Sparta, The Conservative Ancient Greece, Questions and Answers

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Question: Who was Gorgo?

Answer: Gorgo was a Queen of Sparta. She was the daughter of Kleomenes and
the wife of Leonidas, who died at the Battle of Thermopylae. Information about
her is available at:

Click here

Question: Do you have a pictures of Spartan women in daily life?

Answer: The book “Everyday life in ancient Times” by the National
Geographic Society, 1951 has some reconstructed pictures.

Question: how where the women of Athens and Sparta different

Answer: Family ties in Athens were stronger and women were legally the
dependents of their husbands or their father. They could own no property
apart from the family. In Sparta women were more the property of the
community and they formed liasons with men as they chose. They could also
own property by themselves. In Athens women did chores such as weaving or
cooking, but in Sparta the women were free of all such chores.

Question: where did the Spartans live? (you said they were able to seclude
themselves)

Map of Greece

Answer: The above map has Sparta on it. It is on the Peloponnese isolated by
mountains. Their city had no
walls. They just defended the passages through the mountains.

Question: why were the spartan women so different from other greek women? i
mean what let them have opportunities
like the ability to be athletes and be in the public sphere?

Answer: Spartan society included a class of slaves. They did all the work

Question: was culture(language, basic ways of life) different in sparta than
athens? why?

Answer: Sparta was an agrarian society based on the work of slaves. Athens
became more of an industrial
society based on industry and trade. This caused the to cultures to diverge.

Question: was there a central figure in both athens and sparta that made the
rules? (i didn’t really understand that part in
my text, i thik there was in sparta)

Answer: Both Athens and Sparta identified law givers, but they had government
s that enforced and modified the laws. Neither government was dominated by
a central figure.

Question: What were the Athenian and Spartan women major social and
political functions?

Answer: Having babies and raising them.

Question: What is the difference between the religion in Athens and the
religion in Sparta

Answer. Nothing really.

Question: What kind of clothing did Spartan women wear (what was it called
and some info about it)??

Answer: Spartan women wore the same type of clothing as other Greek women.
It is named above. The clothing of the Spartans was simpler with fewer
decorations.

what are some differences and simularities between sparta and athens?

Answer: Click on the menu directory below the click on Sparta.

Question: What is the difference between the armies of Athens and Sparta?

Answer: There was little difference except the societies that produced the
armies.

Question: What were the rights of the Sparta women?

Answer: No women in ancient Greece had any rights. But Spartan wives
spent all their time taking care of their children. Spartan women could own property.

Question: did spartian grooms recieve dowries like the other greek grooms
did?

Answer: No. They did not. But women in Sparta could own wealth and some
had it before marriage. It is not true that dowries were universal. Some
brides, especially high born ones, required pre-nuptial gifts by the groom.
A family was willing to put up a dowry to get a difficult daughter out of
the house, but a desirable daughter would require gifts.

Question: what couldn’t women do?

Answer: Ancient Greek society was divided by sex and each sex had their own
realm in which they operated. Mostly men did the work outside the home and
women did weaving and other domestic tasks within the home.

Question: babies were killed?

Answer: Yes. A soldier would kill babies of his enemy, particularly if they
were related to an enemy king. A father would decide if a new baby were worth
keeping. A deformity would cause a baby to be rejected, but also a bad oemn.
Rejected babies were exposed and left to die. Unwanted babies would be sold
into slavery.

Question: what was education like in sparta

Answer: Read above.

Question: What about homosexuality?

Answer: The Greeks accepted the reality of homosexuality and dealt with
it in those terms. They did not promote homosexuality, but it may seem that
way in the context of Christian morality which condemns it. They did feel
that men should wait to be married and they felt that homosexuality may have
helped with this process. Greek men first married at about 30 years of age.

Question: KING LEONIDAS

Answer: This is the Spartan King who lead the famous delaying action
against the Persians at the pass at Thermopylae. He was killed along
with the 300 Spartans who remained with him.

Question: Who won most often in the olympics out of Spartans and Athenians?

Answer: Athenians.

Question: Can you tell me some information about Spartan versus Athenian
Athl
etes?

Answer: Spartans were limited as to the events they could enter.

Question: Were there slaves in ancient greece?

Answer: Yes. Their economy was very dependent upon slavery.

Question: Did the Spartan military have ranks (like general or something)?

Answer: Yes they did but the army was lead by the king. Some of the
officers included: polemarch, lochagos, pentekonter, enomotarch, ouragoi.

Question: Why was Sparta a leading city-state?

Answer: It was well organized to support an efficient military.

Question: what is the religion of sparta?

Answer: Religion was the same all over ancient Greece.

Question: What is the economy os sparta like?

Answer: The economy of ancient sparta was an agrarian economy based on slave
labor.

Question: did the spartans and the athenians have any alliances?

Answer: Yes they did.

Question: What can you tell me about the cults of Apollo

Answer: The worship of Apollo is described in the Iliad.

Question: Eho elced the kings in Sparta?

Answer: Kings are not elected. Specifically in Sparta they were hereditary.

Question: Can you please account for the decline in Spartan power and
political noteriety in the classical age. Obviously i am sure that this can be
attributed to their rejection of democracy and the rise of Athenian military,
politics and overall culture, but is their any other reason?Finally what was
the overall reason for the end of Spartan culture, was it the same as the
Athenians(rest of Greece).Thank you, if possible could you also give me some
links for sites on the topic of Sparta that go into detail. thanx

Answer: Sparta did not decline because of their rejection of democracy.
It declined because it overextended its ability to supply its military
activity. The warriors were very skilled and brave, but with each battle many
were killed. They were fighting so much that not enough new ones were being
born and raised. In this regard they were too restrictive as to who could be
a citizen. The end of Greece was more a matter of their lack of political
organization than anything else. Greek culture did not collapse. Alexander
conquered Greece because of his superior organization, and then spread Greek
culture over much of the known world. The western part of his conquest did
not learn their lesson and they were in turn conquered by the more organized
Romans. The Eastern part was more effective and they were able to resist the
Romans. But the Romans also did not replace Greek culture with their own.
Rather they adopted it and spread it around. In some areas, philosophy and art
for example, the Romans could not rise to the level of the Greeks, but they
studied the Greeks carefully, imitated them, and applied what they learned to
many well-organized projects. The deterioration of Rome resulted from a
rejection of Greek culture as anything else. When Greek culture was
rediscovered in the Renaissance, culture in general flowered anew. Much of
what is superior about our situation resulted from the realization that
both Sparta and Athens had much to offer and that what we should do is borrow
from both.

Question: How was sparta conservative?

Answer: The Spartans did not like anything new. They did not build new
temples, worship new gods, write new poems, sing new songs, or do new things.

Question: What web sites may give information about art in Sparta around
the 7th Century

Answer: Images of the Art of Sparta follow:

• Hermes Kriophoros, ca. 520 BCE – 500 BCE
• Museum of Sparta

Question: freed helots

Answer: Thebans under Epaminondas defeated Sparta and freed the Helots in
370/369 BCE. Much of Messenia was enslaved by Sparta in the first Messenian war
735 – 715 BCE. Some of the helots served in the Spartan military and some of
these were freed because of exemplary military service.

Question: What are some of the reasons for the vast differences in the status
of women in Sparta and of women in Athens?

Answer: The differences were not vast. Sparta had an agricultural economy
with much menial labor done by slaves. Athens had a more manufacturing economy
with more skilled labor. Sparta may have had a better legal base because of
the work of Lycurgus so less was dependent upon political intrigue. Aristotle states:

“as for the women it is said that Lycurgus did attempt to bring them under the laws, but since they resisted he gave it up.” Aristot. Pol. 2.1270a

Question: What did the slaves in ancient Sparta wear as clothing?

Answer: They wore a rougher and cheaper version of what everyone else wore.
In the fields the men probably wore loin cloths.

Question: do you have any pictures of the sparta schools?

Answer: The book Everyday Life in Ancient Times by Carpenter has such
a picture.

Question: what were the women’s roles

Answer: The only role of wives of citizens was to bear and raise children.
The other non-slave women had a role similar to the rest of Greece. Women slaves
did the menial work.

Question: can i see amap of sparta

Answer: Click here

Question: How was Sparta better (in all aspects) when compared to Athens?

Answer: Sparta had a better system of laws than Athens. It also
had a more defensible location.

Question: what were the spartans views on physical training of women, and
their views on child birth?

Answer: Spartans were very conerned about the fertility of their women
and for this reason they ecouraged them to perform athletic exercises such as
running, wrestling, and throwing the discus and javelin. They felt that
they needed to be strong to withstand childbearing and labor pains. For more
information see: Click here

Question: what have we learned from sparta?

Answer: We have learned the importance of indoctrination, disipline, good laws, and checks and balances in government.

Question: Why did Sparta consider the Olympics so important.

Answer: Sparta needed physically fit warriors.

Question: i would like to know more about the military, and the children
of Sparta

Answer: Some sites:

• Sparta
• Lycurgus, father of Sparta
• Sparta, the military state

Question: Do you think Aristotle has any basis for blaming the “licence”
Spartan women for the decline of the polis?

Answer: No. The men should be blamed for not better educating the women.

Question: Tell me a little more about the acient sparta economy

Answer: Sparta used a currency based on a cast iron cooking spit until
the third century BCE, long after the other Greek states introduced coinage. Mainly the society was agricultural based on forced labor. The society did engage in extensive trade.

Question: Did ancient Sparta have a flag? If so, what did it look like?

Answer: The ancient Greeks did not use flags. The Roman numeral II was the
symbol of the Spartan twin gods Castor and Pollux. The beautiful Helen was
also a symbol of Sparta. The shields of the Spartan warriors bore the Greek
letter Lambda which was the first letter of the region where they lived
(Laconia).

Question: the physical location of sparta and the economy how did it
affect sparta’s development?

Answer: Sparta’s physical isolation in the center of an agricultural region
allowed it to be politically isolated and to develop an agricultural economy.

Question: how liberated were the women of classical and archaic Sparta

Answer: They were able to do things other women were not able to do. They were in charge of their housholds for many years while their husbands were at war. Although their parents did not arrange their marriage, they were not able to choose their husband.

Question: Were the Spartians educated?

Answer: Spartan boys went to special schools while the girls were educated
by the mothers. Girls might go to special schools for dancing, music and chorus.

Question: what was the government like

Answer: The Spartan form of government was actually a constitutional
dyarchy. There were two kings that were succeeded heritarily. These kings
could command the army, or a special general could be selected. Sparta also
had 5 elected officials called euphors, a council of elders called gerousia
and an assembly of citizens called apella. An important fact is that there were checks and ballances in the government. But the govenmental members were often selected rather than be selected. The Spartan government was one of the most stable goverments ever.

Question: What rights did the women of Sparta have?

Answer: They had a right to own property.

Question: What about the Spartan system of government changed
from the reforms of Lycurgus to the 5th century B.C.

Answer: Interestingly almost everything about the Spartan system of Government was attributed to Lycurgus by the Spartans. This has suggested that Lycurgus was more of a mythical than a real person. Not much is known about the Mycenean form of goverment that preceeded the Spartan. But the Spartan system seems like it may have evolved less than other states. Aristotle states, “The Cretan constitution approximates to that of Sparta” Aristot. Pol. 2.1271b line21 so the Spartan form of government may have a Minoan origin rather than a Mycenaean one. The facet is that Lycurgus may have changed very little but may have been credited with alost everything.

Question: how are laws enforced

Answer: Sparta was essentially an armed camp where the soldiers enforced the
laws according to the judgements and commands of their leaders. In ancient
Greece punishment by death and fines were common. Exile might be done, but
imprisonment was less common if not unknown. Beatings were done, but maiming
was not. An interesting article is at The Politics of Aristotle
and at: Click Here

Question: What were the values of the Spartans?

Answer: Courage and strenth was important as was discipline and order.

Question: Who were spartas leaders

Answer: Famous Spartans included:

• 3rd c. BCE/Cynisca/Spartan woman athlete
• 3rd c. BCE/Eurylon/Spartan woman athlete
• 444-360 BCE/Agesilaus II/Spartan King
• c. 427-399 BCE/Agis II/Spartan King
• c. 338-330 BCE/Agis III/Spartan King
• 262-241 BCE/Agis IV/Spartan King
• c. 427 BCE/Alcidis/Spartan Admiral
• f. 393-361 BCE/Antalcidas/Spartan diplomat and General
• c. 361-338 BCE/Archidamus III/Spartan King
• c. 312-265 BCE/Areus I/Spartan King
• d. 422 BCE/Brasidas/Spartan General
• d. 406 BCE/Callicratidas/Spartan Admiral
• c. 556 BCE/Chilon/Spartan ephor and one of the seven sages of Greece.
• c. 520-488 BCE/Cleomenes I/Spartan King
• c. 265-219 BCE/Cleomenes III/Spartan King
• c. 515-491 BCE/Demaratus/Spartan King
• f. 411-389 BCE/Dercyllidas/Spartan General
• c. 404 BCE/Epitadeus/Spartan Ephor
• c. 480 BCE/Eurybiades/Spartan Admiral of the Peloponnesian League and
  commander of the combined Greek fleet against Xerxes’ Persian navy.
• c. 414 BCE/Gylippus/Spartan general sent to Syracuse where he destroyed the
  Athenian fleet and army in 413 BCE.
• c. 488-480 BCE/Leonidas/King of Sparta who fought the Persians at
  Thermopylae
• c. 7th c. BCE or earlier/Lycurgus/Founder of Spartan legal reforms
• d. 395 BCE/Lysander/Spartan leader and naval commander
• c. 207-192 BCE/Nabis/Spartan King
• d. 466 BCE/Pausanias/Spartan regent who commanded the Greek land forces
  at Platea.
• c. 409-395 BCE/Pausanias/Spartan King
• c. 720-675 BCE/Theopampus/King of Sparta and leader in the first Messenian
  War

Question: Is there any evidence of other people living in Sparta, i.e.,
Arabs, Ethiopians, Egyptians, in Sparta?

Answer: Sparta was engaged in international trade so this is likely. But these foreigners would not be citizens. It seems unlikely that they would be helots either. They might be perioikoi but this is not at all clear.

Question: what were the faults in sparts government?

Answer: They failed to provide adequate representation of the entire
populace, and they failed to educate their women to the political roles they ultimately possesed.

Question: Why were there two kings at Sparta?

Answer: Spartan myth favors the idea that one of their ruling ancestors
had twins who divided the governmental power. There is also the possibility that two communities merged.

Question: Which family did King Leonidas belong to, and explain his role at
the battle of Thermopylae

Answer: Leonidas was the Agiad king of Sparta from 488-480 BCE. He was
commander of the Greek allies at Thermopylae.

Further information about Leonidas can be found at:

• AGIS, The Reformer of Sparta
• History of Sparta
• Ruins of a temple containing the hero Leonidas
• Sculpture of Leonidas

Question: How important was the battle of Leuctra in Sparta’s history?

Amswer: In 371 BCE Thebes defeated Sparta at the battle of Leuctra. This
ended Spartan military domination and the Peloponnesian league. The Helots of Messinia and Laconia were freed and Sparta was deprived of its economic base.

Question: What was the role of the apella in spartan society?

Answer: The apella was a council of citizens who also met birth and wealth
qualifications. The gerousia, or council of elders, had to originate
proposals, but the apella considered them. The apella elected the members of
the gerousia and the ephors. It also appoainted military commanders, decided
on disputed royal successions, peace treaties, and declarations of war. Any
emancipation issues relating to helots were taken to the apella. It also
had to approve any changes in the Spartan law.

Question: who was Lycourgos and what was the Great Rhetra?

Answer: Lycurgus (Lykourgos) was the legendary founder of Spartan political
reforms and its social system. He was the one who is supposed to have set up Sparta’s unique
education and military training system. He is supposed to have traveled around
the Agean to select the best laws and systems. His work was very infleuntial
on Plato and his Republic.

The Great Rhetra is the earliest surving political constitution. It was
brought back from the oracle at Dephi as an article concerning the gerousia,
perhaps by Lycurgus during the 7th century BCE.

Question: What role did women play in religion in Sparta?

Answer: As with the rest of Greece, women were important to the religion
of Sparta. But they focused mainly on the goddesses. There were temples
to the goddesses in Sparta and these were attended by women.

Question: Why Spartan women famous in Greece?

Answer: Spartan women were famous for their strength and athletic ability.
The famous women at the Olympics were Spartan. Of course Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world was a Spartan.

Question: Describe a spartiates training for he army

Answer: A young Spartan was removed from his family when he was seven and
he was placed in a baracks with a group of men that he stayed with until he
was thirty. For this entire time he was involved in military exercises that
encouraged strength and discipline. Many of the events for the Olympics
model the kind of activity the male Spartan was involved with as a young man.
Most of their formal training involved the same training and instruction that
an Olympic athlete would receive. They were also taught to read and write,
music, and rhetoric so they could speak.

Question: WHAT WAS THE LANGUAGE OF SPARTA AND HOW WAS IT
DIFFERENT FROM GREEKS

Answer: The citizens of Sparta spoke the same language as Athenians but
they had a rustic, rural accent.

Question: what is the relationship of spartan’s to Delphi?

Answer: All Greece respected the oracle of Delphi.

Question: could you please tell me something about the wars I need to make
an essay like if i am in the war… please!!!!!

Answer: The Iliad of Homer is about the Trojan War. Herodotus, The Histories, deals with the Persian invasion of Greece. And Thucydides wrote The History of the Peloponnesian War

Question: how large were the spartans genitalia?

Answer: There is no evidence that ancient Greek genitalia were any different
in size than the current population. Ancient images are not reliable
indicators of genitalia size because artists had various reasons for increasing
or decreasing the size of genitalia.

Question: How did People live in the ancient world of Sparta

Answer: If they were born there and worked hard they lived well. The Spartans did not seem to achieve a high level of culture but the stability of their government has always been admired. Some of the people lived with a lot less stress that did the people of most other cultures.

Question: What was the role of young women in ancient Sparta?

Answer: Their goal was to exercise to become healthy so they could bear
strong children. They then raised those children for the first seven years. They also managed the household while the husband was at war.

Question: how was the spartan economy superior to athenian economy?

Answer: After Sparta defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian war the economy
of Sparta seemed superior to some. But when both were swallowed up by Macedonia
the conclusion was that they were interdependent. Sparta could respond to war
quicker than Athens, but its agricultural dependence meant the economy was
more difficult to expand. The Peloponesian war was a war of attrition that
neither economy could support. The Athenian economy was more based on manufacture but Athens has the advantage of productive silver mines.

Question: the spartan slaves, did they get paid?

Answer: Not at all. A kindly master might give a slave some spending money,
but a master was under no obligation to do anything for a slave. A master
fed and clothed a slave so he could work, and the slave was required to do what
he was told. If a slave failed to work as told the master could punish, or
even kill the slave. A master did not have to treat a sick slave or clothe
a slave in cold weather. But if the slave died because of bad treatment the
owner lost his investment. Ordinary slaves of this sort did what they were told. In Sparta there was a differe type of slave called a Helot. These slaves were able to have families and work a plot of land. Their only requirment was that the give half of what they produced to their Spartan masters and not to revolt.

Question: were there any disadvanteges or cons to the spartan
religion?

Answer: The Spartan religion was the same religion as the rest of Greece.
The difficulties of the Greek religion caused its collapse around 125 AD.
Christianity absorbed the best qualities of Greek religion. Polytheism
and the will of the gods was dropped in favor of monotheism, salvation, and
a scheme that involves a good god contesting with the evil of a devil. During the Classical period what was Greek was defined by a polytheism based on the deities of Olympus. But each city an region might have different festivals and temples based on local interests. Many communities favored one or more deities over the many others.

Question: how do the relogions of sparta and athens compare?

Answer: The religions of Sparta and Athens were identical. The worship in Athens centered on Athena. The worship of Dionysus was also important. There also existed a temple for Zeus and Asclepius. Hestia has a sanctualry in every home. In Sparta the main deity was also Athena. The worship of Artemis was also strong.

Question: 2 what extent were the perioikoi and helots crucial
2 the smooth running of the spartan state?

Answer: The perioikoi were probably involved in trade while the helots
provided all the economic labor for the production of goods.

Question: How were Slaves useful in Acient Greece?

Answer: In ancient Sparta the slaves did all the economically useful work.
All the citizens did was to support the military and police function. The
wives of the citizens did nothing but bear and raise children.

Question: how did they dress.

Answer: Just like the rest of Greece, except the clothes were plainer. See the page on Ancient Greek Clothing

Question: What can you tell me about punishment in ancient
Greece?

Answer: Usually punishments were fines, exile, loss of civic rights, or
death. In Sparta boys were taught to steal from the Helots and they were punished if they were unsuccessful.

Question: could you tell me more about the spartans beliefs and
practices

Answer: An interesting article relating to Sparta is at: Assessing Systems for Advancing Peace, Prosperity and Civilization By Tim Aron

Question: what food did the spartan’s eat?

Answer: Spartan food differed little from the rest of Greece, mainly grains, figs, wheat to make bread, barley, fruit, vegetables, breads, and cake, grapes, seafood of all kinds, and wine. They kept goats, for milk and cheese. The little meat that they ate included goat, mutton and beef. They sometimes hunted for meat.

Question: who were the military elite in Sparta and what did
they do?

Answer: The spartan society was based on the labor of slaves. The Spartan
male citizens were in a constant state of war against the slaves.

Question: why did Sparta decline?

Answer: They could fight well, but they could not rule. They had good laws
for their own citizens, but it does not do to enslave everyone else. Because
they were so good at fighting they eventually had to fight everyone, and they
actually ran out of men to fight with.

Question: What happened at the temple of Artemis Orthia? thank you

Answer: Here boys became men through a coming-of-age ritual which involved
their being flogged on the temple steps until their flesh was torn to bleeding
ribbons. According to Pausanias, the goddess was not satified until her altar
was soaked with blood. Young Helen was abducted by Theseus while she was
dancing in the Spartan temple of Artemis Orthia. Vigorous but peaceful
contests were held in the arena before the Temple of Artemis Orthia.
A poppy capsule was portrayed on finds at the temple of Artemis Orthia, suggesting that opium may have had something to do the the
Spartan stamina exhibited at the lashing of the young boys.
Artemis Orthia was the patron deity of Spartan education, but certainly not
of the city as a whole. The patron deity of Sparta was Athena Chalkioikos
(Paus. 3.17.2).

Question: war in ancient sparta?

Answer: Ancient Sparta was constantly at war.

Question: What exactly were the perioeci? what powers did they
have? and how were they different to the Helots? did they have
more respect of were they at the same level as the helots??

Answer: The Spartan citizens were only warriors who did no work. The Helots worked on agricultural lands to produce the agricultural goods for the society. The Helots were tied to the land and could not leave. They were not personal slaves. They had a plot to which they were assigned and they had their family close to that plot. They turned oved half of what they produced to their Spartan masters. They were more serfs than slaves. The Perioeci (Perioikoi) were people who were subject to Spartan rule but were more free to move about. They may have been involved in agriculture, but they were more likely to be merchants or tradesmen who carried out the business of Sparta. The Spartans were not allowed to be involved in business. They would seem to live in areas away from the Helots. They may or may not have been required to pay taxes. All groups, the Spartans, Helots, and Perioikoi provided soldiers for the Spartan military.

Question: what is the population?

Answer: At its height Athens had about 400,000 and it is likely that Sparta
had a similar number, but the number of citizens was only about 10,000.

Question: How were the retired military men treated

Answer: Below the monarchy was a council which

was composed of the two kings plus twenty-eight nobles, all of whom were over
sixty, that is, retired from the military. The seem to have moved up to rule.

Question: what was the battle gear of sparta soldiers

Answer: All Greeks used the same gear except the Spartans had a round
shield with the letter lambda. Click on the menu directory below and click
on clothes.

Queation: what was the wrestling like in sparta??

Answer: Their wrestling was a combat event in which competitors grappled
until one threw the other to the ground

Question: what color is spartin flag

Answer: The ancient Greeks did not use flags.

Question: which god did sparta worship

Answer: Sparta had temples to the goddesses Athena and Artemis. They also worshipped the other gods and goddesses of ancint Greece.

Question: what were kinds of entertainment they had?

Answer: The Spartans were fond of the sports events which ocurring during the many
festivals that were held. The festivals also provided ceremonies and rituals.
The Spartans, like all Greeks, enjoyed the symposium, but there was little music and dancing. Rather they preferred to listen to bards tell the old stories.

Question: What was the difference between Athenian government and
Spartan government?

Answer: The Athenian government was a pure democracy. Part of the spartan
government was an aristocratic council and part was handled by a pair of kings. Sparta was known for the checks and balances within its governemnt and its adherance to the law.

Question: How were slaves treated in both Athens and Sparta?

Answer: Ancient Greeks did not like to write about slavery so there is
little information about it. In Sparta, as a result of the Messenian revolt,
the Messenians were turned into agricultural slaves called helots. These
slaves were tied to the land as serfs would later be. Their life was pretty
menial and they existed at the edge of subsistence. In Athens slavery tended
to relate more to manufacture and mining, and some slaves held more skilled positions.
Rather that beong tied to land, slaves were more tied to the family. But all
slaves could be forced to perform menial tasks and they could be punished or
killed if they did not perform them. Women slaves could be forced into prostitution
as well. Slaves were not necessarily unhappy with their lot. The unhappy
slaves may have been killed and forgotten killed. Some slaves were freed if they did there work well. Their laws protected slaves from actions bu persons other than their owner but not that much from their owner.

Question: what was military life like

Answer: To the young Spartan male all life was military life. Life was
strictly regimented. There were barracks, communal meals, and military
exercises at all times. Warriors marched to battle and carried their supplies
and weapons. They tried not to travel very far.

Question: What.was.the.role.of.art.in.Sparta? ()

Answer: It educated Spartans about the past.

Question: Which king of Sparta had a letter in the bible?

Answer: “Letters were exchanged between Onias I, high priest of
the Jews, and Arius I, King of Sparta, about the years 309 or 300 B. C. (I
Mach., xii, 7-8, 19-23; Josephus, “Ant. Jud.”, XII, iv, 10). Arius, who sought
to maintain the independence of his country against the Syrian successors of
Alexander by creating a diversion against them in Palestine, pretended to have
found a writing relative to the Spartans, showing that they themselves and the
Jews were two peoples – brothers both descending from Abraham. This assertion
has little foundation, although perhaps there had been such a tradition.”
Reference

Question: What colors are Sparta?

Answer: No special colors have been identified. The Spartans used the Greek
letter lambda to identify themselves. The Spartan Hoplites wore uniforms that were died red.

Question: what Did Spartains Do In There Daily Life

Answer: The men trained for war and the women took care of the children.

Question: what was spartas patron god

Answer: Artemis Orthia was the patron deity of Spartan education, but
certainly not of the city as a whole. The patron deity of
Sparta was Athena Chalkioikos (Paus. 3.17.2).

Question: Who was the first king of Sparta?

Answer: Eurysthenes was the first Doric king of Sparta, and the fifth in lineal
descent from Hercules. Taugete bore Lacedaimon who wed Sparta. Since Lacedaimon founded Sparta he may have been the first king.

Question: Why did ancient spartan society prize physical fitness and strength so much?

Answer: The Spartan society was continually at war and physical fitness
and strength made them better warriors.

Question: were most of the spartan men gay

Answer: The incidence of gay men in Sparta was probably no different from the
incidence of gay men in society today. If Sparta encouraged male to male relations the incidence of homosexual acts may have increased. But the percentage of men that preferred homosexual acts probably did not change. Most of the men continued to have families and children. Only if the men related with their wives would the population of Sparta continue. The fact is that it did continue for quite a few generations.

Question: What does apartheid mean and how does it relate to Spartan society?

Answer: Apartheid was an official policy of racial segregation in the
republic of South Africa with the purpose of promoting and maintaining
white supremecy over the black races. The ancient Spartans had a similar
system that was to maintain Spartan supremecy over the Messenians. The
Spartan system was more severe because the Spartans were constantly at
war with the Messenians and the Messenians were reduced to slavery. Even
so the Spartan system of government has been very influential to countries
who were quite opposed to slavery. While apartheid is not strictly
slavery, it can be argued that the result is the same. While most of the
governments of the world were working to reduce slavery, South Africa
built a system to replace it. Now this sytem is almost gone.

Question: Where can i find a map of ancient Sparta?

Answer: Aerial view of Ancient Sparta

Question: what was the age of a fulll spartan citizen

Answer: Citizenship was gained at birth. Later citizens were granted
extra privileges based on their service.

Question: name of first spartan king to be killed in thermopylae

Answer: Leonidas, agiad king of Sparta remained at Thermopylae and was killed with 300 Spartans who stopped the Persians who were invading central Greece.

Question: what is significant about sparta

Answer: In many ways Sparta developed in contrast to Athens. Where Athens
developed luxury, Sparta developed simplicity. Athens developed democracy
and Sparta developed authoritarianism. But both were constitutional and
developed a rule of law, and both developed an economy based on slavery.
In the end the modern world had to pick and choose from both cities to get
what they wanted. But both cultures were a rich culture of contributions.

Question: Is there some Spartan belief concerning the death of Apollo?

Answer: You may have confused Apollo and Dionysus. Also there is the confusion of Apollo with Hyacinthus. The myth has it that Apollo killed Hyacinthus by accident with a discus. The festival of Hyacinthia at the temple of Apollo at Amyclaea is a festival about death, but it is not Apollo that dies.

Question: lamda

Answer: This is the symbol which the Spartan warriors bore on their
shields. It is the first letter of Lacedaemon

Question: what kind of work is done in sparta what do people do for a living

Answer: The economy of ancient Sparta was intensely agricultural, but all
the Spartans did was rule and war. The perioikoi were the merchants and craftsmaen while most of the farming was done by the Helots.

Question: who was the queen of sparta

Answer: There were many queens of Sparta, but I can only name three:
Leda, Helen, and Gorgo.

Question: what was the population of ancient Greece

Answer: In Athens in the fourth century there were about 30,000 male
citizens. A number of 300,000 might include women, children, and slaves.
The rest of Greece might have included about 10 such cities or about
3 million. There are only 10 million in modern Greece.

Question: wwhat is the differance in slavery between sparta and athens

Answer: In Sparta slaves were community property bonded to the land they
worked. They were able to live with their family on that land. In Athens
slaves were personal property and formed a part of the family who owned them.
They were often separated from their own family.

Question: What was Spartas religion?

Answer: As with the rest of ancient Greece Spartans had no religion. There
was no intergrated system of beliefs that the ancient Greeks espoused and there
was no requirement for worship or ritual. What there was was a belief that
gods and goddesses controlled many aspects of the universe and if you wanted
success related to one of these deities then you had to deal with the
appropriate god or goddess.

Question: who were some of the famouse political leaders in ancient sparta?

Answer:

• Agesilaus II
• Agis II
• Agis III
• Agis IV
• Alcidas
• Antalcidas
• Archidamus II
• Archidamus III
• Areus I
• Brasidas
• Callicratidas
• Chilon
• Cleomenes I
• Cleomenes III
• Demaratus
• Dercyllidas
• Epitadeus
• Eurybiades
• Gylippus
• Leonidas
• Lycurgus
• Lysander
• Nabis
• Theopompus

Question: How were most women killed back n ancient greece?

Answer: Information on this is scant, but it seems likely that most women
died of disease. The attitude toward women supports this. Many babies died
as they were being born and some mothers died during childbirth. This was
probably because of unsanitary conditions during childbirth. Population
increases caused difficulty handling wastes which polluted water supplies.
Shipping allowed rats to bring plagues from distant shores. Other contageous
diseases were also spread. Cultures weakened by disease allowed whole
cultural migrations. The Minoan and Mycenean cultures may have succumed to
disease but the eruption of the volcano on Therea killed many thousands
of people including women. Women were seen as too valuable to kill during wars
and were usually made slaves.

Question: What was Sparta and Athens art based upon?

Answer: All Greek art was based upon an idealization of the images and
stories of the age of heroes. Sparta did not produce much art because it was
thought to be unnecessary and luxurious.

Question: Did the men use little boys in a sexuale way

Answer: The tragey is that children are weak and are subject to abuse. Normally little boys were under the control of their mother. But when the boy was older he was often initiated into adult society with the practice of a relation with an older man. Though families approved of these relations they want a relation that would benefit the child. Laws were enacted that protected students in schools with the idea of protecting them from being abused by the teacher or others. Though these relatiions may have involved abuse in some cases in most cases they were of mutual benefit. It is like that some, but not all these relations involved sex. In Sparta such sexual relations were discouraged. The older man often gave the younger one presents and introduced him into male society.

Question: what were spartan warriors like

Answer: Trained, disciplined, and loyal.

Question: what was the government like

Answer: The Spartans had a government so stable some referred to it as
stagnation. It was a constitution monarchy with two kings at the top and a
council of 28 elder men who had all retired from the military. This council
debated and set legislative and foreign policy,
and was the supreme criminal court while the kings led the
military into battle. There was also an assembly of all the Spartiate males
that selected the council and approved or vetoed council proposals. The
elected a a small group of five men known as the ephorate. These five men led
the council, ran the military, ran the educational system, ran the infant
selection system, and had veto power over everything coming out of the council
or the assembly. They even had power to depose the king; however,
they needed powerful divine proof (in the form of omens or oracles) to
exercise this power.

Question: Does Sparta have any inventions

Answer: Their government was their most important invention.

Question:what were their military strenghts and weaknesses

Answer: Their military was trained, loyal, and ready. But within their
country was a large body of slaves who were constantly a threat, Their
soldiers could be corrupted by luxuries, and they could not manage a country
they had conquered.

Question: Things to do for fun in Sparta during 2000 BC to 133BC

Answer: There was wine to drink and bards to listen to. Athletic events
were popular, especially the women without clothes. Festivals were available.

Question: what were the roles and rights of high class male citizens?

Answer: They were warriors who could vote.

Question: what is the location of Sparta

Answer: Sparta is located in the Peloponnese about 140 kilometers southwest
of Athens. Between Sparta and the sea is the Parnon Mountains on the east and
the Targetus mountains on the west so Sparta was well protected from invasion.
Its location on the river Eurotas did provide fertile plains for its crops and
access for its goods to foreign markets.

Question: In Spartan society, above the slaves were herotics i believe. How long did the average herotic live?

Answer: Lacedaemonians were either Spartiates or Perioikoi. The Spartites
were the male citizens that performed civil and military service. The
Perioikoi were privileged craftsman and tradespersons who also performed
military service. The helots were serfs bound to the land that the spartiates
owned. Many Helots provided military service. There were also
hypomeiones, neodamodeis, and mothakes who were free but inferior and did
not participate in the government.

Due to high infant mortality the average lifespan of an ancient Greek was
about 35 years.

Question: What was the name of the people who were slaves to the Spartians?

Answer: In the later 8th century BCE Sparta conquered and colonized
neighboring Messenia. The defeated Messenian population was bound to the land
that they worked. They were more properly serfs and not slaves because they
were collectivily owned and could not be bought or sold by individuals. The
Messenian helots spoke Greek and even provided lightly armed soldiers for
the Spartan army.

Question: What was the technology of the Spartas?

Answer: All the Greeks shared the same technology.

Question: what did ancient Spartans do on their free time?

Answer: They listened to a bard, which is how they got their news. Some
played board games. Others did sports.

Question: what did sparta’s flag look like

Answer: The ancient Greeks did not use flags.

Question: What type of education system did SPARTAN women participate in?

Answer: Physical education.

Question: Life of a soldier

Answer: Young men spent their life in a barracks while older men just ate
there. There spent their entire time waging war or practicing waging war.
Their wars tended to be day trips though.

Question: why were the children in sparta whipped?

Answer: Most of the stories involve a ceremony at the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia. There there was an initiation ceremony for the Spartan boys. They were not just whipped, but they were flogged until they bled. This was a blood sacrifice to Artemis Orthia and a rite of passage for the young men who were flogged. This also proved how tough the boys were. But there may have been other whippings as well. Most of the pictures of ancient Olympic training involved trainers with switches. This paralleled the system of judging at the Olympics. The Spartan boys were trainined mainly for physical activity and it seems likey that a simalr system of trainig was used. For other training in music students are shown learning by example rather than punishment.

Question: did sparta participate in the Olympics

Answer: Yes and the provided some of the great champions.

Question: why when the spartans went into war they were always out numbered

Answer: There are stories about Spartans defeating supurior numbers because
the Spartans were very skilled and dedicated warriors.

Question: what did the weapons look like that the spartians used?

Answer: Click here

Question: Why was it important to have a strong body?

Answer: Preparation for the military is an obvious reason, but the ancient
Greeks seemed to feel it was pleasing to the gods as well. They were a very
competetive people and obvioulsy felt strength would help be competitive. The
fact that Gymnasia were part of their daily ritual suggests that strength
formed part of the social bond as well.

Question: Did the Spartan’s pay taxes?

Answer: Yes they did. Each Spartan citizen paid a poll tax. Also many
citizens performed mandatory public service. But most taxes were raised on
the non-citizen. There were sales taxes and probably import duties. It is
likely that land required some portion of produce be allocated for the support
of armies.

Question: Did sparta have their own language?

Answer: No. But they had a rustic pronunciation which the Athenians
ridiculed.

Question: what gods did sparta worship?

Answer: All Greeks worshipped the same gods. Spatans built temples for
Athena Chalkioikos, Artemis Orthia, and Zeus.

Question: why did sparta hate athens so much?

Answer: They did not hate each other. They were both very competitive.

Question: Did slaves get to go to court against their masters?

Answer: Not at all. And they could only testify in court with the
permission of their master. But their testimony was not valid unless it was
gotten by torture.

Queation: What did the slaves do as work?

Answer: All the mindless and unpleasant tasks including: spading, hoeing,
weeding, watering, cleaning, washing, carrying, copying.

Question: why are ancient pictures have small penis’ on guys?

Answer: Society preferred this.

Question: did they have sex a lot?

Answer: Yes.

Question: what was there family structure like?

Answer: Officially family structure was defined by a relationship of the
males to one another. And a man was not allowed to live with his wife for many
years while he served as a soldier. It was only after his use as a soldier
became limited because of age that the men were allowed to live with their
wives. The early life of the child was spent entirely with the mother, and
the boys were sent to school as soon as possible. The girls may have lived
with their mother until they were able to live with their husband. The young
men lived in barracks while the young women lived with their mother and her
aging husband. Reference.

“Researchers of Sparta (in Greek antiquity) note the loose morals of Sparta women. The justification of adultery was that “Sparta needs strong warriors”.” Reference

Answer:

• In 725 BCE, needing land to feed a dramatically growing population, the Spartans marched over the Taygetus mountains and annexed all the territory of their neighbor, Messenia.
• The anxiety-ridden situation with the helots led the Spartans to fear even their neighbors, who were often sticking their spoons in that pot to brew up trouble.
• when they conquered their neighbor, Tegea, they set up a truce with them rather than annex their land and people.
• In a short time, Sparta had formed alliances with a huge number of states in the southern part of Greece (called the Peloponnesus).

Question: can you tell me about the training,appearance, equipment,accomodation,the sysstia and the sanctions of the spartan military system?

Answer: The syssitia refer to the common meals which the spartan military
took. The military was divided into groups of men who ate together from the
time they entered military service until they could eat with their wives at
about 30 years of age. reference

Question: population of sprata

Answer: Perhaps as much as 300,000 persons.

Question: What are some basic ideas of Engineering in Early Sparta. Also did the spartans belive in any sort of art?

Answer: Engineering in Sparta was no different from the rest of Greece. The
Spartans liked the old art and did little to produce new art for their
community. They did preserve the art of the past.

Question: Hi! I have to do a presentation where I must dress up as a Spartan girl. I am to bring a few props. What props could I use that girls in Sparta had or used?

Answer:

• a chiton, or peplos
• a tunic
• a wreath
• a torch
• money

Question: who did Sparta trade with?

Answer: Sparta had access to the sea and through its ports it traded all
over the world.

Question: what resorces did Sparta have

Answer: Probably they were mostly agricultural. Trade in olive oil and
wine could easily explain the Spartan affluence. Grains such as barley
were grown for local consumption. Most everything else had to be traded for.
The Spartans did not lack for supplies so it seemed their trade in wine and
olive oil was adequate. The location of Sparta was also a resource in the
sense that Sparta was easily defended. The stability of its government was
also an important consideration.

Question: What was the god/goddes of ancient Sparta, Greece?

Answer: The gods and goddesses were the same all over Greece. Sometimes
there was a local patron god or goddess who had a temple built. In Sparta
there were temples to Athena and Artemis.

Question: What did the slaves have to do?

Answer: Slaves did what they were commanded. In Sparta there were few
personal slaves so most slaves were involved in agricultural work.

Question: Did spartan men and women have sex daily?

Answer: Only in the 20th century did anyone set up a situation where
this information could be determined even approximately. Kinsey

Question: what was the class system of women in ancient Sparta?

Answer: Women who were married belonged to the class of their husbands.
Unmarried women belonged to the class of their parents unless their mother
was unmarried.

Question: was Sparta a democracy

Answer: The Spartan government was a not a democracy but it did incorporate
democratic aspects. It would be considered a democratic government today
in comparison with current democracies.

Question: Out of all the gods which god did sparta favor

Answer: Athena Chalkioikos

Question: Did Athens or Sparta believe in simple luxury tax for themselves so there excess money went to the government to help inprove it?

Answer: I doubt it. The rich are the hardest to tax because they are the
most powerful. They were more inclined to think of tribute money as excess.
It is also not clear that more money improves a government. The Athenian
expedition against Syracuse is a perfect example of a government havin money
and then spending it on a wild scheme that benefits no one.

Question: what is spartas city state

Answer: Sparta was a collection of villages that can be identified on a
map such as the following:
Peloponnese
Sparta also consisted of the teritory around it called Laconia and also the
territory called Messenia. These two territories constituted the City-state
of Sparta. The boundary was marked with boundary stones but nobody located
these stones on a map so the exact boundary is not known.

Question: What did ancient Spartans look like?

Answer: Not many pictures of Spartans exist. The following article
includes a picture of a Spartan King:
The Ancient Greeks

This article includes a Spartan involved in Cryptography:
Spartan Cryptography.

Question: What was a slave in Sparta called?

Answer: The slaves in Sparta were really serfs because they belonged to
the state and were bound to the land. They were called helots.

Question: Did Sparta have a coinage system?

Answer: Spartan Coinage

Ancient Coinage of Peloponnesos, Lakonia, Sparta

Coins whose Mint is “Sparta”

Question: what are the famous sites in sparta?

• Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia
• Prehistoric Menelaion
• Temple of Athena Chalkiakos
• Theater on the Spartan Acropolis
• Theater at the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia
• Vapheio tomb near Sparta

Question: What are the physical structures of Saparta?

Answer: Sparta emphasized a simple life and built few structures. Rather
than being a metropolis it was actually a loose collection of small towns.
Very little remains.

Question: wars

Answer:

Question: what contradictions existed within the spartian system

Answer: The most difficult contradition ivolved their enslavement of an
entire culture. When it was necessary for them to accommodate allies they
only knew a very poor way of relating to people. As a result they could
only govern themselves and they had great difficulty helping others govern.
Eventually they overextended themselves and lost everything.

Question: What did the Spartans do for entertainment?

Answer: The main Spartan entertainment seems to have been athletic events.
These events were held for both men and women and both performed nude while the
other sex watched. There were also many festivals with dancing, poetry, and
food.

Question: Where are some social places that spartans went to?

Answer: Gymnasia, a theater, temples, and markets.

Question: how did spartan woman differ from Athenian woman?

Answer: Spartan women could own property while Athenian women could not.
Spartan women were free to move about while Athenian women stayed home.
Spartan women did no work other than raising children while Athenian women
wove, directed slaves helped their husbands in addition to raising
children. Athenian women were married in a ceremony planned by their father.
They then moved in with their husband.
Spartan women were raped by their husband and forceably removed from their
parent’s home. They then lived with their husbands family for 10 or more years
until their husband was discharged from the army.

Question: What would represent spartan government?

Answer: Stability. The Spartan government was the most stable government
ever formulated.

Question: Did Sparta have a military shield?

Answer: Yes. Spartans used a round shield with a lambda on it.

Question: What was Ancient Sparta’s climate? Was it very hot, mild, cold that sort of thing.

Answer: The climate of Sparta has changed little from ancient times. It
is a fairly temperate but dry climate. There is somewhat less water available
today because of soil erosion and less vegetation. For comparison the Getty
Museum in Malibu, California is able to maintain a garden of Ancient Greek
plants. The climate of Sparta was similar to that of Malibu today.

Question: can u describe the main rivers, mountains, neighbouring states,
vegetation and food of the spartans

Answer: To the north of Sparta was Argos. North-west of Sparta was Olympia
and Ellis who controlled Olympia. West of Sparta was Messene who Sparta
enslaved. Sparta is on the Eurotas river. About 19 kilometers SSW of Sparta
is Mt. Taygetus at 2407 meters. The Spatans ate plain food that was similar
to the rest of Greece.

Question: Did the agoge make sparta more successful, or restrict the community’s development?

Answer: The agoge was the system that divided boys into herds and separated
them from thei families. Sparta had great success with its culture but it could
not impose its culture on another state. For this reason it is not possible
to determine the merit of aspects of its system. All we can say is that
most cultures find this system does not work. A strong family tie is usually
helpful.

Question: where can I find pictures and translacen of ancient Spartan writing

Answer: Spartan Stories

Question: What did Spartans wear?

Answer: Spartan styles were not different from the other Greeks but their
clothes were very plain and simple.

Question: how could ancient greece been a united country if it just
followed the examples of sparta

Answer: But if they could do that they could do anything. Some aspects of
the Spartan system were good, but others required discipline that only a
Spartan was capable of. The stability of the Spartan government was enviable,
but Sparta was unable to induce a single other country to emulate it. The
example of Messena weighed heavily on the minds of other countries.

Question: How were the boys treated in Sparta?

Answer: They were raised to be loyal to the state, tough, strong, and good
fighters.

Question: What are the differences between Athens and Sparta military?

Answer: In Sparta all able-bodied men remained in the military. Athens
had a volunteer army with most citizens paying their taxes through their
service.

Question: What was the rites if passage in Sparta?

Answer: They were a little rough. Girls were raped and boys were flogged.

Question: How was the art is Sparta?

Answer: Very limited. There was little art produced by Sparta.

Question: Why did Spata have no walls

Answer: They had mountains for walls.

Question: how large was ancient sparta?

Answer: Around 300,000 of which about 30,000 were citizens and soldiers.

Question: What were jobs of spartan men and women.

Answer: All Spartan men were soldiers and all women were mothers.

Question: why she belive in myths

Answer: You have it backwards. Spartans did not believe in myths. Myths
express what they believed, and what we do not believe.

Question: Where was sparta located… can i see a map?

Answer: See sector F4: Map of Greece

Question: I think I read somewhere that the helots in ancient sparta were
of a different ethnic stock than the spartans. A)Is that correct? B) If so,
what do we know of their (i.e the helots’) language, customs (prior/parallell
to the spartan subjugation)?

Answer: It may be. The Spartans claim they are Dorians but it is not clear what this means. Early on there were Minoans and Myceneans. Mycenaeans were Greek and spoke Greek. Minoans spoke a different language. But there is no evidence the helots spoke a different language. But they left few records. The helots in the west were Messenians. These seem to have been Greeks. There were also helots in Lacedaemon. These may have been different.

Question: could i know the name of the king who introduced coins in greece, due
to which women became prostitutes to earn their dowries?

Answer: THE GREEK historian Herodotus tells that King Croesus (Greek
Kroisos) of Lydia was the first person to mint gold and silver coinage.
But this has little to do with Sparta because they rejected coins and used
spits instead.

Question: were Spartan citizens mindless robots fit only for fighting?

Answer: No. They were well-trained warriors who sometimes were great
strategians.

Question: what weapons did they use

Answer: In spite of Sparta’s land-locked reputation, their most important
weapon was the beaked ship. They were just as dependent on the sea as Athens.
Their land weapons were less significant but included javelins, swords and bows
and arrows. By the classical period chariots were obsolete as weapons of
war.

Question: Why did Sparta make military strength her major concern?

Answer: It was a matter of survival. They had been involved in a war
that almost destroyed them, and they were able to surmount a larger enemy.
They knew that to continue their survival they would have to focus on war.
This tack was successful for a very long time, but they were unable to
extend their system to the larger community. Eventually this did them in.
To live in peace the ancient Greeks would have had to organize the peoples
of the Mediterranean into a single unit, as the Romans did. Alexander
began this process but he too failed to bring it about.

Question: what are the main features of the spartan economy?

Answer: Spartan economics were based on slaves working agriculture.

Question: what did the SPARTANS eat?

Answer: Archeological analysis of the tablets discovered at nearby Pylos
reveals the following items as part of the Mycenaean diet:

• Barley and wheat predominate
• Coriander
• Cumin
• Fenel
• Sesame
• Celery
• Mint
• Garden cress
• Safflower
• Cyperus
• Nuts of the turpentine tree
• Olives
• Figs
• Wine
• Honey
• Meat of Ox, pig, goat, sheep
• Fish

Question: How loyal were Spartans to the city-state?

Answer: Extremely loyal.

Question: What was life like as a slave in Sparta?

Answer: Misery.

Question: Citizenship in Sparta?

Answer: Citizenship was determined by parentage, but every citizen was
required to share in the communal meals and pay taxes, or lose their
citizenship.

Question: Individual freedom in Sparta?

Answer: From 7 to thirty the activity of every male citizen was prescribed.
The women were relatively free. There was also a large class of citizens
that could not vote (half-citizens) who were also relatively free. The slaves
had no freedom.

Question: Explain the importance of religion to the Sprtans.

Answer: Religions provided a reason for their existence and an
an explanation for the nature of things.

Question: birth in sparta

Answer: The ancient Spartans believed that fit women gave birth to healthy
babies, which made healthy warriors. Birth was supervised by the ruling woman
of the house and assisted by her relatives and slaves. Birth was often done
in a birthing chair or a crouching position. Any baby born was reviewed by
a committee of elders to determimine if it was unhealthy and should be
exposed and left to die.

Question: Who.were.allowed.to.vote.in.Sprata.and.what.class.were.they.in.?

Answer: Only the warrior citizen males were allowed to vote. Women
citizens were not. Slaves were not and the tradesman, skilled laborers,
and professionals were not.

Question: Can you give me some book name or authors that deal with Sparta or
Spartas soldiers.

Answer: Booklist

Question: Which was more stable Athens or Sparta

Answer: Sparta had the most stable government ever known. Democracies
like Athens were notoriously unstable. It was Athens’ advanced system of
education that was stable and provided international influence for over a
Thousand years. The government of the U.S.A. is modeled on both systems.

Question: how was the spartan system of government like

Answer: The Spartan system had a lot of shared power which provided
checks and balances. See above for details.

Question: explain the Spartan system of government

Answer: Click here

Question: queens of sparta

Answer: “praise of the vast cash holdings of the Spartans and the chastity of their queens” Reference. I know of at least three queens: Leda, Helen, and Gorgo.

Question: Spartan architecture?

Answer: Reconstruction of the The Dromos at Sparta

Question: What did Sparta people do for leasure?

Answer: Listening to poets and bards, dancing, singing in choruses, and
athletics.

Question: What was the Role of the Army in Sparta,Ancient Greece?

Answer: Since every citizen was a member of the army, the army was involved
in more that defense of the state. However, non-citizens also fought it
cannot be considered a legislative body. More than anything it was involved
with control of the many slaves that worked in a serf capacity for the state.

Question: What are communal meals in Sparta in conjunction with Plato’s Laws

Answer: ‘When it came to wagering on hypotheses, the lawgiver Lycurgus
placed his chips on the enforcement of conformity. He slashed the importance
of private homes and ordered that from now on all meals would be communal
messes “to reduce to a minimum disobedience of orders.” So if you were
fortunate enough to benefit from Lycurgus’ cerebrations, you were imprisoned
in a virtual army camp. Your food rations were measured out without regard to
your appetite. If you wanted to add to the meager diet, you were required to
organize a hunting expedition and bring down your own meat. Wine – -the only
thing a decent Greek would drink – was restricted just as thoroughly. Getting
tipsy was not allowed. Men could not bunch off in groups of friends, but were
required to eat with the mix of members assigned to them. Table conversation
was limited to one subject: the latest “noble acts” performed by worthy
citizens. There was a disciplinary reason for making men eat in a separate
building from that in which they slept. Explains Xenophon: “to get home they
have to walk, taking care not to trip and fall under the influence of wine,
and aware that it is impossible to remain where they have been dining…in
fact men still liable to military service are not even allowed a torch.
But even safe in his bed, there was no such thing as private life.’
Reference

Question: After the Messenean war, did the messenians keep their own
independent dress code

Answer: Probably. That was standard practice for slaves. But they may
also have been forced to work naked. They would have been easier to control
then. There is the quote of Myron of Priena, a historian of the third century B.C., who writes: “The Helots are made to perform the most ignominious and degrading tasks. They are forced to wear a dogskin cap and to dress in animal hides; each year they receive a certain number of blows, without having committed any infraction, in order to remind them that they are slaves; worse yet, if there are any who exceed in strength the measure appropriate to slaves, they are punished by death, and their masters receive a fine for not having impeded their development.”

Question: What foods did the Spartans eat?

Answer: The same foods as the other Greeks prepared more moderately, and
in less quantity.

Question: how do you become an ephor

Answer: An ephor is an elected official.

Question: what is the role of government in the live of individuals in
sparta

Answer: Little was left to the individual in Sparta.

Question: In what ways was Sparta better then Athens and vice versa?

Answer: Sparta produced better soldiers and a more stable government.
Athens produced better Artists and scholars. Sparta ultimately bested
Athens in the political realm and then succumed quickly to others. Athens
remained the most important center of learning in the world for over 1000
years.

Question: when did the spartans start school

Answer: 6or7.

Question: What was the Housing Like?

Answer: Houses consisted of a series of rooms abound a courtyard. Main
entry was through the wall of the courtyard. The walls were made of stone and
often plastered. Windows were small and shutered or perhaps curtained.
Wood was used for rafters, doors, stairs, and floors on the upper stories.
Roofs were tiled. Around the courtyard was a porch. Houses had no sanitary
facilities. Usually waste was carried to the fields for fertilizer, but it
often was dumped by the front door until a quantity was gathered. Usually many
persons slept in one room.

Question: What were the major religions

Answer: There were no religions in ancient Greece, including Sparta.
Religion requires belief in a divine or super-human power or powers to be
worshiped and obeyed as the creator(s) and ruler(s) of the universe. Though
the ancient Greeks believed that the gods and goddesses ruled the universe,
they believed the universe created the gods and goddesses and not the other
way around. They did not believed the gods had to be obeyed, even though they
believed the gods could punish. And they did not believe that the divinities
had to be worshipped. Rather, they felt that you could go to the gods if you
had a need. Further, there was no system of ethics or philosophy which
directed the behavior of the Greeks. Rather the Greeks were very intersted
in the nature of ethics and they loved to consider various aspects of this
subject. Their ethics were very dynamic and insightful.

Question: What does a spartan war shield look like?

Answer: The Spartan shield was decorated with a large lambda. Here is a
good guess:
Spartans with shield

Question: what is the agoge

Answer: ἀγωγή in Attic Greek, or ἀγωγά, agōgá in Doric Greek. After the age of seven the boy is to live in “herds”. This system was called agoge. The agoge was set up to weaken family ties and to strengthen identity.

Question: Why were Spartan women’s roles in society different then Athenian
women?

Answer: They were not that different. But Lysurgus, the Spartan lawgiver,
seems to have had a little more insight than his Athenian counterparts.
“he ordered the maidens to exercise themselves with wrestling, running,
throwing, the quoit, and casting the dart, to the end that the fruit they
conceived might, in strong and healthy bodies, take firmer root and find
better growth, and withal that they, with this greater vigour, might be
the more able to undergo the pains of child-bearing. And to the end he might
take away their overgreat tenderness and fear of exposure to the air, and all
acquired womanishness, he ordered that the young women should go naked in the
processions, as well as the young men, and dance, too, in that condition, at
certain solemn feasts, singing certain songs, whilst the young men stood
around, seeing and hearing them. On these occasions they now and then made,
by jests, a befitting reflection upon those who had misbehaved themselves in
the wars; and again sang encomiums upon those who had done any gallant action,
and by these means inspired the younger sort with an emulation of their
glory.” Lycurgus By Plutarch

Question: What was the significance of Lycourgos to Sparta?

Answer: Lycurgus was recognized as the lawgiver of Sparta.

Question: name the most important monuments on Spartas Acropolis

Answer: First a quote: “If Lacedaimon were ever laid waste and there remained only the foundations of the temples and the public buildings, those born into a world of the far future would find it difficult to believe that the power of Sparta had deserved its reputation.” Thucydides 5th century B.C. Most of the remains on the Spartan Acropolis today are from the Roman Period:

• The temple of Athena is probably archaic.
• The theater is probably Roman
• The Cyclical building was repaired in Roman times.
• The Stoa — late archaic and early classical. This may be part of the Agora.

Question: is there any relation between sparta and any modern day products

Answer: Ancient Spartans were known for many good qualities that can be
associated with modern products by using the Spartan name. Actually the
Spartan name is fairly popular as a product name today.

Question: how did the spartan warriors dress?

Answer: All greek warriors dressed the same:

• Helmet
• Tunic (more properly ‘chiton’)
• Cuirass or chest protector
• Apron of leather or metal plates
• Greaves or shin protectors
• sandals
• Shield

On the shield of the Spartans was a large lambda for lacedaemon

Question: You said in the answer to one of your questions that Sparta didn’t
have a central figure in their government. Then you said that Sparta’s army
was lead by the king. How can that be?

Answer: Sparta had two kings, but the authority of both was subject to a
council of special citizens. It was easy for a king to become general of the army but no Spartan Keng ever became a Tyrant.

Question: what were the daily chores of women in sparta

Answer:

• dressing themseves and eating
• caring for their children
• issuing orders for the household slaves
• reviewing the troops
• reviewing the slave work on the family property.
• exercise

One has to wonder if they supervised the transfer of goods from the helots to the household. But it is possible that the perioiki did this.

Question: is it true that the spartians were raised stictly having homosexual
relations

Answer: No. It is important to realize that contemporary notions of homosexuality are not very applicable to ancient Greece. There can be no doubt that male to male erotic relations were formed but the question remains whether this involved a sexual preference. Aristotle states (Aristot. Pol. 2.1272a 22-24) that the Spartan lawgiver introduced male to male relations into Spartan culture so that women would not bear so many children. This implies that homosexual relations were encouraged but it does not indicate that heterosexual relations were eliminated, nor does it state which are preferred. The quote from Aristotle may support the idea that pederasty was a common practice among the Spartans. There even are images that suggest that older men formed sexual relations with younger men and boys. man embracing boy But there are many more pictures of men having sex with women. This may have been more of a problem in other Greek states. In Xenophon, Constitution of the Lacedaimonians he suggests that sesual relations between men and boy is discouraged: Xen. Const. Lac. 2.12:/p>

“I think I ought to say something also about intimacy with boys, since this matter also has a bearing on education. In other Greek states, for instance among the Boeotians, man and boy live together, like married people;1 elsewhere, among the Eleians, for example, consent is won by means of favours. Some, on the other hand, entirely forbid suitors to talk with boys.

The customs instituted by Lycurgus were opposed to all of these. If someone, being himself an honest man, admired a boy’s soul and tried to make of him an ideal friend without reproach and to associate with him, he approved, and believed in the excellence of this kind of training. But if it was clear that the attraction lay in the boy’s outward beauty, he banned the connexion as an abomination; and thus he caused lovers to abstain from boys no less than parents abstain from sexual intercourse with their children and brothers and sisters with each other.”

Question: Did spartan rule contribute to the fall or Ancient Greece?
in what ways?

Answer: It was not the Spartan rule that caused the government of
Greece to fail; it was their lack of rule. How they ruled themselves
was good, but the rule that they tried to apply to their conquered
peoples was too severe. In the end there were simply not enough
Spartans to rule all the slaves that they gathered. They needed to
treat more people as equals and and fewer as slaves.

Question: what were some of the weapons and armor the spartans used and what were
the advantages and disadvantages of them.

Answer: Spartans used the same hand weapons that had been used since the bronze age,
except that they were now made of steel. This included sword, spear, bow and arrow, and
sling. Armour included helmet, shield, apron, and greaves. Their innovation was that they
closed their ranks and made the chariot attack ineffective. Their discipline made this
tactic work. On possibile exception to this is that Spata may have had an advantage in terms of metalurgy. The Spartans rejected bronze coins in favor of utensils made of iron or steel. It is also possible that they brought the metalurgy of steel from Tegea as cryptically described by Herodotus in Hdt. 1.68

Question: How did Spartan Warriors earn a living? What class is a spartan warrior usually in? high, medium or low?

Answer: When the Spartans conquered Messina this territory was divided up and a similar portion was given to each Spartan Warrior (citizen). The Spartan Territory was divided in a similar way. Each warrior was financed by the produce of this land. The Spartan Warrior citizen was a high class. Within this class there were divisions. The Kings were highest and members of the assemblies were higher. The young soldier was the lowest. Remember that the Spartan army included members of the non-citizen classes. In general there were three classes. The highest were the citizens. Next were the perioci, the merchants and tradesmen. and finally there were the helots who were bound to the land in a form of slavery.

Question: what does a typical day in a spartan warriors life look like?

Answer: All Spartan Warriors ate in a community mess hall probably twice a day. The younger soldiers also slept in a community barracks probably near the mess hall. Since the warriors acted like secret police some had night time duty. These patrolled the streets and, in some cases harassed the helots. Some warriors had similar daytime duty. Others drilled and practiced war games. Others went out on maneuvers. The vast majority of their soties were only a day long and they would be back at their mess hall at night for comraderie and story telling. Only rarely would they be gone long enough for a camp out. Festivals were numerous enough that they had frequent breaks for this routine. During the festivals many would have different roles including sports and processions. They could also visit family at this time.

But remember that the Spartan warriors were not the only warriors. For situations like the Persian Wars even the Perioci and Helots would be called upon to fight. In that case some time had to be spent drilling the other classes and preparing them for war.

Question: How did the spartan military compare to the Roman army? What were the pros and cons of the spartan military?

Answer: The Romans proved they were much more capable of ruling a large empire than the Spartans. This is because of their emphasis on communication and strategy. They also supported their army with engineering that built weapons, roads, and water supplies. Like the Spartans the Romans trained their soldiers but the Spartans depended upon the skill and spirit of the soldiers more than the Romans. Furthermore, though the government of Sparta worked very well for the Spartans they were not capable of exporting it. Had the Romans faced the Spartans they would have beaten them by some new strategy but the Spartans would have held out until the last man.

The Spartan military depended upon hoplite soldiers in an orderly array who defended each other. Because the integration of the military and the governnent the soldiers were professionals who spent all their time training and fighting. Later strategies of interlocked shields and connected spears proved their undoing. The Romans built on these methods and added field artillery and other strategies to the military. Roman soldiers also were professionals but were not supposed to be integrated into the government. In fact Rome was weakened when the military interfered with the government.

The Romans greatly admired the Spartan discipline and Sparta was a common toourist destination for the Romans. As a Result Sparta flourished during the Roman Period.

Statement: Your information about the Spartans is very very wrong.

Reply: How nice of you to review to review my material. But I will not retract a word without reference to original sources. I review original sources constantly and I have found nothing to contradict what I have said. If you point out specific statements that I made I wll check them out. But without your presentation of individual reference citations it is likely nothing will change.

Question: Where could I find your original sources?

Answer: You need to focus on individual statements. Each one must be dealt with separately. But I did find some material on Sparta in Aristotle. I give you the citations below. I will be including this material in my article shortly. This material does support my statements in general. If you find other material I can rewrite the article based on what you find. One problem is that the field of Greek archaeology is very dynamic and changes constantly. It is hard to keep up. Notice that I include a bibliography which lists one book just on Sparta:

Barrow, Robin, Sparta, George Allen & Unwin, London, 1975, ISBN 0-04-930002-4

From Aristotle:

• Aristotle Politics 1337a line 30 (Book 8 part 1)
  In this particular as in some others the Lacedaemonians are to be praised, for they take the greatest pains about their children, and make education the business of the state.
• Aristotle Politics 1338b line 8 (Book 8 part 4)
  “Of those states which in our own day seem to take the greatest care of
  children, some aim at producing in them an athletic habit, but they only
  injure their forms and stunt their growth. Although the Lacedaemonians have
  not fallen into this mistake, yet they brutalize their children by laborious
  exercises which they think will make them courageous. But in truth, as we have
  often repeated, education should not be exclusively, or principally, directed
  to this end. And even if we suppose the Lacedaemonians to be right in their
  end, they do not attain it. For among barbarians and among animals courage is
  found associated, not with the greatest ferocity, but with a gentle and lion
  like temper. There are many races who are ready enough to kill and eat men,
  such as the Achaeans and Heniochi, who both live about the Black Sea; and
  there are other mainland tribes, as bad or worse, who all live by plunder, but
  have no courage. It is notorious that the Lacedaemonians themselves, while
  they alone were assiduous in their laborious drill, were superior to others,
  but now they are beaten both in war and gymnastic exercises. For their ancient
  superiority did not depend on their mode of training their youth, but only on
  the circumstance that they trained them when their only rivals did not. Hence
  we may infer that what is noble, not what is brutal, should have the first
  place; no wolf or other wild animal will face a really noble danger; such
  dangers are for the brave man. And parents who devote their children to
  gymnastics while they neglect their necessary education, in reality vulgarize
  them; for they make them useful to the art of statesmanship in one quality
  only, and even in this the argument proves them to be inferior to others. We
  should judge the Lacedaemonians not from what they have been, but from what
  they are; for now they have rivals who compete with their education; formerly
  they had none.”
• Aristotle Politics 1339b line 1 (Book 8 part 5)
  “Why cannot we attain true pleasure and form a correct judgment from hearing
  others, like the Lacedaemonians?- for they, without learning music,
  nevertheless can correctly judge, as they say, of good and bad melodies.”

Question:Could you give me your sources for your below statements and answers? My writings are in Italic.

• Under Life in Ancient Sparta:
  • In the afternoon they saw to the business of their affairs including shopping… The slaves did the shopping, money never touched the Spartans hands.
  • The Spartan women were community property…
• Under Women of Sparta:
  • They received a strenuous physical education consisting of running, throwing the quoit… The quoit is used in Britain, this came from the Greeks and Romans. There it is called a discus.
  • They also participated in solemn feasts and dances where they performed naked for the young men, but in a modest manner. I’ve never heard this before.
  • What you have from Kitto, does he have sources for his work?
  • In Sparta women were more the property of the community and they formed liaisons with men as they chose.
  • In spite of the fact that they had no polital or legal rights, no public education, and were totally bound to their husband and home, life was pretty good and they had opportunities beyond women in any other culture until modern times. Is this talking about Greek women in general or just Spartan women? I have read that Spartan women were allowed to engage in political conversations.
  • I was wondering why you didn’t talk about the Ephors in the Economy of Sparta section and about the position held by the Spartiate?
  • At that time the Olympics included no team sports but the Spartans participated in team sports. I was wondering what team sports the Spartans played?
• Under Questions and Answers:
  • Question: what is the diffeence between sparat and athens culture?
  • Answer: Sparta was more isolated and dependent on agriculture while Athens was more cosmopolitan and dependent on manufacture and trade. Various art in Athens flourished while Spartans felt the arts were too different and unecessary. (The Spartan men were taught art and music but it was military based.)
  • Question: What was the most important role of women in Sparta besides having children and being physically fit?
  • Answer: In Sparta women could own property and eventually the downfall of Sparta would be blamed on the fact that too many women owned too much property. Note that the men are not blamed for being over zealous which resulted in too many of their deaths. Could you tell me where it says the Spartan women were blamed for the downfall of Sparta?

Answer: As to quotes from Kitto, He mentions the poetry of the Spartan poets Tyrtaeus and Alcman as sources. He mentions Lycurgus, who wrote the laws of Sparta, but while they are referenced in ancient times it is not clear whether any writing has survived. Xenephon did write about Lycurgus. Kitto mentions Plutarch who wrote a book “On Sparta”. Kitto does write that the girls were given physical training and that their nudity shocked the other Greeks. See also Xenophon, Constitution of the Lacedaimonians

Plutarch did not write a book on Sparta but instead wrote biographies of three Spartans: Lycurgus, Agesilaus, and Agesilaus. There is a lot of material here but it needs to be reviewed to see which ideas about Sparta he inspired. Xenephon wrote a short treatise on the Constitution of Sparta, a biography of Agesilaus, and a work called Hellenica. These and other works would need to be reviewed for references to Sparta. The website reference lists the following sources for information about Sparta: Tyrtaeus of Sparta, Simonides of Creos, The Oracle at Delphi (Inscriptions), Terpander of Anissa, Alcaeus of Mytilene, Pindar of Thebes, Ibycus of Samos, Alcman of Sparta, Aristophanes

I have located a source for Question #4. Paul Cartledge discusses this in his book “The Spartans”. On page 54 he indicates it is strongly implied by Aristophanes in his comedy “Lysistrata”. Apparently the reference to this line(82?): “Lampito — Yes, indeed, I really think I could. Its because I do gymnastics and practice the bottom-kicking dance.” The word ‘gymnnastics’ does this. Gymnastics by the ancient Greeks was done in the nude. The assumption is that if it was not done in the nude then it was not gymnastics. Then there is the question of what they wore if they where not nude and did gymnastics. There is no indication of any other suitable attire. Roman images show girls in bikini-like garments but nothing like this in Greek imagery.

Young women have always danced for young men to excite them. The question is whether the state used this fact of beauty in any formal way. Plutarch suggests that nude dancing by women was used to excite young men to do their military duty in Sparta. I am writing a page about Alcmena. She would not allow her husband to have sex with her until he avenged her brothers. She was beautiful and clearly she used that beauty to motivate her husband to action. In the book “The Goddess and the Warrior: The Naked Goddess and Mistress of the Animals in Early Greek Religion” by Nanno Marinatos she discusses temples that seemed to be used for male initiations that included images of nude women.

Comment: I found this to be helpful:

Lykourgos (Lukourgos) is an interesting figure and opens up many areas of debate. His very existence, of course, is disputed. He may be an entirely mythic figure, possibly an aspect of Apollo, who has a variety of “wolfish” by-names. Arguing in favor of this interpretation is the fact that Lykourgos was granted divine honors in Sparta. That is to say, he was regarded as a god, not merely a hero.

If he was, in fact, a real person, he may or may not have been wholly responsible for the Spartan rhetrai. He could have built the law from his own concepts, reformed existing concepts as Solon did in Athens, or simply codified extant social structures. If real, he would probably date to the seventh century BC and the period around the Second Messenian War, though he could also be earlier and the changes that came about in the seventh century were later attributed to a lawgiver from a much earlier time.

It is almost impossible to say anything definitive. Paul notes three different stories regarding the source of his laws. When Plutarch sought to write his biography of Lykourgos he complained that so many sources were contradictory. Ultimately, he cited 50 different authors, most of whom disagreed. Fortunately for him, he was looking to make a moral point and a comparison to Numa, so he could pick and choose.

On the whole, I am inclined to accept that he was a real person, largely because the Spartans themselves thought so. It is very rare that a god is downgraded to human status, particularly while still receiving sacrifice and worship. Humans being elevated to divine status is far more common.

The source of his laws is also interesting. Herodotos actually cites both the story that he got them from the oracle at Delphi and that they came from Crete. Certainly it would not be ought of the question for a city to ask Delphi for a legal code; others did at various points. But the oracle usually told them to ask a certain person or to look to a certain polis for guidance. Herodotos says that the Lakedaimonians believed that the laws came from Crete. Perhaps both stories are correct and the oracle told Lykourgos to get the laws from Crete. As for Xenophon saying that Lykourgos made the laws up himself, I suppose Paul is actually referring to Pseudo-Xenophon who wrote a Constitution of the Spartans. Xenophon himself would have known whatever theory was current in Lakonia and I see no reason to assume that either Herodotos was misinformed or that the Lakonian view changed in less than a century.

It is the Cretan connection I find most fascinating. There seems to have been a long-standing connection between Sparta and Crete going back to the Bronze Age in both history and myth. Menelaos was said to have been descended from King Katreus of Crete and in one tradition he was at his grandfather’s funeral on Crete when Paris abducted Helen. Other legends closely associate Sparta with Thera, sometimes as a colony or re-colonization. While still being debated, there are strong indications that there was a Minoan presence in Lakonia during the Helladic era. The Cretans have been conclusively proven to have had a presence on Kythera. In the Middle Helladic Cretan style tombs appear in both Messenia and Lakonia, while the Menelaion in Sparta shows similarities to Cretan, rather than Mycenaean, construction styles. Also in the Middle Helladic, pottery in the southern Peloponnese became increasingly Minoan in style and form. In the Archaic period, we are told by Pausanias that during the reign of Alkamenes (roughly the end of the eight century BC) that Kharmidas the son of Euthys was sent by Sparta to Crete in order to quell a number of civil wars and get the locals to abandon inland and indefensible towns and gather together on the coast. And of course the two things that are most often pointed to in the comparison of Sparta and Crete is the custom of the syssitia and the fact that BA Sparta had no walls, unlike the Mycenaean cities but like the Minoan cities of Crete.

Now, most of that preceding paragraph has more topics for discussion in other threads, but there does seem to have been a Sparta-Crete connection and there may be good reason to look to Crete as one source for Sparta’s unique legal system.

Response: This is interesting material that you present and I can ad a number of comments. Demoting deities to mortals is more common than you suspect. Helen and Heracles are both in this category. It is no big deal though when you consider that deities often develop from mortals who have been exceptional in some way. And though everyone considers Clytemnestra as mortal her place as a character in so many Greek plays gives her almost the same mortality as a deity. The classical Greeks were writing about people almost 1000 years before them so it is no wonder these things got confused.

The Cretan connection is quite interesting. We know the Minoans contributed to the Greeks but their culture was forgotten. The Greeks claimed influence by the Dorians but their culture is non-existent. As a result of my studey of Homer’s catalogue of women it occurred to me that there was more Cretan influence in these women than is obvious. So I wondered how we could get at this. Classical Greece is the melding of several cultures including Indo-European and Mediterranean. Linguist studes of the Indo-European language has allowed us to reconstruct different aspects of that culture including its religion. I wonder if you subtract the Indo-European culture from the Classical Greek could the result be Minoan. Though the language is unknown there are images to re-inforce the result. I wonder if this will be productive? This may be helpful in analysing governmental structure as well.

Question: What where the cultural activites in ancient sparta?

Answer: Spartan cultural activies focused on festivals as they did in other parts of Greece. The festivals included:

• Carnea (Κάρνεια) — festival in honour of Apollo that included musical performances. The festival celebrated the Dorian settlement of the region. There were encampments with banquets and rafts which represented the early settlement.
• Hyacinthia (Ὑακίνθιά) — This was an early summer harvest festival in honour of Apollo and Hyancinthus, a youth accidently killed by Apollo with a discus throw. Oaths were taken at this time. The festival seemed to celebrate the drying out of vegetation in the summer. On the second day there were choral presentations, music, and dancing.
• Gymnopaedia (Ίυμνοπαιδαι ) — Just after midsummer nude boys and men formed choruses that danced and sang in honour of Apollo.

The festivals of Apollo were focused on Amyclae and males would be more likely to be invloved with the god Apollo.

Women formed choruses as well. Alcman, a Spartan poet, wrote poems for both male and female choruses. This type of activity and others including dancing and gymnastics were common for men and women at other times as well. There were festivals for both men and women. During the Classical age the Spartans looked to previous generations for their material. There was little emphasis on the creation of new material. At Sparta there were worship sites for Athena and Artemis and worship for these goddesses. One would expect festivals for goddesses to involve women rather than men.

Spartans were quite involved in athletic activities which were incorporated into many festivals.

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