The Influence of Family Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

The Influence of Family - Essay Example This influence is often reflected in the childhood and adult life of the child. According to various researches, it has been proved that, children always associate themselves with the problems of the parent and worry about these issues even if they are not part of the problem. This is a regular experience faced by families which have divorced. This is the main reason why individuals ask themselves if the family can influence the way they think, act and feel in the society. It is true that the family plays a significant role in the way individuals behave in the family and society. Every concept an individual adopts are learned from the family. For instance, everything a child learns is always influenced from his or her parenthood and how they reacted to their parents. Parents are good people to emulate as they are familiar with what life entails. This is due to their life experiences. They are essential in teaching their children what they have learned, how they should act, think and feel about the modern society. However, some parents are not good role models to their children. As in the case of Cary, whose life will be discussed in the papers’ body, her mother was never a role model. Her mother was full of hatred and brought her up in a manner that she never liked. As such, she vowed to bring her children up in a manner that was completely different from her mothers. However, Cary’s mother case contradicts the claim that mothers are the primary caregivers. Mothers are considered as the primary care givers and consequently being viewed as the most influential to the child’s life. However, recent psychoanalytical studies have shown that fathers have a major role to play in influencing the behaviors and thinking of their children. The parent’s behavior can be explained from their past experiences or prominent figures in the society which they look up to and desire their children to emulate. Young maternal age is usually associated to with harsh and abusive parenting (Smithbattle 521) which can be explained by the fact that most young mothers are mostly poor and at risk of social isolation. They also go through depression and stress making them harsh and abusive parenting. However, these are not usually the only factors affecting the influence that a parent has to his children. Some parents may have prominent figures in the society who they want their children to grow up to emulate and they therefore train them to be like to people. Griffin also brings out the fact that a parent’s control over the family can have an influence on the child’s life (Griffin 302). A child whose parents exercise full control of every aspect at home grows to learn what ask and what not to ask. In exercising so much control in the family, children may not feel good while within the family and when faced by a problem they withdraw to cry alone as seen in Laura’s family (Griffin 307). Apart from the influence one gets from the family, the society plays a great role in influencing a person’s behavior. Moreover, after getting to a certain age, one starts becoming self aware and it is at this time that they start erasing whatever they do not need and developing their desired qualities. The essay on the loss of a creature by Percy tries to expound on the influence of the past knowledge and experiences to the sightseer in their visit to the tourist sites. According to Percy (2), precedent experiences and awareness determines the nature of leisure and enjoyment in any vacation. The prospects of the visit have a role to play in assessing and evaluating the intensity of satisfaction in any tour. Sightsee that satisfies the goal and objective of the vacationer

Families in a Global Context Essay Example for Free

Families in a Global Context Essay In the context of the twenty-first century, the entire world is going through changes in almost every walk of life. There has been a fast development in the domains of education and technological advances especially with the arrival of inventions like computer, the Internet, and other communication devices based on extensive space exploration. Global trends are being referred to the world’s next culture, a state of life in which the entire world seems to share common values, ethics in all genres of life, and so forth. At large, new ideologies are emerging and old ones are being retried. This is impacting the structure of global life on the whole and countries both technologically advanced and developing (or not so technologically advanced) are facing new challenges to cope up with the emerging trends and ideologies. One such challenge present to the whole world is the changing family life and structure which is apparently noticeable in the developed as well as the developing countries of the world. This challenge is mainly credited to the wave of globalization. The present paper, henceforth, looks into this issue. It examines family structure in a technologically advanced country (i. e. , the United States of America for our case) and in a developing country (India in this instance), and then attempts to arrive at solid conclusions as in what ways the thrashing wave of globalization is impacting family life and/or structure of these countries. 1- Challenges Confronted by Indian Families India is one country in the world which is unique for its multiculturalism and expansion. The view of globalization by people from India, especially the Hindus, is that of is multi-faceted, that is to say, they see a number of implications from this emerging trend. The basic view of the Indian way of life is that of pluralism, cultural enrichment, and religious unity. As such these trends have long been rooted in the family structure of India. However, the trend of globalization has given different outlook to Indian families. They face a lot of challenges. The major trends in Indian lifestyles like spirituality and other religious matters are being shattered by the trend of globalization. The peaceful view of Indian people that they hold about other religions has been misused. As such, the tolerance of Indian people has caused a lot of shaking in the context of the twenty-first century. Their culture and traditions are being threatened by globalization, something that Indian people have yet to realize and stand to fight it. For example, with the advent of global business multinational companies, the entire nation is at risk because by global business, the essence of spirituality is at stakes since business has brought up the wave of materialism. Moreover, commercialism is changing human value system in Indian culture mainly because of popular culture (â€Å"junk food like coca cola, movies saturated with sex and violence, and an adulation of athletes and movie stars as the most desirable human types†). All this, in collective way, affecting the family structure of Indian life. Although there are a number of TV channels, the Indian people have yet to realize the actual stand for media and communication which tells of their simplicity and unwillingness to sense danger which is threatening their centuries-old cultural and customary lifestyle: â€Å"There has been little organized Hindu response to globalization†. Although social efforts to guard Indian lifestyle have been initiated (for example, the Swadhyaya movement), it will not incorrect to say that it is not enough on the face of the giant of globalization by the Indians are still not using media efficiently (Internet is the exception here) which simply gives rise to exotic channels, the culture propagated in these channels bringing to Indian life and family structure newer threats each day. (Frawley, p. 20, 2001) If we look at the demographics related to Indian family structure and growth, we will fairly see difference between the two times: the recent time when globalization has taken place in India; the time in the past when this trend was not present. According Niranjan et al. (2005), from 1961 to 1999, the average family size in India has dropped by 5. 4 percent. According to the authors, this is 1. 4 percent higher than the family size decline in China which straightforwardly suggests that Indian family structure is moving toward the trend of nuclear family structure, a by-product of globalization. Research by Niranjan et al. (2005) suggests some important key factors that were significantly present while keeping the family structure along with past traditions. Major predictors that have been found for joint family are ownership of land and economic status. Such families stay joint in contrast to those who don’t have ownership of land and higher economic status. Globalization, as such, has played a significant role in bringing means by which people can gain material comfort and thus tend to live in nuclear families. See in this way, it becomes clear that Indian family structure is facing great challenges on the verge of globalization. As globalization seems to bring in exotic trends and practices, both social and economical, Indian family structure is going through a change: something that is the essence of western lifestyle. Families in the United States of America According to Olsen (2007) states that though the Unites State of America has often been regarded as rudimentary, it is basically the â€Å"quintessential liberal ‘social safety net’ providing a relatively restricted range of social protections and services, meager income benefits, and few programs as a right of citizenship or residence† (p. 143). This suggests that family support in the United States of America, a technologically advanced and developed country, is not something to be satisfactory about. USA is the only country in the capitalist world of advanced countries that has never offered a universal family allowance program to its citizens. This country’s family policy, instead, relies on targeted, means-tested segments like Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) later replaced by the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). However, according to (2006), US family structuring faced a lot of pressure as it is up to the present on a number of fronts both internal and external. According to the author, the boom in economic status of US family system came up after World War II when Japanese and European manufacturing industries went thought a devastation of war: â€Å"Progressive taxation policies redistributed income from corporations and high earners to policies and public investments† benefited middle class families as well as the working class families. This was the time when globally US family structure was one of the highest enjoying part of social structure in the United States of America as well as the rest of the world (Polaski, p. 02, 2007). The US government initiated such programs as Medicare and Medicaid that benefited the family sustain a balanced lifestyle with standard of living was steadily moving on the upward curve. It was the time when global community saw a fast emerging middle class family structure in the United States of America that entertained higher livings standards. Then things started moving on the downslide as the Japanese and European manufacturing industries came to compete in the global market with the US, US spending on Vietnam War, and other such factors contributed to building economic pressure on the US family living standards that brought changes in the social networking and framework. With the emergence of globalization the US families, especially the middle class families, saw a decline in the living standards: â€Å"Globalization revealed and exacerbated, rather than created, the basic problems with the U. S. system† (Polaski, p. 03, 2007). Social safety became a problem particularly for the US social structure as in a number of areas like health insurance and portable pensions. The author cites a recent IMF study that states that although the share of labor from all the advanced countries of the world has declined globally in the last twenty years, European workers are still enjoying a bigger share of the wealth of their countries than the workers in the US. Although Europe also faces pressure by globalization, it does have safety net for the social structuring of their people. On the other hand, then United States of America is dangling with uncertainty. However, the author notes that there is some link with policy making of the advanced countries with those of the developing countries. In this regard the author gives an example of agricultural policy in the United States (and other advanced countries) that has indirect effect of farming activities of a developing country, say India or Pakistan in this case. What happens that, â€Å"The United States and other wealthy countries offer agricultural subsidies to their farmers that induce overproduction, with the surpluses sold below cost to the rest of the world. This causes prices for farm goods to fall in the developing world, lowering the incomes of already poor farmers or forcing them off the land† (Polaski, p. 03, 2007). Seen from this perspective, it is right to suggest that policies in advanced countries do make the developing countries and their people suffer from high to low challenges a number of them are not recoverable which means that solid policy making must start from the region of agricultural reforms and policy revision so that developing nations do not need to suffer more on the hands of wealthy countries. Both Countries Explored in the above line, what I have analyzed is that both these countries face challenges in the family structuring and economic domain. Indian family structure is tending toward independent nuclear family; whereas, US family structure is going through a change from higher to lower living standards. Both these countries have been affected by the trend of globalization in negative as well as positive ways. For the Unites States, globalization has brought more education, shift from manufacturing to service industry (Polaski, 2007); then for India, globalization has brought stability in a number of areas in which computer technology and skills related to it are worth mentioning here because today India is the only country in the whole world which has the highest number of computer technician that work both in the country and overseas contributing to the nation’s collective income. Frawley, p. 20, 2001). Now that the trend of globalization demands from them is that both the countries need to work together to make such policies as can benefit the family structure in both the countries along with economical and social stability. Conclusion Although it is right to state that globalization has benefited the whole world in one way or another, it is also right to remark that a number of things have struck the world from the negative side. For this case India is the most glaring example because with the advent of materialism, global business practices, popularity of Hollywood movies, and materialism the centuries-old joint family structure whole over India is fast declining at an alarming rate. Compared with the United States of American, it comes to our critical notice that family structure in these two countries have different problems from each other. One country has family system as joint; while the other country is essentially nuclear. One is less educated country with majority being poor; whereas USA is a highly affluent country whose people are literate on the global standards. The challenges these two countries face in globalization are also different. India needs to boost up its economy by developing its industry, human capital, industrial structure, and so forth; USA has to make such policies as do not harm countries like India. References Frawley, D. (2001). Hindu response to globalization. International Journal of Humanities and Peace 17 (1) 20+. Niranjan, S., Nair, S. , Roy, T. K. (2005). Socio-Demographic analysis of the size and structure of the family in India. Journal of Comparative Family Studies 36 (4) 623+. Olsen, G. M. (2007). Toward global welfare state convergence? : Family policy and health care in Sweden, Canada and the United States. Journal of Sociology Social Welfare 34 (2). 143+. Polaski, S. (2007). U. S. living standards in an ear of globalization. Accessed May 11, 2008 from: http://www. carnegieendowment. org/files/pb_53_polaski__us_living_standards_final. pdf

Deism- The Distant God Essay -- Literary Analysis, The Universe Next D

Deism- The Distant God It all depends on the glasses. Every lens gives a different view of the world, different colors, and different textures. Everything encountered can either be displayed perfectly or distorted. Sometimes things can seem foggy or blurry and other times crystal clear. Worldview can be compared to a pair of glasses. It defines how people see religion, culture, tradition, and life. It is the Father of beliefs, and starter of wars. It is our conscious and our decision maker. A worldview, whether admitted or not, effects and shapes each and every person. James W. Sire gives a precise definition in his book The Universe Next Door, saying, â€Å"A world view is a set of presuppositions (or assumptions) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously) about the basic makeup of our world† (pg.17). To qualify a worldview a livable belief, it must first answer seven basic questions. (1) What is the ultimate reality? (2) What is the nature of external Reality? (3) What is a human being? (4) What happens to a person at death? (5) Why is it possible to know anything at all? (6) How do we know what is right and wrong (morality)? (7) What is the meaning of human history? (8) What are the core commitments that are consistent with this worldview? All major worldviews attempt to provide an answer to these questions of human existence and the reason we are here. Christians need to understand how to apply the questions to not only our own worldview, but also the worldview of others. Only when one begins to understand the basis of another worldview can Christians begin to minister with understanding to the people of that belief. So now let us put on our lenses and explore a worldview that has existed through the pages of history. Let ... ...istianity have core commitments in living out their faith. Because deism does not have set beliefs, commitments vary from deist to deist. Every person is free to use their human reason to draw their own conclusions of life. These goals and commitments will reflect the personal aspects of each person. Warm deists goals may reflect a belief in a creator or God, and what would most make him pleased with him. Cold deists, however, will use only reason to reach their goals. Christianity has one core motive. According the Westminster Shorter Catechism we are to â€Å"glorify God and enjoy him forever.† The Christian’s life does not reflect their goals; rather it reflects God and his holy character. Now that we have been given a new perspective in the worldview of Deism, we can now accurately begin to reach out and witness to this worldview that believes in a faraway God.

Sylvia Plath Poem Comparison Essay

Sylvia Plath Poem Comparison Essay Saying Sylvia Plath was a troubled woman would be an understatement. She was a dark poet, who attempted suicide many times, was hospitalized in a mental institution, was divorced with two children, and wrote confessional poems about fetuses, reflection, duality, and a female perspective on life. Putting her head in an oven and suffocating was probably the happiest moment in her life, considering she had wanted to die since her early twenties. However, one thing that was somewhat consistent throughout her depressing poetry would be the theme of the female perspective.The poems selected for analysis and comparison are, †A Life†(1960),†You’re†(1960), â€Å"Mirror† (1961), â€Å"The Courage of Shutting-Up† (1962) and finally, â€Å"Kindness† (1963). All five of these previously discussed poems have some sort of female perspective associated with them, and that commonality is the focus point of this ess ay. The first poem listed, â€Å"A Life†, was written in November 1960, and is a fairly long poem for Plath’s standards. There are eight stanzas, and thirty five lines, and one overall message.The general message of the poem is to discuss appearance and reality, and to compare them. Plath reiterates that appearance cannot be maintained, and she uses a mix of delicate diction in the beginning-to represent appearances- and transitions to aggressive diction when she moves back to reality. The female perspective is most prevalent when Plath starts the â€Å"reality† part of the poem, and talks about a woman, who seems to be hospitalized, and isolated like a â€Å"fetus in a bottle. † The idea of a troubled patient seems to be a personal reflection on Plath’s asylum days. A Life† begins delicately, and Plath uses phrases such as â€Å"clear as a tear†, or â€Å"†¦glass†¦will ping like a Chinese chime†¦ though nobody looks up or bothers to answer†¦Ã¢â‚¬  to create a sort of â€Å"fishbowl effect†- a fragile, yet isolated world, transparent and watched by others. Plath also uses water-like diction, like â€Å"sea waves†, â€Å"sea†, and even the darker word, â€Å"drowned† to create such an effect. When the poem transitions back to reality, it seems like the previously mentioned â€Å"fishbowl† was just thrown into the violent ocean.Plath uses diction like â€Å"private blitzkrieg†, â€Å"fetus in a bottle† â€Å"grief and anger†, and even â€Å"age and terror† to create the awkward, violent, and even disturbing reality that this woman in the poem lives in. â€Å"You’re†, written in 1960 during Plath’s pregnancy, is a poem about Sylvia’s baby-to-be. There are two stanzas, each with nine lines, as to represent the nine months of pregnancy. The female perspective here couldn’t be more obvious- a pregnant mother reflecting on her pregnancy and describing her child; men can’t share that experience. â€Å"You’re† is one of Plath’s happier poems, and doesn’t go very deep as some of her other poems do.The first stanza is describing the unborn fetus as â€Å"clownlike†, â€Å"moon-skulled† and â€Å"gilled. † Visualizing a fetus with an underdeveloped head, upside-down and breathing in liquid constantly is explanation enough for this diction. Plath also discusses the nocturnal nature of babies, and the silence of the bread-like creature growing inside her. The second stanza discusses the idea that a baby is â€Å"looked for like mail†, and that the fetus seems snug and jumpy. The most profound line in the entire poem is the last line, â€Å"A clean slate, with your own face on†, describing the baby’s soon-to-be new beginnings as a fresh start, a â€Å"clean slate. â€Å"Mirror† written in 1961, is the qu intessential of Plath poems, in that it expresses three of Plath’s most common themes greatly in one depressing poem: duality, reflection, and the female perspective. The female perspective in this poem is best described as a troubled woman who constantly searches for the truth in mirrors, but finds no answers. The mirror discussed in the first stanza is exact and truthful, but almost pretentious, in that it considers itself almost godlike.The lake is where the woman seems to find the most comfort in, seeing the distorted images of her, the candles, and the moon. The last few lines seem to attribute her depression to her age, and maybe the fact that she never got to enjoy her childhood, her young years, and she despises seeing herself grow old in the reflection of the lake. â€Å"The Courage of Shutting-Up† was written in 1962, a year before Sylvia’s end, and uses the ideas of repetition, speech, and censorship to express her ideas on female obedience and civil censorship.The female perspective here is the idea of not being able to speak out, and living in repetition, with a defeated tongue- hung up on the wall like a trophy. The poem uses many different types of diction, but most of it is masculine, and war-like, as if Plath was fighting a war against men. The first stanza of the poem begins with â€Å"The courage of the shut mouth, in spite of artillery! † and follows with bits of diction to describe a record player, with â€Å"black disks†¦ of courage†¦Ã¢â‚¬  as to describe Plath’s thoughts and feelings just playing over and over again, â€Å"asking to be heard. The second stanza continues with the record player metaphor, â€Å"a needle in its groove†, and transitions to an overqualified tattooist in the third stanza, once a surgeon (maybe a metaphor for Sylvia’s downgrade from a great poet to a dumpy mother) who repeats the same overused tattoos over and over, silently, and solemnly. The fourth stanza returns to the metaphor of war, and artillery as well as the record player. The tongue is introduced, and is described as â€Å"indefatigable, purple. † The poem then questions if the tongue is dangerous, and if it must be cut out.The answer to that question must’ve been yes, because the tongue is then described as a trophy, hung up on the mantle like the â€Å"fox heads, the otter heads, and the heads of dead rabbits† before it. This is most likely an extended metaphor of Plath being silenced by her husband, and she can only admire her husband’s trophy in defeat. The poem ends with an image of a forgotten country, whose pride and power is hidden and long gone- probably another metaphor for her power to speak out, taken away by her husband or simply by her gender- as women didn’t have much say in things.The final poem â€Å"Kindness† was written in 1963, in the month of Plath’s suicide, and shortly after her husband left her. T he poem is structured evenly; four stanzas with five lines each. This poem contains the female perspective in that Plath mocks the typical view of kindness- almost satirically mother-like- and she also talks about children and how desperate and almost helpless they are in the whole scheme of things. The poem starts out by stating how full of kindness her house is, and already hints that kindness is and illusion with the word â€Å"smoke† and â€Å"mirrors: shortly after one another, and that these mirror are filled with smiles.The second stanza talks about the cry of a child, but not like a sobbing cry, but a sort of cry of agony, or desperation, and how that is the most real thing that she knows of, and that it is unlike the cry of a rabbit as, the cry of a child has a soul. This second stanza maybe hints at thoughts of Plath killing her children alongside herself, which is a somewhat disturbing thought. The poem continues, and with talk of â€Å"kindness sweetly picking u p the pieces. † Plath also uses delicate diction like â€Å"butterflies† and â€Å"Japanese silks† to maybe express the delicacy of â€Å"kindness. The poem ends, with a sort of final statement to her cheating husband, as presumably â€Å"he† comes in with an effort to console her, â€Å"with a cup of tea†, and Plath responds in another suicide like statement: â€Å"The blood jet is poetry, there is no stopping it. † This is reminiscent of slit wrists, and that you can’t stop the blood flow from a slit wrist. The final line seems to confirm that this poem was directed at her husband, with â€Å"you hand me two children, two roses. When Plath says â€Å"roses†, it immediately brings forth images of flowers at a funeral, rather than roses given as a token of love. Out of the entire selection, this is the most desperate and angry poem reviewed. Now, after the lengthy analyses of all five poems, all five had elements of the female perspective in them, some way or another. In â€Å"A Life† the female perspective was the view of the patient, feeling isolated and trapped in the painful reality that she lives in, and she takes shelter in the fragile â€Å"fishbowl† of a fantasy world she has constructed.In â€Å"You’re†, the female perspective is expressed in pregnancy. This experience is female exclusive, and Plath eagerly awaits the birth of her baby. In â€Å"Mirror†, the female perspective is that of a troubled woman who looks to the reflections of mirrors for answers, and prefers the distorted ripples of the lake to the awful truth of the wall mirror. Depressingly enough, even though the lake is distorted, the woman sees her age rising to meet her day after day, â€Å"like a terrible fish. In â€Å"The Courage of Shutting Up†, the female perspective is that of a woman who is trapped by her repetitive household duties, and the limits on her expression by her husband . Obviously, not being able to speak you mind is a sort of mental imprisonment, and the only way out for Plath was her poems. This poem was the embodiment of those expressions. The female perspective in â€Å"Kindness† was some sort of suicidal anger against her former husband, and a sort of Medea-like want to kill her children to spite her former lover.She talks about â€Å"kindness† as a sort of facade put on by a woman to keep everything together in her household. In comparison to each other, â€Å"Mirror†, â€Å"A Life†, and â€Å"The Courage of Shutting-Up† are all female-minded grievances towards the society that Plath lives in, and the relationship that she is in with her husband. All three involve some sort of negative personal evaluation, as well as being dark and depressing. â€Å"Kindness† and â€Å"You’re† stand alone, in that â€Å"Kindness† is an extremely dark and angry poem directed at Sylvia’s hus band, and â€Å"You’re† is a somewhat hopeful poem about pregnancy.They are direct opposites of each other and both represent different eras in Plath’s life- one of pseudo-happiness, and one of hatred and despair. The female perspective in Plath’s poem’s are always present, no matter what form they come in, or the period in Plath’s life that they were written. Plath has always seen some fascination, some point to be made, in the gender differences of her generation, and she made sure to include the female perspective, which was often unheard, and made it heard.

Spartan Society – Year 12 Ancient History Assignment

Part 1 (a)He was believed to be the creator of the Spartan society and how it functioned. Most of the Spartans thought him as a God-like figure and worshipped him. There is no certain source or a piece of evidence about Lycurgus and archeological records contradicted his existence often. Even Spartans had no idea of what Lycurgus looked like but there were his portraits and statues as what people imagined how a wise lawgiver would look like. (b)The  Hyakinthia festival This was a festival named after Hyakinthos, a youth who was lover of the god Apollo and died when Apollo accidentally hit him with a discus.The flower of the red hyacinth was believed to have sprung from his blood. In his grief, Apollo ordained an annual festival. This festival was held at the ancient shrine of  Amyclae  (about five kilometres from Sparta). This site was the location of a huge statue of Apollo, the tomb of Hyakinthos and an open area for festival dances. The festival took place over three days in the (summer) month of July. Athenaeus, writing in the 2nd  century A. D. , has given an account of this festival, which basically revolves around mourning for Hyakinthos, and praise of Apollo: The festival had two stages: 1.The first stage involved rites of sorrow and mourning in honour of Hyakinthos. There was a ban on the wearing of wreaths and on joyful songs. Offerings were placed at the dead youth’s tomb. The eating of bread and cakes was forbidden; there was a special funeral meal, then a day of ritual grief. 2. The second stage involved rejoicing in honour of Apollo, the wearing of wreaths, the singing of joyful songs, sacrifice to Apollo, a festive meal, a procession to Amyclae, choral song and dance. The historian Hooker has interpreted the festival as a festival for the dead on one hand, combined with a thanksgiving for life on the other.The  Gymnopaediae festival This was ‘The Festival of the Unarmed Boys'. The festival was held in the Spartan  agora  (market place). It commemorated the battle of Thyrea fought against Argos c. 550 B. C. The festival featured: choral performances; the setting up of images of Apollo and Artemis â€Å"boxing† amongst boys and men. Although much has been written about the violent aspect of the festival, it has been interpreted as a ‘rite of passage'; on the way to manhood, an initiation that indicated membership or belonging to the community.The Gymnipaediae were celebrated in July, the hottest part of the year. The festival consisted of a series of athletic competitions and musical events among boys and men. Dancing and running in tough conditions proved the strength of the Spartan citizens to the onlookers. In its early context it was part of the whole warrior code to initiate the young soldier to a life of physical excellence. It was not confined to Sparta. This festival was a thank-offering to Apollo for military success. c)Religion in Sparta, like in many civilizations, had a comm itment to support the ideals of a militaristic society. The Spartan ideal of an elite military state influenced the approach to religion and the ways in which religion would be molded to suite state doctrine, therefore highlighting the importance of religion in upholding the values of Spartan society such as endurance, loyalty, obedience, conformity, and skill. Religion was also use to create social coherence, important in promoting conformity and in controlling the society under the ideals of the military state.At an individual level religion provided a way of ensuring fertility both human and natural as well as averting disaster and ensuring victory in war. Religion was important for the State and this could also be seen in the wartime practices of the Spartan Army. According to Powell, Spartans believed in military divination, following an army to war was a herd of sacrificial animals ready to appease the Gods. Consultative sacrifices were held before embarking on a military camp aign, before a battle and when stepping into the threshold of the enemy.As written by Herodotus, Cleomenes in 494 on an invasion campaign to Argo was sent troops home because he had seen bad omens at the river Erasinus. Spartans also consulted Oracles at Delphi for predictions, famously at the battle of Thermopylae Leonidas was told to give up or fight to the death against Persian troops. The Spartan reliance on divination is reflective of how religion was used for military organisation and was important in supporting the state with battle strategy and on issues of joining battles. The reliance on religion creates a sense of reassurance for warriors if they had een given a good battle prediction and also a justification for retreat with a bad omen, as seen through Cleomenes. The mythology was interwoven with every aspect of Greek life. Each city devoted itself to a particular god or group of gods, for whom the citizens often built temples of worship. They regularly honoured the gods in festivals, which high officials supervised. At festivals and other official gatherings, poets recited or sang great legends and stories. Many Greeks learned about the gods through the words of poets.Spartan mythology was different than any other city-state in the Ancient Greece. Their gods were the same as others but Spartan gods were geared with armors and weapons. This is an example of how militarised Sparta was. Even their lawgiver Lycurgus is believed to be a myth by historians. Many Spartans worshipped as a god and in order to create a perfect city-state, he could be constantly recreated to explain why things were as they were. Although the Greeks had no official church organization, they universally honoured certain holy places.Delphi, for example, was a holy site dedicated to Apollo. A temple built at Delphi contained an  oracle,  or prophet, whom brave travellers questioned about the future. A group of priests represented each of the holy sites. These priests, who al so might be community officials, interpreted the words of the gods but did not possess any special knowledge or power. In addition to prayers, the Greeks often offered sacrifices to the gods, usually of a domestic animal such as a goat. (d) The religious connection to the military can be first seen in the Greek Gods the Spartiates emphasised and worshipped.The principal Spartan Gods were Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Discouri and Zeus. Apollo, Artemis and Athena more explicitly demonstrate the militaristic nature of Sparta with the three Gods associated with victory, wisdom, and skill in battle. Even Gods that were not usually known for battle were given militaristic traits, like the statue of the Armed Aphrodite in Thornax. The worship of Apollo and Artemis and their high status reflects the military value of Spartan society in training the youth for future defence.Such devotion to Apollo and Artemis can be seen in the Sanctuary of Apollo at Amyclae where coins in the likeness of Apollo were found and at the Temple of Artemis Orthia where thousands of votive offerings were found. Rites of passage within Spartan society were also carried out at the Artemis Orthia and can be likened to a vigorous military test of endurance with religious overtones. Young boys endured harsh whippings whilst trying grabbing stringed cheeses off the shrine. Those who could withstand the punishment were given honour and moved onto another stage in their military training.Religion in this case was used to sort out those with better warrior potential. Another function of religion in Spartan society was to train the hoplites. Hoplites were taught religiously devotional dances and songs, but the worship taught in the barracks also had military purpose. The song and dance helped with coordinating war movement, as the musical devotions not only praised the Gods but taught ideas of rhythm that was used in coordinating Phalanx in battle and the ability to move in a manner that was in harmony wi th the other warriors.Other examples of religion being a form of endurance training and test can be seen in the Spartan festivals. In the Carneia, the participants had to live in barracks as though on campaign and were made to run and chase a figure to train, test and celebrate athletic ability. The festival was associated with military success and the state used this festival as a way of glorifying past victories, therefore promoting the successes of the military state.According to Hooker ‘The Principle aim of the Gymnipaediae [another festival] was the habituation of the Spartan manhood to arduous activity’. The festival consisted of athletic competitions, musical events and dancing as displays of strength and endurance. This gave the state the opportunity to train hoplites, and separate the strong from the weak The role of religion was to support the military organisation and was vital to a state, which valued an elite defence force and celebrated skill in battle.As shown above religion was used a form of preparation, training assurance and guide in military situations. It was believed in Sparta that â€Å"a king by virtue of his divine descent should perform all the public sacrifices on the city’s behalf† [Xenophon]. The Kings acted as a priest towards the Gods. Aristotle, â€Å"Dealings with the Gods are assigned to the kings† Ritual responsibility was associated with political power giving kings special authority in religious interpretation or jurisdiction.The kings through public sacrifices first received the divine messages of Gods and Kings could also consult the oracles as they wished. As divination was passed through the kings to the rest of society, the Kings had the power to make the people to bow to the ‘Gods’ will. Religious authority equates to political power an example of such power was when King Cleomenes refused to go into battle but got off trial by saying that the omens were bad so he could n ot fight. If a Spartan King had reasonable religious excuse he could be forgiven for losing battles and refusing battles.Such religious connection was important in gaining, loyalty and obedience in the political arena, the divine status of the Kings was sign of military elitism. Spartan society according to Xenophon depended on the king and was loyal to the King, even believing that if an untitled person occupied the royal seat military disaster and famine would ensue. Spartan society valued conformity, coherence and believed in strong social controls, which religion then reinforced.Sparta’s social organisation was formed to encourage a sense of community and kinship, which in turn intruded on private religious practice. The Spartiate was required to share sacrificial meat with his mess-companions. Religion was interpreted to support the system of shared messes. Other ideals or Social cohesion can be seen in the Spartan religious festivals. In this festival people would commu nally mourn the dead and have a thanksgiving to life, it was to religiously as a community reaffirm the need for a close society.The festival of Carneia also emphasised a communal time of celebration, which honoured heroism and past successes in battles. During this time the Spartans were not allowed to travel to wars or battles, the Carneia being the reason they were late to fight in the Marathon 490BC and the lesser numbers at Thermopylae. Spartans had special departments, which were in charge of dealing with the oracles from Delphi and keeping records of signs from God. The power to consult the Gods however was exclusively among the authoritative forces of the state just as power itself was.Even Ephors had divination powers and all political classes of Sparta had religious duties to perform. It is evident that religion in Sparta functioned as political organisation; religion was used to demonstrate prestige, power and authority which were vital to society that honoured divinity a nd, religion also assisted in creating a way for the governing forces to manipulate the wider society with claims of celestially ordained political decisions. The political connection to religion was a way of promoting the Spartan ideal of an elite warrior society.Part 2 (a) 1- Leonidas (Famous for the Battle of Thermopylae and the Persian Wars. ) 2- Menelaus (Famous for the Trojan Wars and the husband of the Helen of Sparta, later became known as the Helen of Troy. ) (b) According to Plutarch, the council originated when Lycurgus attempted to reduce royal power. More than likely, Gerousia originated as a result of a conflict between the kings and nobles during the first Messenian War. There were 28 members and the two kings in the Gerousia.Membership was restricted to Spartans over 60 years of age that were no longer liable for military service. Thus it was a body of elders who held their office for life. The Assembly elected members by acclamation and although any Spartiate was el igible in practice members probably belonged to highly respected noble families. Aristotle mentions â€Å" the best families†, Plutarch says that they have to be† the best and most deserving. † and the selection was by acclamation (shouting and clapping).The Gerousia was a Probletic body and this meant that they prepared and deliberated on bills to be presented to the Assembly for voting and if the vote was not approved by the Gerousia, it could simply ignore it by adjourning the bill would not be passed. The Gerousia, Kings and Ephors acted as a court of justice and they tried cases of murder and treason and imposed penalties ranging from death to banishment and fines even the prosecution of a king would come before the Gerousia and the 5 Ephors.All these factors ensued that men of conservative opinion had the best chance of getting into the council, staying there and replacing themselves with people of the same outlook. â€Å"It would take a brave and confident king to pursue a policy that did not command the support of the majority of the Gerousia, knowing that in the event of failure, he was likely to be prosecuted upon his return. † T. J Buckley stated in his book â€Å"Aspects of Greek History† to exemplify the power of the Gerousia. (c) The Ephorate was the fourth major institution in the Spartan constitution.Five Ephors were elected each year from the whole citizen body and by the fifth century, they were constitutionally the most powerful public officials. They were in charge of the day-today business; and were also main executive body of state, implementing the decisions of the Assembly, at which they presided. They were also in charge of private lawsuits, which they judged sitting separately. They were combined with the Gerousia in the trial of a king. They supervised the other public officials, having the power to suspend, imprison and even bring capital charges against them.One of their most important responsibilit ies was the supervision of the â€Å"agoge†, the long and tough system of state education that was essential for the high standards of the Spartan army. In the field of foreign affairs, they would receive foreign ambassadors to ascertain their business before presenting them to the Assembly. In time of war, it was their responsibility to organise the call-up of the army, deciding the precise size of the army that was needed for the coming campaign and may even have possessed the power to give orders to commanders (except for the king) in the battlefield.When king set out an expedition with the army, he was accompanied by two of the Ephors who acted as overseers. Aristotle saw the Ephors as the most powerful of the four key institutions of state but also the most corrupt. However, Ephors had disadvantages as well. For example, Ephors did not have a continuous power in the state as they were only elected for a year and could not be re-elected ever again. This caused differences of opinion over policy between successive boards of Ephors, but also between individual members of the same board.There was often disagreement, even personal animosity, between the kings and it is likely that each king would have his supporters among the Ephors. However, Ephors, for all their constitutional powers, only held office for one year and then returned to political obscurity, whereas the prestige of the king was long-standing. Some of their other functions were: * They had the right to declare war on Helots. * They could fine people in the spot for being lazy. * They were the only magistrates who could conduct a civil trial. * They had the absolute power over all the magistrates. They controlled Krypteia and state finances. (d) Spartan government contained elements of monarchy, oligarchy and democracy and this was described as a mixed constitution. Spartan government was consisted of 2 kings and this dual kingship maybe was to prevent one king becoming too powerful. The S partan Kings had ranges of powers and responsibilities. Some of them were; they were the supreme commanders of the army, were the chief priests and decided on the marriages of orphaned heiresses. Spartan kings were the supreme commanders in the battlefield.However, the policy stated that only one king was suppose to lead the army to prevent any differences of opinion about the strategies and tactics during the battle while the other remained at home. This dual kingship ensured that each could keep an eye on the other. The leading king was usually accompanied by 2 Ephors and they kept a close supervision of the king’s leadership and the Kings were blamed if the campaign had failed and severely punished. The king that leads the army had the absolute power in the battlefield and picked bodyguards were to accompany the king.Aside from the kings’ responsibilities for the military, they were also the chiefs of priests. It was believed that Spartan kings were the priests of Z eus and they were to offer solemn sacrifices to Zeus requiring a favourable omen to proceed. Those sacrifices were performed on the frontier and the fire from these sacrifices carried with them throughout the entire campaign. Kings were also expected of to be responsible for the oracles of Delphi. It was believed in Sparta that â€Å"a king by virtue of his divine descent should perform all the public sacrifices on the city’s behalf† [Xenophon].The Kings acted as a priest towards the Gods. Aristotle, â€Å"Dealings with the Gods are assigned to the kings† Ritual responsibility was associated with political power giving kings special authority in religious interpretation or jurisdiction. The kings through public sacrifices first received the divine messages of Gods and Kings could also consult the oracles as they wished. As divination was passed through the kings to the rest of society, the Kings had the power to make the people to bow to the ‘Gods’ will. Source B is an excavation of a portrait in Acropolis area of Sparta in 1925.It is believed that the statue was a portrait of Leonidas. By the look of the statue, it is a typical Spartan man with a helmet, however it does not necessarily indicate that it is Leonidas or even a king. Though in the Spartan religion, Gods were geared up with weapons and armors. This is evident of even if it was a statue of Leonidas, it illustrates what sort of people kings were to the Spartan people. Spartans assumed the kings were descended from Heracles and they are the best kinds of semi-humans, this might be the reason why the king was wearing a helmet, if it really was a statue of Leonidas.