Although the city of Athens was burnt down, most of the people had run away to the nearby islands for safety. Themistocles ordered the Greeks to prepare for another attack. This time he told them to leave their ships in the Bay of Salamis. When the Persians arrived, they were surprised and confused by the harbor that was so full of ships they could not travel in it. In this battle of Salamis a few hundred Greek ships destroyed many, many Persian ships. Xerxes went away.
The next year, 32,000 Greek hoplites and 50,000 other soldiers won the Battle of Plataea. The Persians did not attack Greece again.
Even though Sparta and Athens helped each other in battle, they were very different culturally. In 431 to 404 B.C., these two city-states fought in a conflict called the Peloponnesian War after the name of the lower part of the peninsula. Sparta had help from other states. Many people died in the siege of Athens because of a terrible sickness, including Pericles.
In 405, the Spartans destroyed the navy of Athens in battle. Athens surrendered to Sparta in the following year.
For 30 years Sparta ruled, but many people did not like Spartan government, and Thebes, another city-state, helped Athens defeat Sparta. For nine years Thebes was the most powerful state.
However, Greece was much weaker because of the wars inside her country. Philip of Macedonia began to move into Greek territory. Although Demosthenes warned Athens of the danger, Athenians did not care. At Chaeronea, Philip of Macedonia controlled Greece.
When Philip died, his son, Alexander the Great, even though he was only 20 years, went out to capture the world. He won Asia Minor, Persia, Egpyt, and a small part of India, but he died of sickness when he was 32.
The people in Athens ate simply, usually barley cakes, onions, fish, and fruit. For clothes the men wore short pieces of cloth (tunics), aprons, and sandals for work. A woman wore a "chiton", which was a long, loose cloth that was attached to the shoulder. The loose garment was like a blouse because of a rope worn around the waist. Sandals were made by putting the foot on a piece of skin while the shoemaker made a covering for the foot.
Children liked to have pet rabbits and to play ball games. For fun, they also raced little chariots pulled by dogs. They were taught by slaves, and learned poetry, music, and dancing. Exercise was also important.
When a young man became 18, he began two years of training for the army. After that he could join in the men's classes where javelin throwing was done. For protection in wrestling, he tied leather strips around his wrists. He also cut his hair. Teachers from many lands taught the young men.
The Greek hoplites fought close together in a phalanx formation. Their spears were very long.
Women in ancient and classical Athens were treated with little respect. They could not become citizens of Athens. This means they could not vote and did not have any direct say in what happened in Athens. They could not run for election.
Girls could not be citizens. They left their home at the age of 14 to get married, sometimes with a man who was much older than she was (about 30 years old). Her marriage would be arranged by her father. On most occasions, the father would pick a rich husband for his daughter. The girl and her mother had no say in who she married, it was entirely the father's choice.
Contrast that with Sparta. Spartan women enjoyed a status, power, and respect that was unknown in the rest of the classical world. Although Spartan women were excluded from military and political life they enjoyed considerable status as mothers of Spartan warriors. As men engaged in military activity, "women took responsibility for running estates".
in the 4th century BC Spartan women owned approximately between 35% and 40% of all Spartan land and property. By the Hellenistic Period, some of the wealthiest Spartans were women. They controlled their own properties, as well as the properties of male relatives who were away with the army. Spartan women rarely married before the age of 20, and unlike Athenian women who wore heavy, concealing clothes and were rarely seen outside the house, Spartan women wore short dresses and went where they pleased. Girls as well as boys received an education. Young women as well as young men may have taken part in the "Gymnopaedia" ("Festival of Nude Youths").
Watership Down
Watership Down is a novel written by Richard Adams. It tells the story of rabbits and their adventures concerning their warren at a hill in the north of Hampshire, England known as Watership Down.
In this fantasy book, rabbits with human intelligence are shown in their natural environment. They have their own culture, language, proverbs, poetry and mythology.
It was first published in the United Kingdom by Rex Collings Ltd in 1972 and has continued to be printed and is now available in 18 different languages.
Fiver, a rabbit with a gift for seeing the future, living at Sandleford Warren, sees his home being destroyed by a land developer in the future. He convinces his brother, Hazel to talk to the Chief Rabbit, Threarah about leaving the Warren, however, the Chief Rabbit has no intention of leaving. Hazel, Fiver, and nine other rabbits then set off in search of a new home (at the time, merely off of the basis of Fiver's dreams that a good home awaits them somewhere far away).
They travel through forests, fields, over rivers, and roads filled with hrududu's (cars) before tiredness forces them to stop at a warren headed by a rabbit named Cowslip. After much debate, the rabbits agree to stay at Cowslips warren. The warren however, feels wrong to them (especially Fiver) due to the other rabbit's strange customs.
They soon find out that the strange actions that Cowslip's rabbits are showing is due to the fact that they are merely being fed and taken care of by a farmer so that he kill them off, one by one, for food. They leave Cowslip's warren, although Bigwig nearly dies on the way.
They keep going until they arrive at the site of Watership Down, a high hill that is far from man and full of good food and safety. After a day or two at their good land that Fiver had promised them, Hazel is named the unofficial chief rabbit of Watership Down. However, Hazel realizes that there are no does (female rabbits) among them, and they cannot have a healthy warren of rabbits without does.
Hazel later rescues a big gull named Kehaar, who has been hurt by a cat. After nursing Kehaar back to health, Keharr agrees to help the rabbits for the time being in return for their kindness toward him. After being asked by Hazel to check out of the area, Kehaar finds a large warren called Efrafa to the South of their position. After hearing that Efrafa is large and too crowded, Hazel sends four rabbits to Efrafa to ask if they could bring back some does to their warren.
However, Efrafa, being a large warren with too many rabbits, is tightly controlled by a rabbit named General Woundwort and his large military. Each rabbit is told when are where they are allowed to eat, sleep and more. Nothing happens without the General's ok, including leaving the warren. The four rabbits barely run away after playing a trick on an Efrafan Captain.
At the same time that the four rabbits are at Efrafa, Hazel leads a small group to look into Kehaar's report that there is a farm with a few caged rabbits, including does. After a few raids, the Watership rabbits break a few caged rabbits out of the farm, but Hazel is shot on the way out. Fiver has a vision where Hazel is, though, and Hazel is found and returned to health.