The Greeks and the Persians were people who made a great impact in history. They were rivals for many years though their people intermarried. Despite their differences, they still have some practices in common. Both nations were situated near the Mediterranean Sea, and their leaders shared many qualities. Both nations fought for land, resources and the mostly wanted to outdo each other regarding leadership and political reforms. Both nations practiced slavery and slave trade (Gates). The Persian Empire resembled Sparta city-state since they both had two kings. Both societies were paternal, and men were the only ones who held government positions.
In Greece, they were free citizens in all the states; in fact, Athens was a democratic state. In Persia, all the citizens were slaves to the Great Monarch. In Greece, there were citizens with the right to vote, but in Persia, the citizens had no right at all; their fate was upon the King Persia. Regarding religion, in Persia, the main religion in the ancient times was Zoroastrianism as compared to Greece, which believed in mythological stories until Christianity entered Greece in 146BC (Gates).The Persians did not have an authentic religious tradition because they adopted what they had from other cultures while the Greeks were very strict with their original religious beliefs. Hence, they even felt superior. The Persians did not believe that their gods had human qualities and hence did not make graven images of their gods, as opposed to the Greeks who believed that their gods had human qualities, and that is why they made graven images of their gods.
There was no single approach to the political life amongst the Greek because their city-states were ruled independently, with Athens and Sparta as the wealthiest and the most powerful. Sparta was a monarchy, ruled by two kings, who came from separate families and they never agreed with each other. Athens was a direct democracy city-state, and all adult male citizens were expected to take part in the government.
Work Cited
Gates, Larry. "Compare The Political Systems Of Ancient Greece And The Persian Empire, And Factors That Can Explain The Differences And Similarities? | Enotes". eNotes. N.p., 2011. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.
