Palace Of Knossos Essay

Part A: The Palace of Knossos is the most complex structure existing from the ancient Minoan Civilization on the island of Crete. It was built in the Minoan political center of Knossos by King Minos around 1900 BC. The palace is an extremely intricate building standing five stories with large, beautiful paintings on its walls known as frescos; it even had indoor plumbing. It is apparent that only the most important people in Minoan society lived in the palace because of its grandeur and beauty. The Palace of Knossos is important to history because the palace gives us a window into Minoan culture. We can deduce from the Palace of Knossos that the Minoan Civilization was both complex and prosperous. The beautiful murals of the Palace of Knossos …show more content…
Sparta is generally classified as an oligarchy. In Sparta, there were two kings. The dual kingship consists of both a warrior king and a king regarded as the high priest. Although Sparta is generally regarded as an oligarchy, the Spartan government did have elements of democracy similar to Athens. For example, the citizenry (all freemen, no metics or slaves) were able to elect the council. The councilmen were men over 60 who were voted in for life; their jobs were to proposed laws to the citizenry. In contrast to the Spartans, the Athenians’ governmental system was democracy. The Council of 500 was the everyday, full-time government of Athens. The council of 500 was comprised of 50 men from each of the ten tribes (demes) of Athens; these councilmen were not elected instead they were chosen at random. Additionally, the council members were to execute whatever decisions were made at the Assembly. In other words, the Council of 500 is representation of the citizens of Athens. The citizens do get to vote directly on officials, too. Every deme voted directly for its general. Afterward, one of the ten generals that are elected become head of the Athenian military, and every year another one of the ten generals become the head of the military. Finally, the citizenry voted on the archons. The Archons were made up of three department heads, essentially. The other six were judges. The Eponymous …show more content…
That fact reflects in how they educate their children. To contextualize, Spartans needed a strong army ready for a fight at any time because of the rebellious Helots in the West Valley (land they forcefully took). As a result, Spartans did not give their children an education. Instead, at the age of seven, male Spartans would be taken away from their homes and taken to live in barracks with other male Spartans. Here, Spartans would learn to read and write, but more importantly, they would learn how to become a great warrior like their fathers. Women in Sparta received a minuscule amount of education in terms of a traditional education. Spartan women were taught to read and write, but they were also taught competition through sports. Like men in Sparta, the women were trained in sports like gymnastics. Comparatively, women were not given an education in Athens (except for the small amount of affluent women educated by private tudors). Women were instead confined to a life of domesticity. Most men in Athens did not receive a formal education either. There were rich Athenians who could afford private teachers. These men were taught poetry, reading, mathematics, etc., as well as being trained in various sports. This difference really tells you what each polis wanted to focus on; Sparta wanted to always be a military power, while Athens was very prosperous and could support a leisure