Cultural Differences In Ancient Greece

1) Polis, "a city state in ancient Greece, especially as considered in its ideal form for philosophical purposes", came prominence in the Aegean basin. This happened during the 9th century B.C.E, induced by the furthering of relationship and contact between the Greeks and Phoenicians. This formation of society came into eminence and notability, as the ancient Greek associations were in dire need of structure and stability. This lead to development of many 1,000 different polis, with city states of Athens, and Sparta being the most successful ones. These vastly superior polis were all similar in their success but also shared many distinct differences that all made them unique. For instance, while they all shared a common Greek culture and religion, they were quite different in what they prioritized. While they all focused on stability and protection from the external forces, such as the Persians. The spartiates were the only one to truly prioritize this, as they valued their military prowess above all. Their tradition based, conservative culture allowed them to achieve this, as they displayed the greatest military strength in the greek world. Unfortunately, unlike their Athenian neighbors, there efforts
This was their greatest weakness, as it kept them from engaging with the outside world. This isolationist strategy kept Spartiates from participating in many activities, such as trade and commerce. This also, in my opinion, led to them being considered far less advanced and sophisticated, than their Athenian counterparts. On the other hand, the Athenians were quite progressive and innovative, traits that helped create a strong agricultural economy. Although, when compared to the polis of sparta, the Athenians did lack in military strength, they made up for through their efforts in fields of government and the arts.