the top of a hill and was
originally seen as a fortress for protection but then became a great symbol of Athen’s beauty. The “Parthenon”
was considered the most famous building in the acropolis of Athens. There were many “acropolises” in ancient
Greece but this one in Athens is one of the most important. This acropolis in Athens was dedicated to the
goddess Athena, goddess of war and was unfortunately destroyed by the Persians.
Both Athens and Sparta were located in southern Greece as you can see on this map.
Geography Theme of Location:
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Athens lies very close to the coast and is
located NE of Sparta.
Sparta is located more southerly than
Athens.
If you travel south from either Athens or
Sparta you would land in either the
Mediterranean Sea of the Sea of Crete
Geography Theme of Human/Environmental
interaction: The terrain in Greece was very
mountainous causing much travel by water
instead of land.