Sparta: Uncultured Discipline
The Spartans were the most formidable warriors in all of history. They dedicated their entire lives to warfare. They were taught to endure cold, hunger, pain, their courage on the battlefield was second to none. The Spartan code was to fight hard, follow orders without question and to die rather then retreat or surrender. To achieve all this, Sparta sacrificed everything; the arts, culture, and other things that make life worth while. I believe the price was to high they went to far and shut off all that was creative and human in Sparta. A culture that can't change or adapt doesn't survive. This is exactly what happened , after a single major defeat in 360 B.C Sparta was no longer a significant factor in the region (Isaac Asimov, 1965, p. 178).
The original founders of "modern" Sparta were the Dorians. At around
1100 B.C these savages came from the north into what is today Greece. They attacked the Mycenean civilization thriving there and quickly defeated them. The secret behind the remarkable victories against the Myceneans was iron, the
Dorians knew how to forge iron weapons which completely outclassed the bronze weaponry of the Myceneans (Carl Roebuck, 1966, p. 119).
In Mycenean times Sparta had been a important city, but after Dorian conquest it sank to insignificance. Over the next three hundred years it recovered and began to prosper. By 800 B.C it ruled over the region called
Lacedonia.
Up to about 650 B.C Sparta was pretty much like every other Greek state.
They had music, art and poetry. During the seventh century, a musician named
Terpander came to Sparta and established himself their. He is called the "father of Greek music," he's also supposed to off improved the lyre (a harp like instrument). The most widely known Spartan musician was Tyrtaeus. He lived during the Second Messenian War and his music inspired many Spartan soldiers to new heights of bravery (Isaac Asimov, 1965, p. 53).
But then something happened, a war with the Messinians. The First
Messenian War broke out in 730 B.C, when the Spartans marched into Messenia eager for more land. After 20 long years of war the Messenians were forced to surrender. They were made into helots (slave...
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...sp; In order to achieve military glory the Spartans gave up nearly everything. Later on Greeks from other city states admired the Spartan way of life because it seemed so noble. They were wrong to think this way, to art, music, literature and other such pursuits they donated nothing.
She only had a cruel, inhuman way of life to offer, dependent on a barbaric slavery of most of her population, with only a kind of blind animal courage as a virtue. Before long the Spartan way of life was more show then substance, Sparta seemed strong as long she was victorious, but other states could survive defeat and rise again. After a single major defeat (against
Thebes) Sparta lost her domination of Greece. This catastrophic loss exposed the
Spartan fraud and disposed of her.
Reference List
- Asimov, Issac. (1965). The Greeks A Great Adventure. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Company
- Hillyer V.M, E.G Huey. (1966). Ancient World 500 BC - 500 AD. New York:
Meredith Press
- National Georgraphic Society. (1968). Greece and Rome Builders of Our World.
Washington D.C: Author
- Roebuck, Carl. (1966). The World of Ancient Times. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons
money and a life full of luxuries. He fell deeply in love with the young
..., wealth, or love they had worked so hard their entire lives for. It is tragic that neither man realized soon enough that with the love and support of their families they so blatantly refused they could have led more productive lives.
Hellenic culture in the Spartan community was that of a humble elite. True Spartan culture is well captured in Xenophon’s work, Spartan Society, as he wrote of how this elitist society viewed not only themselves, but the other countries around them. This work shines light into the three-part worldview of the ancient, Hellenic Spartans of: humanism, idealism, and rationalism. As Xenophon begins to write over the whole of the Spartan society it can be seen how the Spartans lived out the worldview of this Hellenistic society. This living out of the worldview recorded in Xenophon’s, Spartan Society, illustrates their worldview through the noting of Lycurgus’ accomplishments and the contrast of the “other.”
life. To live to see his children grow up, to see his unborn child be
Spartan religion can easily be related to the society that produced it and to the Spartan discipline and values. Religion was taken very seriously, the gods were to be obeyed unsuspectingly, based on the mutual respect that in return ‘the gods were on their side and would assist them in all their legitimate ventures’ [Welch]. Mary Douglas states that the forms of social discipline in a society are reflective of its conceptions of divine power. Spartan religion was interpreted to assume the roles of a military organisation, political organisation and a force of social coherence. The importance of such roles and they way in they were approached ultimately reflect the ideal of the elite Spartan military state and the roles were represented to support state doctrine.
Like most Greek states of the Archaic and Classical Era, the Spartan city-state was a militaristic one. Sparta, however, took the idea to its extreme. In order to become the best soldiers, Spartan citizens had to dedicate their entire lives to the occupation. In fact to be a soldier – a hoplite – was the full infrastructure of Spartan society. While most Greek city-states looked down on labor, physical work, and even working for profit, they still had to work for a living, produce something. “The Spartans a...
Sparta was a key city state which was located on the Peloponnesian Peninsula in southern Greek, which today is referred to as Laconia. Sparta is historically known for their strong military training, warfare tactics, and numerous victories. This city state included full citizens known as the Spartans, the helots, and the Perioeci. The men of Sparta had a main obligation to become strong warriors, fight with their brothers, and protect against any invasions or attacks. The helots where owned by city state of Sparta. They came from Messenia and were forced into slavery after being invaded by the Spartans in c.735. The helot’s responsibilities included farming, being of help if needed during battles, used as nurses, and for any other task that need to be accomplished. Unlike many traditional slaves, the Messenia’s were given certain leeway. They had
In the Ancient Greek polis of Sparta, the entire culture was built around war. The Character of a Man was based on how his performance and bravery in battle, and many Spartan laws were put in place to better educate, toughen, and train the Spartans for war. Young Spartans were only fed enough to survive with terrible food that was only eaten out of necessity, not out of desire to have the enjoyment of eating. “Those who underwent this training would be better able to continue working on an empty stomach” (Xen. Lac. Pol. 2.5) This reform helped create...
The strengths of education in Sparta outweighs the weaknesses because Sparta has a very strong army, train very hard, and educate everyone. Sparta’s army is very strong. Military toughness and the perfection of a battle formation made Sparta’s army hard to beat. The battle formation was called the phalanx. With the phalanx the Spartan warriors could stand up to forces many times their size. Every man got trained very hard. Boys started training from their eighth to their twenty-first year with military-like discipline. They were taught and encouraged to go out and steal food without getting caught. Women even were even trained to because if both parents are strong they produce more vigorous offspring. Education was still a factor in Sparta.
...ave money value, because then at least those who wanted to make a profit from you would make sure you were fed enough and not damaged too much. Also, there were many who had neither love nor money value, and having one of these things was better than having nothing. (Atwood 126)
...nt in their life down to their lowest point, and even their deaths. Pride and greed brought down two significant characters from literature, as well as Napoleon in early nineteenth century, showing that the fatal flaws are timeless.
... 371 B.C. Sparta faced a critically wounding loss against Thebes. Eventually, all of Sparta’s empire would be destroyed when Philip II of Macedon conquered all of Greece, due to its instability, which “made them vulnerable to a takeover by Macedonia several decades later” (C.S “The Peloponnesian War”.)
“No man ever proves himself a good man in war unless he can endure to face the blood and the slaughter, go against the enemy and fight with his hands.” The preceding was quoted from “The Spartan creed” by the poet Tyrtaeus. There are two authors in this primary resource reading which include Tyrtaeus as well as Xenophon, whom authored “The laws and customs of the Spartans”. These two works give great detail to the Spartan society. As history has presented it, Sparta was a smaller polis and yet was one of the most, if not most, influential societies in history. What we know of this culture comes to us from excavation of its heritage as well as literary works such as these. But are these “eyes” into history factual and creditable enough to base our own interpretations of such a masterful race? These writings are great resources for Spartan’s war enhanced values and societal customs, but lack in evidence of governmental affairs and religion. This lacking may have been due to both writer’s motives for their work.
Spartans like most Greeks took pride in themselves. There was evidence of this given in the movie, during lecture, and in the reading of Lycurgus. It was the ability to do without fear that was held for the most honorable. The Spartans had an entire lifestyle from birth to manhood that easily showed who was the strongest and fittest. They took pride in being who they were. This was shown greatly in the movie from the women letting it be known that only they birth
Because of the tranquil times, the civilization’s society had more time to focus on writing, math, astronomy, and artistic fields, as well as trade and metallurgy. Out of all the city-states of Greece, two excelled over all the rest, Sparta and Athens. Even though they were the most advanced and strong civilizations, they were bitter enemies. While Athens focused mainly on the people’s democracy and citizen rights, Sparta were ferocious and enslaved its original inhabitants, making them unable to leave and kept under a close eye to prevent insurgence (History of Greece:The Golden Age of Greece). Additionally, Sparta had strict and trained soldiers that underwent intense physical exercising and instruction.