Athens And Sparta's Role In Western Civilization

Superior Essays
Western civilization, as we know it today, is far from being wholly original. The culture of the Greeks has provided one of the earliest foundations for future societies to base their own culture on; it’s a culture that we have adopted and modified. The importance of taking a look at Greek society lies in the fact that it shows significance for modern issues such as politics, the importance of critical thinking, and influence on architecture. This paper will speak on these three points, giving a brief background and then explaining modern day significance. One aspect of society that people may take for granted is an organized form of community with a common culture. The hunter-gatherer, clan-based system demonstrated by the earliest humans …show more content…
In addition to these cultural differences, these two entities were both different in terms of their landscape. Athens was located along the coastal area of Greece, providing a strategic network for naval and trade activity along the many scattered islands of the region. Sparta, on the other hand, was located deep into the mountainous areas-- perhaps providing defense to an already powerful Spartan military. These differences may have led to the Peloponnesian War, which eventually took place beginning in 431 BCE.
Without Athens as a catalyst for our system of government today, society would be considerably different. However, comparisons can still be made that contrast our form of democracy with Athens’s democracy. For example, any legal citizen who is an adult can vote in the United States presidential elections-- Athens only allowed male citizens to
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The Parthenon, for example, shows the many innovative ideas the Greeks had in terms of aesthetics and practicality. The Parthenon, and many other Greek buildings, use a post-and-lintel system; posts representing the vertical columns and lintels representing the horizontal beams (roofs). These pieces interlocked, securing the columns and roof in place. Another aspect of the Parthenon is the use of entasis, a curve to a column. The building itself looks perfectly straight and neat, however, all of the straight lines have a slight curve to them. The purpose of the usage of entasis here is thought to provide an organic aspect to the architecture, or it may simply be necessary to allow the building to look straight. I believe it is a combination of the two. With these Greek architectural conventions in mind, we can see that there was incredible amounts of effort put forth by the Greeks in a period with limited technology.
It is easy to see the significance of the Parthenon today-- a modern day replica surprisingly exists in Nashville, Tennessee. Besides the replica, aspects of the Parthenon can be seen throughout architecture in the world. The usage of Greek style columns is apparent in houses and even multiple governmental buildings around the world. These massive objects will likely be continued to be used in future buildings, as they provide a stately, regal

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