Re: Topic 2 -- Early World History, Level I

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 17:36:00 02/23/02 Sat
Author: Ryan Maclachlan
Subject: Re: Topic 2
In reply to: Mr. Curboy 's message, "Topic 2" on 06:57:46 02/13/02 Wed

As with most everyone else here I agree that Pericles was correct in some aspects of the Athenian greatness, but a bit to enthusiastic about other topics.
First of all as many others have mentioned, the military of Athens was not as magnificent as that of Sparta. Sparta devoted the entire life of any worthy (not killed babies or slaves) citizen to a life in their military. Athens' military was not the focal point of male Athenians. This is both good and bad because this gave Athens a better chance to advance as they did. However, the Athenian army didn't have the same Spartan might. The Athenians had a navy though, which was superior to that of the Spartans, which does allow Pericles partial credit in Athens military system. The reason that their navy was better than Sparta's was because Sparta didn't really have much focus on a navy, just a strong army. The Spartans eventually became fed up with the snotty Athenians, both sides made unanswered demands and war broke out. In 404B.C. the Athens went under Spartan rule.
As far as education is concerned, Athens held a far more superior postion over every other city-state. In Sparta, boys would learn the Iliad, but the reason for this was for war purposes. Everything in Sparta revolved around the military. The Athenians did not have such knowledge of war related topics, but they did learn elementrary reading, comprehensive physical training, and a great deal of music. Writing and learning about the works of Homer were also included. However, these were only for the wealthy boys. Teachers were rather lowlifes of this society though -- most being slaves due to being to old or weak to be a normal citizen. However, their contributions to the youth made them respected people. The studies of geometry and philosophy were for later in life as adults, not children.
As derogatory as I may sound about the Athenians, there is no doubt that intellectually they were far more advanced than any other city-state in Greece. All the famous mathematicians (Euclid), philosophers (Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates), and scientists (Hippocrates) were from Athens. The Athenians had developed their own beautiful form of architecture, drama, literature, and sculpture. Even more impressive is the origins of Democracy which were started from both their government and Plato's "The Republic". Even after their conquer, they were still the intellectual superpower of Greece, and they were also favored by the Romans for their smarts, which were foolishly not used for fighting technology.
The Athenians have every right to be proud of their city-state and think that their military is superior to everyone esle's but just keep in mind that they were later conquered by the Spartans.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> Re: Topic 2 -- Chris Zegel, 13:11:58 02/24/02 Sun

The Athenians had the right to be proud of their civilization. Just as any other nation or racial group might have, the Athenians possessed a certain level of ethnocentrism, and this led to some pride among Athenians in general. The Athenians were in fact a great people, developing a higher level of government, as well as accomplishing many other tasks to make a civilization great. However, they were not alone in being a great civilization. Sparta was another area that held much power in ancient times, and although it had very different strengths and weakenesses, its power was equal, if not greater, than Athens' control. The denziens of Athens, while being proud of their homeland, should have recognized other city-states as wonderful places as well. Places such as Sparta may have resented the fact that Athens considered it above all other city-states, and this is probably the case, considering Sparta eventually conquered Athens. Pericles and other Athenians had the right to be proud of their home, but should have recognized the power and slpendor of other city-states as well, and perhaps kept some of their pride to themselves, to "keep the peace", so to speak.

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]