Summary: This segment begins by exploring how Sparta and Athens fell out after the Persian Wars, with a look at the contrast between Athenian and Spartan politics and society. Women’s life is given much attention, and Sparta comes off as considerably more enlightened, by modern Western standards. The legacy of “radical” Spartan customs on later societies is discussed. Lastly, the Laconian earthquake of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2003
View online at AVOD
Summary: This first segment takes us on a journey to the Dark Ages of Greece, the end of the Achaean Age, and the coming of the Dorian Greeks to the Peloponnesus and Laconia. Next the Messenian conquest and the establishment of the Spartan constitution are presented. The upbringing of Spartan youths, warts and all, is then addressed at length. Spartan institutions are credited for initiating a system of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2003
View online at AVOD
Summary: This last segment opens at Delphi with a look at Greek religion and Spartan attitudes toward the gods and oracles before resuming the history of the Peloponnesian War. Alcibiades, the Syracuse expedition, and Lysander are examined. Then the period of the Spartan hegemony is briefly described. Hughes notes the critical decline of Spartan citizen manpower and the rise of Thebes as a rival. She...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2003