Spartan Society and Values (pp. 76-82)

What is expected of Spartan citizens according to the Spartan Creed? What was the

purpose of education in Sparta? Specifically, how were boys trained to be soldiers? What

was the role of women according to the document? Besides military training, what else

did the Spartans value?

Sparta was a city-state extremely devoted to war. They believed that the main purpose of men was to become soldiers, and the main purpose of women was to support this. Therefore, all men were trained to join the army.

This was the purpose of education as well. Education in Sparta was particularly good, and both men and women received it. However, men's education was heavily directed towards fighting. It had a strong physical component designed to create strong soldiers.

On the other hand, women were expected to be strong as well, but not to participate in war. Women's role was directing and supervising the household, as well as raising children. It was assumed that these children were going to grow up to become soldiers, which made motherhood an important role.

Another thing that Spartans valued besides military training was resilience. Spartan people were resilient and frugal, and they admired those who practiced these values.