Comparing Sparta And Athenian Rivalry

160 Words1 Pages
Perhaps the starkest differences about Athens and Sparta lay in the ways of life of their people. Athenians nurtured creativity, commercials endeavors, democracy, and individualism, accepting all inhabitants as who they are and welcoming them to their cause. This mainly caused the Sparta-Athens rivalry because Spartans spit upon the Athenian way of life and attempted to destroy it. Spartans centered on training boy and girl warriors, only accepting the strong and healthy. Babies, if determined unhealthy by the elders, were to be left on a hillside to die. Children were beaten and starved to learn endurance and encouraged to steal and do other terrible things to prove resourcefulness. Boys did not get a choice in their future, for they either