Ancient Greece

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Source analysis
Stephen, Hodkinson.SPARTAN SOCIETY IN THE FOURTH CENTURY: CRISIS AND CONTINUITY. Web. 23 Nov 2013.
In the article, ‘Spartan Society in the Fourth Century: Crisis and Continuity’ Stephen Hodkinson relates to the power that the Spartans had amassed in the 4th century but then due to the internal crisis that it was experiencing, it came down crumbling. In the fifth century Sparta won the war against the neighbours, a war that was called the Peloponnesian. Consequently, in the eighth century they managed to take hold of the fertile kinds that the neighbouring Messenia had developed from the sixth century. According to the author some of the historians and scholars including his later supervisor Moses Finley who have assessed the facts about the rise and fall of Sparta, assert that the fall of the once great polis is due to the fourth century crisis only. These relate to the fact that the Spartans had started to develop affinity and desire for wealth and material procession. This lust for the wealth and the material possessions corrupted her well organised state, leading to the down fall. This version of the literature on Sparta is borrowed from Plutarch and Doidorus who also happen to have borrowed part of the notion from Ephorus and by limited extent from the works of the famous Theopompos. However these explanations are not as satisfactory considering that Spartans still had the coins which they would trade with overseas bids as well as hiring mercenaries. The author also disagrees with the fact that the law that was passed allowing people to own land and by extension the women could have led to the down fall of Sparta. Part of the problem that could have led to the fall of Sparta is the fact that the population of Sparta was also falling at an alarming rate.
This also resonates with views that were echoed by Aristotle as one of the core reasons that led to the hegemony loss of Spartans. It also pertains to the issue of land where most of the land was held by a few leading to inequalities. This therefore undermined the unity of the Spartans as the gap between the poor and the rich became even wider by the day.
Both Plato and Aristotle agree on the fact that the love for the material processions and the wealth was the root cause of the crisis experienced in Sparta in the fourth century. Plato believed that the love for the money and the wealth that came with it led to the decline of the morals that were held by the Spartans before the fourth century leading to the fall and crisis. The excessive continuity that Spartans practices in the fourth century was also to blame for the crisis.
Stephen, Hodkinson. SPARTA Comparative Approaches. 18 Nov. 2009.Web. 23 Nov 2013.
Stephen Hodkinson in his article titled the ‘Sparta Comparative Approaches’ discusses the various aspects of the Spartans comparatively. The author takes to discuss comparatively the other institutions that existed over time, with other societies. He also takes interest in comparing the Spartan society with other societies that are modern as well as those that archaic. With reference to Plutarch, Sparta has been painted as a society that was way above those that were around at the time. It has been set apart from societies such as the Athenians among others, where it is seen as the idea society compared to its neighbours. This has always sparked the discussion of whether Sparta was indeed just another typical society or exceptional as is painted by most of the literature that exists. From the 60s there has been a lot of research that has gone into the assessment of the Spartan society. Majority of the scholarships that have been awarded have had something to do with analysing the Spartan society. Some of the researches that have come up in the recent years indicate that, the Spartans were not exceptional but rather typical as they used primitive survival techniques. One of the aspects of the Spartan society that strikes a chord is the fact that they have gained control over the Helot society. This led to the formulation of the society that was based on rigid systems of state control and military might. Some of the papers that related to the religion that Sparta practised indicated that there were several aspects that implied that it was exceptional from the other communities. They had symbols that were distinct, personnel that were specialized, festivals and they also worshiped several gods and heroes of Greece. The old approaches looked at Helot as a community that had labour that was dependent, while the modern approaches use comparative analysis to develop models that would be used in the interpretation of Helot.
Kunstler, B . Family Dynamics And Female Power In Ancient Sparta’ Helios 13 (1987): 31-48. Print.
The article by Kunstler on ‘Family Dynamics And Female Power In Ancient Sparta’ tries to bring out how the Spartan society operated under the face of military might, with close reference to the women. According to the author the women in Sparta were as not as liberated as the likes of Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch and Xenophon have implied in their reviews of this society. According to their argument the women were the surrogates who held the land titles and controlled the wealth their husbands had. This, according to the author is misleading as none of these views considers the aspects of the family dynamics and populations of the women that were rather unique as indicated by ancient literature. Kunstler, also insists that there should be some form paradigm shift where all the perceptions that women may only have played roles that were cut out for them in the society. In contrast, the author insists that the women could have been the ones that formed the culture that Sparta was known for, other than simply playing second fiddle to the men that are painted as symbols of power. In his argument the author feels that Plutarch’s are far too remote in terms of the time they were writ...