How was Athens better than Sparta?

Question

how was athens better then sparta based on athens social structure, government, women, education, military ans achivements?10 pts best answer, thanks

Answer 1

They were better at different things.

Sparta was a military state, run by a junta of elders (two kings, a small group of ephors, a senate - the gerousia.) Boys were separated from their mothers when still young and trained in toughness and fighting skills; a Spartan wasn't even allowed to live with his wife until he was over military age, but had to eat and sleep in the mess building. The Spartans did not like, and did not allow any music or arts apart from wind bands for their regiments to march to and traditional epics (e.g. Homer).

Spartan citizens were in theory equal, and (except that they had enslaved the original owners of the land - the Helots - and exploited them mercilessly) lived under a sort of communist system; every man had his own land which he could not sell, and on whose proceeds he lived. Ordinary money was banned; goods were issued on a needs-based system. The Ephors in practice were all-powerful, and in effect had the power of life & death. There was also a secret police- the Krypteia - which waged war on uppity Helots and bumped off dissident Spartans.

The result was that for a long time the Spartans were unbeatable soldiers.

The nearest modern equivalent might be Hitler's Germany, but I suspect that for the average guy, Sparta was even nastier.

Athens was in many ways the polar opposite. They too had slaves of course, living in very varied conditions; those who worked the silver mines lived and rapidly died in a sort of Belsen. The police force however was also a slave body which lived (as coppers tend to) very comfortably. Privately owned slaves worked in industry & domestic service.

The society was fairly free. There was democracy (only for male citizens - no women, foreigners or slaves allowed to vote), free speech (but they executed Socrates for speaking too freely), arts (poetry, drama, music, history....), crafts and industry flourished. They had a developed finance industry including banks, mortgages, insurance. The first universities in W. Europe started in Athens under Plato & Aristotle.

Unlike Sparta, Athens was politically unstable. While Sparta remained authoritarian & rigid for centuries, Athens went from feudalism to dictatorship (Peisistratus), to aristocracy to democracy to oligarchy ... via coups, civil wars & foreign (Spartan) occupation.

The whole Greek system of independent cities finally caved in when the Romans invaded.

Sorry to have been so long about it - but there's a lot to tell.

Answer 2

Athens was basically about the people, where Sparta was about controlling the people.