Essay Example about Sparta Strengths and Weaknesses

Sparta is a city-state in Greece isolated from the rest of society and a military giant, but was its education system as advanced as its military results suggest? Sparta is a somewhat small city-state isolated within the mountains of southern ancient Greece in the peninsula known as Peloponesse. Sparta was a city-state that was rather advanced in its military training, as it was able to win many wars with an army as small as only 8,000 men. It began as many city-states did, as a small cluster of houses on the banks of the Evrotas river, eventually, however, it was able to grow large enough to classify as a city-state with a population of roughly 25,000 people. However, the strengths of Spartas educational Bootcamp did not at all outweigh, or overcome the weaknesses of its terrible and inhumane educational system. While Sparta has many military strengths, it also has many weaknesses that begin to appear the deeper you look, and you can find that Sparta's culture, cruelty, and education were not as advanced or as humane as they should be to make an overall better society or city-state.

One reason that Sparta's military strengths did not outweigh its many weaknesses is that its culture was filled with teachings and rules that its citizens had to follow. Evidence supporting this statement is that fathers were required to give their child to be evaluated to see if it deserved to live, meaning a father was unable to choose whether or not his child is allowed to live. Document A states, "A [Spartan] father had no right to decide whether to rear his newly born son or not. He was obliged to take the baby to the elders of his tribe for inspection. If they were satisfied that he was strong and healthy, they gave it back to the father to be brought up; if not, they ordered it to be exposed [left outside to die]." More evidence of my statement is that young men and boys were required to respect and listen to their elders and the men around them. Document D states, "Moreover, the young men were required not only to respect their fathers and to be obedient to them, but to have regard for all the older men, to make room for them on the streets, to give up their seats to them, and to keep quiet in their presence." The people of Sparta also did not allow anyone to travel outside of Sparta, as they did not want anyone to learn undisciplined ways of living. Document D states, "It was not allowed them to go abroad, so they should have nothing to do with foreign ways and undisciplined modes of living." My final evidence point to support this claim is that women were also required to work out and do certain sports, not for military purposes but rather to make more healthy and strong offspring. In Document E it states, "He ordered the maidens to exercise themselves with wrestling, running, throwing the quoit*, and casting the dart, to the end that the fruit they conceived might, in strong and healthy bodies, take firmer root and find better growth... and might be the more able to undergo the pains of child-bearing."The evidence given helps explain why the strengths of Spartan education did not outweigh the cultural weaknesses because it states rules that were government and citizen enforced and were then eventually done for so long that they become a part of their customs, and values making it become their culture. These rules also forced the people of Sparta into certain ways of living and completely neglected free will as well as free choice.

Another reason that the strengths of Spartan education did not outweigh the weaknesses was its large amount of cruelty within the city-state. As the Spartan education system was extremely cruel in the way it taught young men and boys and was incredibly inhumane. Evidence of this reason is that boys were often whipped as a punishment, and they were whipped very often and rather gruesomely. Document A states, "At the age of twelve a boy’s regimen became even more severe.…" "Boys were encouraged to go out and steal food for the mess, but if caught stealing they were whipped." More evidence supporting my reason is that the young men were not allowed the basic need of life and were heavily depleted of their basic right to shoes, clothes, and even food. Document B states, "Instead of softening the boys’ feet with sandals, [Lycurgus] required them to harden their feet by going without shoes." "And instead of letting them be pampered in the matter of clothing, he introduced the custom of wearing one garment throughout the year, believing that they would thus be better prepared to face changes of heat and cold." " As to the food, he required … such a moderate amount of it that the boys … would know what it was to go with their hunger unsatisfied;" This evidence stated helps explain why the strengths of Spartan education did not outweigh the weaknesses because it showcases how terribly the 7-year-old boys were treated, as they were not only whipped and given many wounds, and they were also denied the basic resources to survive.

My third and final reason why the strengths of Spartan education did not outweigh the weaknesses in the education system itself. Spartan education teaches the very basics and does not at all tolerate or represent self-expression, meaning it completely ignores a lot of important skills that need to be learned. Evidence of this statement is that Spartan education is a harsh thing, you enter it much later than modern times and get inhumane and terrible punishments. Document A states, "A Spartiate’s son was nurtured by his parents only until he was seven years old. At that age he was removed from his family and, from his eighth to his twenty-first year, he was educated by the state according to a rigorous [military-like] discipline Document A states, "Only the rudiments [basics] of reading and writing were taught; instruction consisted for the most part in … obedience, bodily fitness, and courage to conquer in battle" More evidence of this statement is in Document D, "[The Spartans] learned to read and write for purely practical reasons: but all other forms of education they banned from the country, books and treatises being included in this as much as [foreign teachers]." Further evidence of why Sparta's education had more weaknesses than strengths is that Sparta trained young men to become killing machines, as they went so far as to even take some of the more advanced students on trips to kill rebelling helots at night. In document C it states, "They carried daggers and as much food as was necessary, but nothing else. By day they scattered into obscure places, where they hid themselves and kept quiet; but at night they descended upon the highways and slaughtered any helots they caught." This evidence helps explain why the strengths of Spartan education did not outweigh the weaknesses because it shows that the Spartan education system focussed on training and discipline, meaning it completely ignored any form of self-expression. Spartan education also used harsh punishments to regulate bad behavior. As well as take the more advanced children on killing trips to take out strong helots that may rebel. So, overall I believe that Sparta was not focussing enough on self-expression, math, art, or theater advancements as they were instead focussing too much on military advancements.

While it is true that Spartan education did indeed have some strengths when it came to its culture, cruelty, and education the three reasons that are stated above, culture, cruelty, and education prove that in the end, the strengths of Spartan education did not outweigh the weaknesses. Sparta had multiple problems that affected the way their citizens thought about not only Sparta but also the other city-states around them.