Art and war is what made Greece what it was. The two constantly influenced each other, as scene in Polycleitus’s statues and the beautiful and ornate armor that the hoplite wore. This combination of culture is what made Greece such an interesting civilization. Sparta and Athens really exemplifies this. At the surface they seem like complete opposites, but as we dig deeper we see how similar they really are.

What values do we think of Sparta having? Conformity, heroism, and scarifies comes to my mind. Athens often thought of being above these things, but the death of Socrates disproves this. Socrates, a great thinker spreading non-conformist ideas, a hero in many peoples mind, is sacrificed for the greater good to keep the conformity.

The structure of the government is often brought up while discussing Sparta and Athens. Sparta was an oligarchy, the two kings and five ephors leading an entire people. Athens was a democratic, but it also had nobles, aristocrats and appointed generals in their political system. Both systems also opposed a singular ruler, always having multiple people keeping each other in check.

Art is a form of war and war is a form of art. The parallels between them are everywhere and increase as time progressed.  We often view Athens and Sparta as polar opposites, rarely remembering that they are from the same civilization.