The main summary of the book is “Plutarch's vivid and engaging portraits of the Spartans and their customs are a major source of our knowledge about the rise and fall of this remarkable Greek city-state between the sixth and third centuries BC.” “Through his Lives of Sparta's leaders and his recording of memorable Spartan Sayings he depicts a people who lived frugally and mastered their emotions in all aspects of life, who also disposed of unhealthy babies in a deep chasm, introduced a gruelling regime of military training for boys, and treated their serfs brutally. Rich in anecdote and detail, Plutarch's writing brings to life the personalities and achievements of Sparta with unparalleled flair and humanity.” This is only a small summary of …show more content…
Firstly, the rejection of luxury and avarice invariably results in a focus on military pursuits. Secondly, the apparent equality belies a vast slave network (common in antiquity, but the unique brutality of the Spartan kind can only bring to mind the Gulag). Lastly, intellectual sterility sets in. Sparta, intellectually, seems to be only good at cracking jibes (Athenian: “I can imitate a sparrow” Spartan: “So what, I have heard the real thing” upon approaching the walls of a city, a Spartan said, "What kind of women live here?"). Their poetry is stale and militaristic; their women are absolutely free; children are encouraged to steal; sex is made to resemble rape; parents mourn when their children return safe from war, and celebrate when they die: this is the weirdest state ever. The book “On Sparta” is a well written book as well is most of Plutarch’s …show more content…
Highly recommended if you are interested in Spartan lives, ancient greek history or moral portraits. Sparta may have saved Greece from the barbarians, and won the Peloponesian war, but Athens has emerged the ultimate winner, simply because most of the surviving texts were written by Athenians. A great selection of writings on a nation whose reputation for valour inspired the Western martial tradition, and whose reputation for casual brutality provided a useful template for English boarding schools. Both books were written by Plutarch so the theme and everything is about the
Prior, Plutarch accounts for the unequal social framework within Sparta, where tribal leaders owned vast domains of land, in great contrast to the average Spartiate. Furthermore, Hodgkinson suggests the success of social reform in Sparta stems from the redistribution of Messenian land and the Agoge; reinforcing the belief that dissent from this social order would threaten the established hierarchical status of the Spartiates.
To look at this epistemologically, there is an understanding that almost every aspect involved in this culture was derived for the good of the polis. This seemed to be a very proud and arrogant people. A city with no walls, and in almost certainty, only natural born were allowed to earn citizenship. To even be called a Spartan meant years of fighting, service and status. Tyrtaeus states this argument best in the last line of his work. “Thus a man should endeavor to reach this high place of courage with all his heart, and, so trying, never be backward in war.” These writings are great resources for Spartan’s war enhanced values and societal customs, but lack in evidence of governmental affairs and religion.
As citizens of the United States of America, we are often blind to not only the current traditions of foreign nations, but also the historical traditions of early civilizations. For instance, many have heard of the Greek city-state Sparta; however, do they truly understand the impact of Spartan civilization in history? Sparta is quite unique in its structure and development, and its history offers valuable insight to early Greek civilization. In his novel Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield works diligently to uncover the realities of life in Sparta during the Persian Wars. Though the novel is a work of fiction, Gates of Fire is astoundingly accurate in its historical detail, and offers readers the opportunity to have a greater comprehension and
The socioeconomic structure of ancient Sparta was unbalanced and disproportioned, and because of the social unrest between the citizens of Sparta economic reforms were desperately needed. Plutarch highlights this issue when he says:
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.”
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...
In his Politics, Aristotle offers three defects in the Spartan System, the constant threat of a helot uprising, the nature of the estates and the status of women. Like other Greek women, the main responsibility of Spartan wives was Fertility and childbirth. The average age of a Spartan bride was between 1...
Sparta was a strict military city-state. The people were Dorians who conquered Laconia. This region lies in the Peloponnesus, which lied in southern Greece. The invaders turned the conquered people into state owned slaves, called helots. Since the helots greatly outnumbered their rulers, Spartans established a strict and brutal system of control. The Spartan government had two kings and a council of elders who advised the monarchs. An assembly made up of all citizens approved all major decisions. From child-hood, a Spartan prepared to be part of the military. All newborn were examined and the healthy lived and the sickly were left to die. Spartans wanted future soldiers or mothers of soldiers to be healthy. At the age of seven, boys trained for a lifetime in the Spartan military. They moved to the barracks and endured brutal and extensive training.
While Athens prepared for the encounter of a young man that would change their city, Plutarch exp...
Athens and Sparta were both city-states in Classical Greece. While Athens embraced democracy, Sparta was a dictatorial fierce warrior state. Sparta was a militaristic community, Athens was a freethinking, and commerce minded city-state. Modern societies have modeled their government organizational structure and military discipline practices from lessons learned of these ancient city-states. There is much is to be praised regarding Classical Greece for their courage, their progressive thinking and the birth of democracy. However, I think it is important to remember that in both cases, Athens and Sparta were able to sustain their lifestyle on the backs of countless slaves, non-citizens and women and that there is a darker and less romantic side to the past.
Farris, Dale. "Shutt, Timothy B.: A History of Ancient Sparta." Library Journal 15 May 2009: 45.
The one thing we know for certain about Spartan society is that we don’t know much about it. Very few documents and artifacts about the Spartans have been discovered, but the ones that have tell us everything we know. Two of these works are Plutarch’s On Sparta and Xenophon’s Spartan Society. One of the main things these two accounts focused on was the Lycurgan reforms. Through their stories and writings Plutarch and Xenophon had both some similarities and differences when talking about the political, economic, militaristic, and social reforms. One of the main differences when comparing these two writings is how Plutarch gives a historical account of Spartan society and tries to keep objectivity
Sparta was a city-state based on strict military ruling, at the age of seven a young Spartan would start out training and be trained into killing machines. When a Spartan baby is born, high elite Spartan soldiers would observe the baby to see if it was healthy and strong, if not the baby was ill and weak so it would be taken up a mountain and left there to die. This is just one example that shows how Sparta only wants a strong army and doesn't care about anything else. Strict rules of the government made it so that every Sp...
"Plutarch, The Spartacus Slave War" In Spartacus And Slave Wars, ed. Brent D. Shaw (Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin's, 2001) 131-138
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.