What Does Violence Mean to the Greek?

Violence was the basis of polis culture and it helped unify Hellas. In every aspect of the polis some sort of violence is involved, whether it is athletic or intellectual, violence exists everywhere. According to Homer, violence means courage, strength, power, the might of domination, the taking of human life and psychological violence. Hesiod, on the other hand, defines two different types of violence: one which is hateful and is shown in war and the other which is peaceful which is expressed in society. For the Greeks, violence was a positive thing, it was an intrinsic part of their society. In this essay, I define violence as a way to express oneself in an aggressive manner while causing misfortune to an individual. I will discuss the role of violence in athletics, politics, literature, art, religion and refer to Spartan norms to prove my thesis.

By far the greatest and the most severe legitimate violence was found in Ancient Sparta. Lacedaemon had institutionalized violence where training and education under Spartan laws were based on violence and warfare. ‘The emphasis of education was on practicing to endure hardships and to fend for themselves’ (Pomeroy 107). The schools taught boys how to fight rather than to read or write. One of the severest forms of training was flagellation. This was an annual, religious exhibition of endurance in honour of Artemis, where youths would have their naked bodies flogged by an Ephor. Plutarch stated, “the youths tolerated being whipped all day on the altar of Orthia Artemis having no fear of death, aiming at the victory” (Plutarch, 31). This activity trained the young boys to withstand pain and show their patience and bravery in the face of death. Sparta was a society that created a so...

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