The Hellenistic era is the culmination of the Greek story, but also melds Greek ideas with those of other civilizations. How do you see this week’s readings in light of that premise? What do they tell you about the Hellenized world?

Sparta and the Art of War 

How would the Spartans explain their warrior society? How does this pursuit make Sparta different for other poleis? 

Spartan would explain their warrior society as the most in important thing to maintain their state in order. The Spartan believed in that the stability of their state was most important than freedom. They believe that with discipline and order was the key for their city survival. This is the reason why the military was a duty for the male Spartans and everything around them had to be based to support them. In the Spartan polity by Xenophon theres examples that describes how boys at a young age were picked to be trained in a extreme matter so they can become the best soldiers in all Hellas. This priority of being a military states differs from the other poleis, they believed in many other variants to build their society unlike the Spartan. As an example, in Athens they focus in the arts, trade, education and democracy. The Athenians had full democracy were their male citizens could vote. In Sparta their system was lead by two kings and a council of elders. This military inclined group of people could oppose the vote of their citizen and change the fate of the states if they deemed it necessary. 

The Education and Upbring of Boys - Agoge

Boys in the past Greece had been in the hands of the oppressor government to be strong leaders. They were separated from their parents at a young age and the father did not decide on their education. The girls did not need to be on this kind of train. These boys are trained to exhaust themselves to be strong and pain-free. If the boys were weak they took them to a mount and left them there to die because they were not good for the system. For them to be considered strong they needed to show endurance and not show emotion to be in the military and a warrior around the age of twenty. The boys were called "agoge" and would be ready for war. They got all kinds of outrageous treatment in the name of war. The boys were living naked, walking barefoot, and if they stole a piece of cheese they would be whipped from the youth until the blood flow on the body. The Spartan’s youth were strong and emotionless because of all they had been through in their entire life. The form of education Spartan boys received to be prepared for war, was cruel and unjust.  

In Aristophanes, Clouds, what the character Strepsiades stood for was the traditional values that the ancient Greeks followed. Strepsiades represented a realistic ideal of what the average person would live like within the Ancient Greek world. As we see he kept up with certain things to upkeep a display of status by living beyond his means and also being in debt at the hands of his son. Strepsiades also represents the traditional way of thinking of worshiping the gods and was against the idea of Socrates as he believed it would affect the future of Greece as it has affected his son after being in the thinkery.

In Clouds, of the major conflicts is the centuries old dilemma: Old vs new, tradition vs innovation. Aristophanes giving the Greeks of his day his own case study of the dangers and foolishness of the new school of thought called the Sophist, whom he saw as corrupt individuals more concern with rhetoric than the truth. He uses satire and lampooning as a technique to portray the cosmopolitan context of the new school of thought. It is through this technique that he paints Socrates as a self-absorbed, pompous egomaniac whose only objectives are to corrupt the youth and offend the gods by the use of wordplay.

The nature of the Hellenistic world is several people and cultures that adopt ideas that are relevant to Greek culture. The Greek language, mathematics, science, and architecture are adopted in the Hellenistic world. The difference between the Hellenistic world and the Greek world is who is in control of the vast territory. The Greeks did not spread their ideas outside of the Aegean. The Greek way of living was only within the city states such as Athens, Sparta, and Corinth. The Greeks no longer dominated although their mark is left throughout the entire Hellenistic world. The idea of democracy which was so important for Athens was no longer used. Within the Hellenistic world there was oligarchy and monarchies that ruled the people. The nature of the Hellenistic world is changing. Every so often there is a new ruler that takes control such as Cassander. The rulership is fleeting, making the Hellenistic world a fast changing world. The original Greek world had no rulers and believed in rulership to be divided among the people.