Athletic Shoe Design
Sparta:
I chose to create a military boot style shoe for the Spartan’s, to represent their culture and strong militaristic values. Because of this I also added a sword on the heel, and a Spartan warrior’s helmet on the toe. These as well as the Spartan symbol beside the tongue represent how from birth Spartans are raised to be the perfect soldier and are disciplined, courageous, and ready to fall on their own sword for their nation. The Greek style line design along the sides is commonly found on Spartan armour, shields, sculptures and more. The material these shoes are made of is leather, which was a common material used in Sparta for making armour, clothes, and shoes.
Athens:
For the Athenian shoe, the main design I used was an owl which is a sacred animal in Athens. The owl is the sacred animal of the goddess of wisdom, Athena, whom the Athenians worshipped endlessly. The Athenian culture highly values art and architecture, which is why I also used laurels in my design, which were extremely common in Athenian art and architecture and represented triumph. These two symbols are important to Athenian culture because they represent values like art, education, and wisdom. These shoes are made of swine leather, which was commonly used in Athens and around Greece.