sparta the details discovering ancient greece part 2
TRANSCRIPT
Sparta
The details
Discovering Ancient Greece Part 2
Spartan Government• Two kings who were more like unlimited
generals• Law said one king had to stay behind while the
other went to war after King Demeratus abandoned the Spartans before an attack on Athens and joined Persian King Xerxes
• Real power belonged to judges called ephors who were elected by citizens
• Citizens were military men with Spartan blood
• Policy set by a council of 28 men over 65 elected for life
• Helots were serfs who belonged to the state
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta
Life in the Spartan Army
• Considered using arrows cowardly• Spartan Hoplite fighting was fierce hand-to-hand
battle that would terrify anyone not trained like a Spartan
• Formed a Phalanx 8 ranks deep• Used a long wooden spear with a iron tip, plus a
back-up short sword of iron• Signals given by hand and with trumpets
– Flutes played during marches– Once used “dinner” signal to confuse enemy– Bronze shield flashed in the sun means “surprise
attack”
Spartan Battle• Used a two-handled shield fixed to the left arm
– Depended on the shield of the soldier on their side to protect their right side
– Requires large numbers, drilling, tight coordination, discipline, and high morale
– May have many spearing at you at once
• Armor– Bronze helmet : good protection, but hard to hear– Protection for chest, abdomen, and maybe ankles and
arms– Bronze, leather, or linen
• Long hair and a red cloak
http://www.hellenic-art.com/armour/sword.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Greek_Phalanx.jpgStrategy
Growing up Spartan
• Tribal elders, not the father, decide if the boy should be raised
• Live with family for the first seven years, then removed from home for good
• Organized in packs from age 7 to 18• “Adopted” by an older warrior from age 12
to 18 who will be punished if the boy shows weakness
• Elite warriors singled out starting at 18
Election to Messes
• Starting around age 20 warriors were elected to messes or common tents
• Some like the royal mess were more important, and to be elected to no mess was to be excluded from society
• Main meal in a mess was at night – No torches allowed to teach Spartans to be stealthy in
the dark
• Hunting was very important for training and food– Hunting a wild boar with a spear and net was a good
way to prove manhood
Sparta: Great Location
• Guarded on three sides by mountains
• 27 miles from the sea = difficult to blockade
• On River Evrotas
• controlling the routes of invading armies over the Langhda Pass on Mt Taygetus
• Olives, grapevines, and forests of citrus trees
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta
Sparta
Athens
Sparta
• Patron Goddess was Athena
• Most Spartan religious festivals really worshipped Apollo more
• Not really a city, but four villages together
• Not many great buildings
• Thought city walls were for sissies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo
Mount Taygetus
• The Spartans built a temple to Apollo at the peak of Mount Taygetus, and went there to abandon unfit newborns, probably throwing them off the mountain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taygetus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ancient_tayg.jpgGoogle Earth
Mount Taygetus
River Evrotas near Sparta
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evrotas
Viros Gorge in the Taygetus
Mountains
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viros_gorge
Spartan MythologyQueen Leda
Zeus : seduced Ledapretending to be a swan
Married King Tyndareus
Leda laid an egg. Castor and Pollux
hatched.
Helen: daughter of Leda and Zeus
Clytemnestra : daughter of
Leda and Tyndareus
Agamemnon, king of Mycenae,
married Clytemnestra
Orestes: son of Clytemnestra, killed her to avenge
the death of Agamemnon
Agamemnon was Killed by Clytemnestra
While bathing Partly because he Sacrificed Iphigenia
Carried away by Theseus
Married Menelaus, king of Sparta,
and had a daughter, Hermione
Carried to Troy by Paris and rescued in
the Trojan War
Affair with Aegisthus
Children with Clytemnestra:
Orestes, Electra, and Iphigenia.
Took Cassandra, daughter of King Priam,home with him from Troy
Orestes’s Bones• Orestes was troubled by
killing Clytemenstra even though Apollo told him to do it
• Spartans found the bones of Orestes in Tegea and “returned” them to Sparta– Used this as an excuse to claim
the land of Tegea because his mother was Queen Clytemenstra
– Later found the bones of his son, Tisamenus, from Achaea and returned them too
– The large bones were probably a prehistoric dinosaur
Sparta
Tegea
AchaeaAthens
Helots
• Helot labor was the base of the Spartan economy
• Spartans were always afraid of Helot revolt, especially from Messians who came from west of Mount Taygetus
• Male Spartan citizens could have no other profession than war, partly to control Helots
Training for Men
• Fear and paranoia
• Best teenage boys recruited for secret police to murder troublemaking Helots and spread fear
• First loyalty is to the state
• Sent to the army at age 7 to begin a lifetime in the military
• Expected to steal to get food and clothing
Women in Sparta
• Could get an education, unlike Athenian girls• Similar education as boys, but separate• Threw javelin and discus, and wrestled to
attract boys• Could own property including land• Had no official voice in government, but they
could make their wishes known• Didn’t have to do the housework that
Athenian women did because they had Helots to do it
Sparta versus Athens
SPARTA• Only males were
citizens• Slaves are allowed• No foreigners tolerated• Deformed babies killed,
children are property of the government
• Boys and girls are separated and taught athletics and morals
ATHENS• Only males were
citizens• Slaves were allowed• Foreigners OK• Infanticide illegal, but
unwanted female babies killed
• Boys are educated, most girls illiterate
Sparta versus Athens
SPARTA• Young men must join the
army, women marry• Men have rights and are
respected, only mothers of boys are respected
• Oligarchy – ruled by a few, Aristocracy – ruled by the rich and powerful
• Land owned by state• Head of Peloponnesian
League• Powerful land army
ATHENS• Young men go to college,
young women marry• Males are considered
citizens and have rights, women have no rights
• Democracy – ruled by the many people
• Land owned privately• Head of Delian League• Powerful naval fleet
Athens
• Named after Athena
• 3000 years of recorded history
• Birthplace of democracy
• Center of learning– Plato’s Academy– Aristotle’s Lyceum
• Hosted Olympics 1896 and 2004
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens
Plato
Aristotle
Athena
Mythology
• Athena– Favorite daughter of Zeus– Goddess of wisdom,
weaving, and the noble side of war
– Owls and olive trees are sacred to her
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena
Athenian Army• Ten generals elected by a show of hands in the
assembly– Could be re-elected, unlike other officials– Infantry and cavalry led by officers, but in hoplite battle
there was little time for commands or organization• Not a professional army like the Spartans• Called up for two years of military service at age 18
– Trained in arms, tactics, and fortifications– Remained on the register for service until age 60
• Hoplites got a sword and shield from the army, and bought the rest
• Javelins, slings, and bows were main weapons of light-armed fighters– Sword was only for emergencies
Naval Power
• Silver from Attica plain mines paid for naval arms• Four miles of double walls connected the city to
the port to that supplies could come in from the sea during a siege
• Naval bases through the Aegean Sea• Ships were light and fragile
– Had to hug coasts in storms
• 150 rowers per trireme had to be paid a daily wage– Upper deck rowers pulled longer oars and got paid more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Trireme.jpgPeloponnesian War
http://en.wikipedia.org/w
iki/Im
age:Map_athenian_em
pire_431_BC
-fr.svg
Athens – Great Place
• Fills the entire plain of Attica
• Surrounded by – Mount Aegaleo in the west– Mount Parnitha in the north– Mount Penteli in the northeast– Mount Hymettus in the east– Saronic Gulf in the southwest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens
Mount Egaleo
Mount Parnitha
Mount PenteliM
ount Hym
ettus
• Mount Hymettus from the east
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hymettus.JPG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Parthenon_from_West_with_deep_blue_sky.jpg
Built with marble from Mount Pentelli. Google Earth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ac.parthenon5.jpg
Video
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Parthenon_from_SW_%28finished_438_BC%29.JPG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:ParthenonNight.jpg•Athenian Squares
Mount Olympus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Olympus_Litochoro.JPG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mytikas_summit_PJS.JPG
Zeus
• Google Earth• Video• Olympian Squares• Athenian Squares• Religion• Venn Diagram• Things you didn’t know about Zeus!• And his kids too!• His story