Spartan Education Vs Athenian Education Research Paper
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Education was very important to both the Spartans and Athenians, but they each had their own outlook on what they considered “important” to their citizen’s education for both men and women. As mentioned before Sparta was a more militaristic power in itself and ruled with brute force. For healthy Spartan boys, they were to leave home at age seven to start their training in military school. From then to about age 18 they had to endure rigorous training and discipline to become a top notch soldier. The boys were not given much to wear nor much to eat for that matter, which made them learn to steal food in order to survive. The participated in many physical activities to keep their military physique such as boxing, swimming, wrestling, javelin-throwing,…show more content… They were required to continue serving in the military, however, until age 60 (Spartan Education & Military Training). Spartan women, unlike their Athenian counterparts, also went to school at age seven. They were educated in reading, writing, gymnastics, athletics, and survival skills (Two Faces of Greece: Athens & Sparta). Women in Sparta were treated more as equals and given more respect by men mainly because they gave birth to future soldiers. In Athens things ran differently where the main purpose of Athenian education was to produce thinkers instead of brutes. They were highly renowned for being productive in fields such as art and science. Athenian boys were home schooled until the age of six or seven and then sent to a neighborhood school for their primary education through the age of 14. These schools were normally private schools but the tuition cost was low which allowed for even poor families to send their boys to school for at least a few years. In primary school younger boys learned calisthenics and often were taught how to play ball games, while older boys were taught more military-type activities like running, boxing, and