Download Athens and Sparta - Jacqueline Firestone

Athens and Sparta:
Conflicting yet Completing Views of Citizenship
Jacqueline Firestone
His 0009-1 History of World Civilizations to 1750
Dr. Orozco
18 October 2012
Firestone 2
Jacqueline Firestone
His 0009-1 History of World Civilizations to 1750
Dr. Orozco
18 October 2012
Athens and Sparta:
Conflicting yet Completing Views of Citizenship
At the turn of the 9th century BCE the Greek-speaking people of the Aegean Region
began emerging from the intellectual and technological “Dark Age” that had plagued the
people for the last 300 years. Though different geographical regions isolated these individual
people groups the central factor in their growth and transformation remained the same, the
creation of a polis. A polis can loosely be defined as a city-state, but for these people it was
much more than an “urban center” (Bulliet). One’s polis was rather an extension of their
family and therefore involved a great deal of political loyalty, exemplified in the idea of
citizenship. Though citizenship was also a transcendent idea, its meaning was not universal
(Orozco). In fact, though Athens and Sparta both embraced a strong tie to their polis, their
definitions of citizenship were shaped by the individual experiences of their citizens, and in
turn lead to differing definitions that were eventually understood as necessary to
complement the other.
Homer realized the beautiful contrast and complement between Athens and Sparta
and exemplified his ideas about their unique ideology in the Iliad through his characters of
Achilles and Hector. In the Epic Hector is presented as a mighty warrior. One that creates
chaos for his enemies, fights because of his strong tie to his family, and ultimately represents
Spartan ideology. On the other hand, Achilles represents a great traveling Athenian warrior,
Firestone 3
who seems to be lacking integrity, but is fighting to make his name great. It is not only clear
through Homer’s projection of the differing ideologies on both Achilles and Hector that he
found these polis’ mindsets intriguing, but also his pull toward the Spartan outlook above
the Athenian understanding of citizenship.
As the Athenian Polis began to emerge from the “Dark Ages” and command their
vast and populous territory and elite aristocracy began to emerge. However, this class
deferential and the diversity of the polis were leading the Athenians into a civil war before
Solon took control. Solon made several major reforms in Athens starting with the used of
the drachma, allowing the growing mercantile class to elevate themselves in the aristocratic
system. He also expanded this system to include four distinct class of the aristocracy, and
ultimately the idea of citizenship to one of participation. Solon’s reforms were not only for
existing Athenian’s. Rather, they extended to other groups such as the Corinthians, who
because of their skilled pottery were allowed to participate in the changing Athenian
political system, and therefore become citizens. Eventually through Solon and the changes
made in the Athenian polis the idea of citizenship was extended to all freeborn males over
the age of eighteen (Orozco).
These Athenian beliefs about citizenship and one’s polis are evident in Pericles'
Funeral Oration From the Peloponnesian War. In Pericles’ speech he praises the greatness
of the Athenian State, before he specifically articulates the freedoms that Athenian citizens
enjoy. He breaks down the greatness of Athens into several distinct categories focusing on
their legal system, military, character, and all other aspects of incomparability, rather than
solely on the funeral oration. Pericles also notes that though Athenians have adopted a
capitalistic mindset they are able to still maintain a superior intellect and justice system then
Firestone 4
their neighboring poleis. Moreover, he speaks of the life style that Athenians’ enjoy, saying
that they live, “trusting less in system and policy than to the native spirit of our citizens…we
live exactly as we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger.” In
a way Pericles acts to defend the ideology of his polis and poignantly acknowledge the ways
Athens more remarkable than their chief rival, Sparta. Pericles not only believed that Athens
was magnificent, but also that the Athenian definition of citizenship was superior to the
definition of citizenship in any other polis.
Though Sparta emerged from the “Dark Ages” around the same time Athens did,
their adaptation and interpretation of their polis and citizenship was very different. As the
Spartan polis emerged they took over the Messenias and created a slave population out of
their captures. Eventually the Messenian people, or the Helot’s as they were referred to as
slaves, rebelled. It took 20 years for Sparta to recover from the rebellion, but they were
finally able to suppress the uprising through embracing the ideals Lycurgus and the creation
of the Agoge. The Agoge was a system of military and moral superiority adopted by all
Spartans, in which men and women would be trained form childhood in moral cultural and
military skills. The Spartan polis also embraced a strong sense of collectivism, believing that
benefits of the polis as a whole was much more important than those of it’s individual
citizens (Orozco).
Sparta’s unique approach to warfare and citizenship was not only praised by
Spartans themselves, but also by a 5th century Athenian named Xenophon. In Xenphon’s
Constitution of the Lacedaemonians, one can see that he is particularly impressed with
Lycurgus and the Spartan idea he calls their public duty or the “practice of every virtue by
Firestone 5
every citizen.” Xenophon notes that this “Lycurgian Mindset” was adapted across genders,
form the time of conception on, and included an intense system of training and molding of
these young Spartan minds through the guardians called Paidonomos.
Xenophon was not only overwhelmed with the collective mindset of the Spartans
and how their unity stood in stark contrast to the individuality of Athenian citizenship, but
also their lack of concern with money making. Through Solon’s reforms capitalism and the
class system had become such a large part of the Athenian ideology, but in Sparta under
Lycurgus’ command moneymaking was forbidden. The Spartan idea of being a freeman in
turn exclusively encompassed activities “upon which the foundations of civic liberty are
based.”
Socrates was another Influential Athenian who understood the importance of both
the Spartan and Athenian concepts of Citizenship. We can see in Plato’s recollection of The
Trial and Death of Socrates that at the end of his life Socrates embodied both of these
unique interpretations of citizenship. Socrates understood that he needed to follow a higher
moral responsibility, but by following this individual mindset he would suffer the collective
consequences put in place to maintain the good of the collective established society. This
pull toward the benefit and progress of his individual beliefs embodied the Athenian
principals of citizenship. His assumption of the consequences though was much more of a
Spartan mindset, and by staying for his execution Socrates was making a statement in
Athens about the importance of adopting this Spartan principal into their culture. In fact both
the Athenian and Spartan ideologies eventually become so corrupted that the individual
Firestone 6
poleis found their demise in the conquest of Philip of Macedonia and eventually Alexander
the Great.
Though Athens and Sparta both established strong poleis their embodiment of
citizenship looked very different. The effects of the Helot Rebellion and the Lycurgian
reform lead to a uniformed and collective Spartan mindset that allowed them to in turn gain
their strong military powerhouse reputation. Athens on the other hand developed their polis
with a much more individualistic mindset through Solon’s monetary and class based
reforms. Ultimately, though both unique poleis understood a part of then necessary
components of citizenship, only through great thinkers such as Homer and Socrates did
society fully understand that these ideologies should not stand in contrast, but rather act as
impressive complements, embodying the full definition of citizenship.
Firestone 7
Works Cited
Bulliet, Richard W. "The Formation of New Cultural Communities : The Rise of the
Greeks." The Earth and Its Peoples : A Global History. 5th ed. Vol. 1. Boston, MA:
Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2011. 126-34. Print.
Homer. "Book I: The Quarrel and Zeus’s Oath, Book II: The Assembly, Book VI: The
Trojan Hero, Book IX: The Embassy To Achilles, and Book XXIV: Achilles and
Priam." The Iliad. C. 800 B.C.E. Print.
Orozco, Dr. "Professor." His 0009-1 History of World Civilizations to 1750. Westmont
College, Santa Barbara, CA. Oct. 2012. Lecture.
Plato. The Trial and Death of Socrates. Trans. G. M. A. Grube. Ed. John M. Cooper. 3rd ed.
Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub., 2000. Print.
Thucydides. "Book 2." Pericles' Funeral Oration From the Peloponnesian War. 34-36.
c.460/455-c.399 BCE.Print.
Xenophon. Constitution of the Lacedaemonians. c. 434-355 BCE. Print.