Athens Vs Sparta Research Paper

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Athens and Sparta were two powerful poleis that dominated the Greek World during the Classical Age. Even though they are close together geographically, the two poleis couldn not be further apart socially, politically, and economically. Occasionally, their similarities united them, at other times it tore them apart. Socially, politically, and economically, Sparta and Athens disagreed on much, however on other issues they sometimes saw eye to eye. While Athens and Sparta differed extensively, they did both share the same religious beliefs as the rest of the Greek city states. They both were polytheistic and had the same pantheon of Gods. Athens and Sparta both believed that Gods and Goddesses controlled everything in their lives and environment. The Athenians mostly worshipped Athena, the Goddess of wisdom, because their main focus was on education and the arts. The Spartan’s main priority was war, which is why Ares, the God of war, was who they prayed to most. Even though the Athenians primarily worshipped Athena, and the Spartans primarily worshipped…show more content…
Thanks to Pericles, Athens flourished in politics, philosophy, architecture, art, pottery, theatre, drama, the writing of history, medicine, etc. The Spartans were very belligerent and had little to no emphasis on any of these topics. In the last half of 5th century, Pericles turned Athens into the showplace of Greece by making the Acropolis a wonder for all time. He beautified Athens by building huge buildings, temples, statues, and carvings showing gods in human form. In Athens, all kinds of arts thrived. Drama was made into an official art form, sculptures representing perfect human form were built, a Parthenon (23,000 square foot shrine with a 30 foot statue) was built to honor Goddess Athena, and comedies and tragedies became more and more popular. The only art that the Spartans ever knew was the art of

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