Spartans - What ancient Greek writers wrote (1 Viewer)

[SilverXIII]

Hey guys - i just done my assessment on sparta...

My teacher hasn't completely marked the whole assessment yet, but she told me i went off on a different tangent on a question:-

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Q: What did ancient greek writers write about the Spartans? (5 marks)

In my answer, i put down things such as:-
- The women wore short skirts
- No relation ship between mother/son
- Enslaved fellow Greeks(helots)

And other examples - The reason i put these examples down was to show how the Greek writers degrade the Spartans, because their lifestyle was so different and obnoxious to the other Greeks during that period.

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Does that seem to go way off on a different tangent to what the question asks? I know i have to put quotes.. but i dont exactly remember much If so, can you guys tell me what an appropriate answer would be? Learning from this can really help me in the HSC if an unexpected question like this came up

Thanks in advanced.

 

[xbitterflyx]

I think, if I remember correctly, twas a while ago lol, I wrote about how according to other societies their government and education systems were seen as complete crap.
I used the story of the, I think, daughter and the king and how the daughter asked her father to send away a political guest because he couldnt put on his own shoes his servant had to do it for him.
How pretty much everyone complained they gave their women rights and listened to their opinions (above story)

Like I said a year and a half is alot of time to forget lol

 

[Themistocles.]

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[Triangulum]

Not all the Greeks disliked the Spartans. Xenophon (Constitution of the Lacadaemonians) liked a lot of what they did. Aristotle (Politics) had some criticisms for their governmental system, though.

 

[agentcheeseball]

The ancient writers were-
Xenophon
Plutarch
Herodotus
Aristotle


If the thing is mainly on the females and their role it seems and differences then the opinions of the historians do differ-
Plutarch- suggests that they exercised nude- possible that they did walk nude in some processions & festivals although more likely they wore slit skirts that allow easy movement (statue).
Though plutarch doesnt seem to begrudge it.

Plutarch- “Damartia after hearing her son was unworthy killed him…unworthy of Sparta was unworthy of me”
That would be a quote on the mothers relationship with son. I believe plutarch respected them. Which is evident in this quote-
: Plutarch- there was nothing disreputable about girl’s nudity.”- about their skirts said to be nude as so different to the Aethenian females.
Aristotle- believed “Spartan women live without restraint in every improper indulgence and luxury.”- aristotle was against it. Believed it improper.

If there are any other sections then just shout.

 

[Annalisee]

use quotes from sources Remember to describe the bias because some writers had bias towards (Xenophon) and some bias against (Aristotle).

 

[lauraa2407]

i think where you might have gone wrong is by not speaking more generally about Spartans and their way of life. i think their way of life as a whole was more what the teacher as after.

heres a good one for future reference....

Aristotle 384-322BC

"And so long as they were at war, their power was preserved, but when they had attained empire, they fell; for the arts of peace they knew nothing, and had never engaged in any employment higher than war."

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hope that helps : )

 

[Darus]

The ancient writers, about half supported, half hated.

By the sound of the question what was requested was accessing the bias of certin ancient writers and a comparison. But im guessing thats been said.