Comparing Greek Political Traditions

¡Hola mi gente! I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far. Our discussion of the classical period will continue throughout all of next week, and as with all the classical civilizations, the culture that developed along Europe's Mediterranean shores produced important political institutions and principles. The key political form, in Greece and later in republican Rome, was the city-state. Within its bounds, the portion of the population with political rights was supposed to participate actively in the affairs of state, to which it owed loyalty and service. Within this context, however, a variety of political structures arose. Some evolved toward democracy (though with many residents excluded from rights, i.e. women, slaves, and foreigners). In this, Athens led the way, providing not only participant assemblies but also considerable support for individual freedom and legal rights. Other Greek city-states, however, stressed the power of government. Sparta, which would finally clash with Athens in the Peloponnesian War, set up a rigid militaristic regime designed to transform each male or female citizen into an absolute servant of the government. When Athens and Sparta warred at the end of the fifth century B.C.E., the conflict involved not only power, but also two clashing views of political life.

The Spartan system, described in the writings of Plutarch, was set up by the lawmaker Lycurgus after 650 B.C.E., in large part to keep a vast slave (helot) population under control. I would like you to read some excerpts of the writings of Plutarch, specifically excerpts from his biography of Lycurgus, by clicking on the following link (Lycurgus by Plutarch).

In contrast to the Spartan system, the Athenian ideal was articulated by its great leader Pericles during the fifth century B.C.E., the early stages of the Peloponnesian War, as part of a famous funeral oration that appears in the history by Thucydides. Please click on the following link (Pericles' Funeral Oration) to read this funeral oration.

The two selections no doubt allow a clear comparison between the ideas of the two city-states. It is important to realize that most articulate Greeks (including both Thucydides and Plutarch) preferred Spartan values. Why might this be so in your opinion? Are there any shared features beneath the obvious contrasts of Athens and Sparta? What resulted, in classical Greece itself and in the later Greek heritage, from such sharply differentiated systems within a common culture? Also, after reading the two documents, I would like you all to think about, and discuss, the following: What was the nature of family regulation in Sparta? What were the reasons for it? How does Pericles define the nature and purpose of the Athenian state? What were the differences between Athenian and Spartan systems of military recruitment and motivation for service? Were there any similarities between Spartan and Athenian values and goals. Were Sparta and Athens forerunners of contemporary government systems, or would this be a misleading assessment? Does Pericles remind you of any modern day politicians? For my money, every time I read his funeral oration, it just seems so modern to me. What do you think? Does Sparta remind you of any 20th century governments? Finally, how do Athenian political principles compare with Confucian ideals and goals? Why was Confucianism ultimately more successful? Your thoughts...