Did ancient Athens and Sparta share a common link with the United States and U.S.S.R. of the 20th century?

Question

What similarities can be found when comparing the Athenian/Spartan rivalry of anciend Greece with the American/U.S.S.R. global military rivalry of the Cold War?

Answer 1

Yes. Think about the Persian Wars as WWII, where the two worked together against a common enemy, but once that enemy was eliminated as a threat, competition between the two for leadership caused a falling out. It's not an exact analogy, of course, because the US and the Soviet Union never went to war with one another, but I think there were some significant parallels.

Answer 2

Sounds like propaganda. If you want the A, make sure to compare the Soviets to the austere and belligerent Spartans and the US to the democratic and philosophical Athenians. It is all a load of BS, it has reappeared throughout history and it is about as valid as the other propaganda line, that communism looks good on paper but it doesn't work in reality. If you want the A, tell your teacher that the Soviets like the Spartans afforded a great deal of luxury to the elite at the expense of an enslaved underclass. Tell her that in the end it was Athenian culture that rose victorious just as the American way inspired E. Germans and Russians to shed Lenin and love McDonalds.
On the other hand, if you are anything like i was in school, you should write about how closely the Spartan democracy resembled current US practices, giving unlimited freedom and prosperity to those who pondered and trained at the top while the enslaved neighbor population provided Sparta with all of its basic needs. The neighboring people of Laconia, the helots, would deserve a comparison to the Latin Americans enslaved by US capitalism. As for Athens, what about comparing its demagogues with Demosthenes, popular, idealistic and ultimately doomed in a world where might makes right.
Ultimately, neither comparison holds true. History does not repeat itself, kid, only propaganda does.

Answer 3

It sounds like someone got a particularly icky term paper assigned to them. :P