Spartan Education
When examining any society, one of the most important aspects of its civilization to identify is the education of the youth. Children yearn to please their instructors. Therefore, when all children throughout a society are taught a certain way to live and think, when they grow up, the society itself models these values instilled upon the children. Naturally, when using this ideal to study the history of the Ancient Greeks, focus falls upon its two major city-states, Athens and Sparta. As in almost every aspect of comparison, the difference between the education of the warlike Spartans compared to the education of the philosophical Athenians is like comparing black to white. The main focus of a Spartan education was not to focus on literacy. Instead, as a result of the system of helotry practiced in Sparta, fitness, obedience, and courage had to be taught in order for the Spartans to retain the militaristic supremacy that they had over the rest of the Peloponnesus. In contrast, an Athenian education was devoted to the three basic categories of literacy, music, and physical education in hopes of creating intelligent, well-rounded citizens who could responsibly participate in the Assembly. For purposes of comparison, the educ
When a boy ceases to be a child, and begins to be a lad, others release him from his moral tutor and his schoolmaster: he is no longer under a ruler and is allowed to go his own way. Here again, Lycurgus introduced a wholly different system. For he observed that at this time of life self-will makes strong root in a boy's mind, a tendency to insolence manifests itself, and a keen appetite for pleasure in a different form takes possession of him. At this stage, therefore, he imposed a ceaseless round of work, and contrived a constant round of occupation. Another tactic that prepared the boys for battle was depriving them of many common amenities such as food, clothing, and shelter so that they were not unaccustomed to hardships. On the topic of providing food, Xenophon reports in his "Constitution of the Lacedemonians": Van Hook, La Rue. Greek Life and Thought. New York: Columbia University Press, 1930.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Athenians Spartans, Constitution Lacedemonians, Politics VIII3, Plato Protagoras, Athens Sparta, Spartans Helots, Spartans One-against-one, Life Greece, , University Press, university press, oxford university press, oxford university, plato believed, ed oxford, oxford oxford university, ed oxford oxford, oxford oxford, athenian education, university press 1999, life greece, daily life greece, military training, daily life, reading writing,
Approximate Word count = 2678
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
