Goodbye for now…

I have learned a lot. I picked Spartan society to write about because it fascinated me. I was in awe over the shadow they cast over military history, but to be honest I never really knew much about them. That ended when I started this blog. I have learned about so many amazing things. In the beginning I expected for this to be a drag and for this to bore me. But instead I enjoyed writing and learning from this blog. I was surprised to be excited to research new information for my blog posts.

Through this I have found a new found appreciation of Spartan Society. This mostly to do with their extremely impressive military. They were truly the original special forces. Also Spartan women. Their freedom and independence inspired me in a way. I started to look at myself and tried to be strong and badass like they were. Spartan women set the example for how women should be treated in society.

My definition of classical has definitely evolved. I originally thought to be classical you have to be all elegant and pristine and almost rigid. When i discovered Spartan society I earned a new respect for them. Sapata stood out of the crowd, they were different and I admire that.

I will miss this. I wish I could continue this blog. The truth is I don’t have the time. Hopefully in the future if I come across something intriguing about Sparta, I will write a quick blurb and post it just to keeps this alive. In a perfect world I would do a monthly posts, I would do post from perspectives of different historical people, I would travel is Spartan (what is now Greece) and write about my time exploring, I would examin real Spartan armor, I would even have my own personal collection.

 

Hopefully one day… goodbye 🙂

The MET Trip and what I learned

Today I am talking about what I found during my trip to the MET. Yes, I went to the Met… it was amazing, but that’s beside the point. I wanted to talk about this etching by Picasso in 1934. Yes, I know my blog is about Spartans but bare with me. I wanted to talk about this piece of art to show how impactful the Spartans were and how they left a big legacy.

In 1934, Macey commissioned Pablo Picasso to illustrate a special edition of Aristophanes’s Lysistrata by adding etchings and reproductions of the original. Aristophanes’s Lysistrata is a comedy originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC; it is a comic account of one woman’s extraordinary mission to end the Peloponnesian War. Picasso made this etching to fit the classical standards with his own personal spin on it. Picasso’s signature style of simple, elegant lines and expressive sensuality seemed to be a perfect fit with the ancient classic story.

I brought this to your attention because it shows how far Spartan society’s influences reaches. I have already proven that modern military is partly based off the Spartan military. Spartan society also reaches through art. Picasso’s etching is not the only example of Spartan influenced art. Jan Muller’s print is a dedication to Chilon, Legislator & Philosopher of Sparta. Chilon was one of 7  philosophers, statesmen, and lawgivers who were renowned in the following centuries for their wisdom in Ancient Greece. Not only did Spartan inspire art but they help it flourish. At the time, women were regarded as less than and barely we allowed to anything, except in Sparta. Spartan women were equal. They were encouraged to follow passions in the arts. This helped push half the population of the world to participate in this form of emotional expression.

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Everything above was brought to my attention because I went to the MET. It was amazing. Before the trip, I expected for it to be very boring and for me to be too tired of walking around as seeing random this. But I felt quite the opposite. I explored almost the whole entire museum. I was in awe. It was completely breathtaking. I was fascinated at these beautiful pieces of art while being taunted because of this art that was 100s and 1000s of years old but standing right in front of me.  I learned so much about the styles of the art through time and about specific things on artwork. For example the difference in the positioning for male vs female burial markers.  

Now on to the whole debate on artifacts and where museums get them. How is see it is whatever country it is found in, has the claim over it. With that being said, if someone or a museum can save some artifact (whether it’s buying it from smugglers or some other undemocratic method), they must do it. It should be everyone’s priority to save art because art can never be recreated. After a museum saves the art, they should pass it back to the country that lays claim to it.

Spartan women are like no other!

Spartan women were might I say badasses. Not only were they honorable but they were by law equal to the males in the society. This was very radical for the time. Sparta as a polis was actually looked down upon for the way women behaved in Sparta. Though through all the debate, Spartan women were known to be the most beautiful and also produce the strongest, healthiest offsprings.

Spartan women’s highest responsibility was to birth strong offsprings for the future for Sparta. Because of this, they were given more opportunities and respect than all other greek women. For example, the legendary spartan lawmaker Lycurgus believed that since childbearing is the most important task of women, he declared the female sex should take part in regular exercise no less than a male. He created sporting competition for women to compete against each other to grow stronger. Lycurgus believed if both parents are strong, their offspring would be stronger. Many people in other areas saw this and were confused. They soon realized how important women were to Spartan society for the reason of childbirth. For example, this conversation between two people, When Gorgo was asked by a woman from Attica, ‘Why are you Spartan women the only ones who rule over their husbands’, she answered, ‘Because only we are the mothers of men’.` This shows how much Sparta really did worship women.

Like I said, because of this they were given more opportunities and rights as other greek women. And franks Spartan women were better off. In Spartan society, women were encouraged to develop mental and physical strength. This means they were given good educations in areas such as the arts and literature. Another thing that Spartan women were better off than other greek women is rights by law. By law, they were allowed to divorce their husbands. Also, women were allowed by law to own land. As a matter of fact, they owned more than a third of the land in Sparta.

Finally, just in case you were in doubt if Spartan women were truly awesome, I would like to present these primary sources to prove how honorable Spartan women really were, because they were known for their courage and determination in life. In Plutarch, Sayings of Spartan Women=Moralia 240c-242d, etx. 2nd cent. A.D. G, it describes three scenarios of Spartan women who were truly badass. The first Spartan women were asked what she knew how to do after being sold into slavery. She responded with “to be faithful”. The next women were also being sold as a slave when she was asked what she knew how to do, she replied with “to be free”. The last women were sold again sold into slavery and bought by a man. This man ordered her to do things that were inappropriate for free women to do. She said, “you will regret that you have deprived yourself of such a possession”, and then committed suicide.

Now, what other women in Greece, could be compared to that.

 

 

(Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus 14-16, exc., 2nd cent. A.D. G)

(Xenophon, Constitution of the Lacedaemonians 1.2-10. 4th cent. B.C.)

(Plutarch, Sayings of Spartan Women=Moralia 240c-242d , exc. 2nd cent. A.D. G)

Why the Spartans are the original Special Forces!

Spartans were known for their fighting force.  While other city-states, like Athens, focused on art and philosophy, Sparta focused on their military.  Though small, ranging in number from 1,500 to 2,000 men, Spartans were feared for their ferocity and discipline.  Spartans used their weaknesses to an advantage.  They had a smaller population than most other Greek city states, because of this they needed to create an organized army that could defend them.  Thus Sparta’s unique military structure was born.

According to historians, the basic Spartan unit remained the enōmotia, with 36 men in three files of twelve under an enōmotarches.  Two enōmotiai formed a pentēkostys of 72 men under a pentēkontēr, and two pentēkostyai were grouped into a lochos of 144 men under a lochagos. Four lochoi formed a mora of 576 men under a polemarchos, the largest single tactical unit of the Spartan army. Six morai  typically composed the Spartan army.  The Spartan warriors were Spartiatai Hoplital or Hoplites.  Hoplites were Greek soldiers who primarily used a spear and a shield.  The Spartan Hoplites were better trained and organized than others.  As a result, they are the most well known.  Furthermore,  the Spartan military education led to them being superior on the battlefield. For male Spartan citizens, a soldier was the only acceptable occupation.

Spartan boys were inducted into the Agoge at age 7.  From there they were educated on the art of war first and foremost and then reading, writing, and arithmetic.  Their military education was known for being thorough and brutal.  Their exercises often led to serious injury and even death, to prepare them for war.  Spartans even instructed that the most important trait was military skill.  If you made it through this training, at age 20 you would formally become a full-time soldier and stay until age 60.

Spartans were the original Special Forces.  Special Forces are defined as an elite force that specializes in warfare.  How better could one word be used to describe Spartans?  The only acceptable occupation for a male was to be a soldier.  Their entire lives were focused on military training and action.  The Spartans created a military force that was well trained, effective, and also small numbered which made them mobile.  Sparta was so well protected that the citizens did not feel it necessary to have a protective wall.  They were the outliers among other city states.  The surrounding cities believed that Sparta was being ignorant by not putting up a wall and protecting themselves in this basic form.  To Spartans those city states were ignorant.  A common quote in Sparta was, “Our men are our walls”.

The Spartans laid out the foreground for future military successors.  After years following the Spartan’s techniques were used as examples for other civilization’s military tactics.  This was especially true in the nature of elite and specialized fighting forces.  Even to this day, we can trace back our modern Special Forces to the specific Spartan techniques.

 

This. Is. SPARTA!

Hello, and welcome to my blog 😉

I have created this blog to write about a great interest of mine: Sparta. I have always been fascinated with the stories of Sparta and their military philosophy. Here I wanted to explore their society and culture; especially pertaining to their fighting culture. I also want to explore and argue how Spartans created the idea of military special forces. Below is a brief history of Spartans from my prior knowledge; hopefully, I will expand on my understanding.

Sparta was a Greek city-state located in the present-day southern Greece. Unlike other Greek city-states as Athens, focus on the arts, learning, or philosophy, Sparta was a center of military culture. A Spartan was taught that loyalty came before everything else, including family. Spartan boys started their training at age 7 when they left home and entered the Agoge. Spartan women were known for being independent and enjoyed more freedoms and power than their counterparts throughout ancient Greece.