Sparta: Greece’s Superpower

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Typical Spartan warrior.

When one hears the word Sparta, images of elite soldiers fighting the forces of Persia usually come to mind. However, few know of the home life of Sparta or how they became the ancient military powerhouse they’re remembered as today. 

Spartan militarism began with the invasion of Messenia in the 8th century BC. After conquering Messenia, Sparta enslaved the inhabitants and gave its own citizens use of Messenian lands. The slaves were treated poorly by their Spartan captors, a situation which boiled over and eventually resulted in a mass slave revolt. The Spartans quelled this rebellion, but to prevent such an uprising from happening again Sparta became much more militaristic in order to keep the Messenians in subjugation. Moving forward, this is why Sparta would have such an intent focus on military strength. 

At age seven, Spartan males left home for 13 years of military training. The boys were given one cloak, no shoes, and just enough food to keep them alive. The winters were cold and the food was barely enough to live off of, so they had to steal or forage extra to survive. However, if they were caught stealing, they would be harshly punished. 

After this arduous training at age 20, these soldiers entered into the citizen army and were allowed to marry. At age 30, they became citizens but despite this achievement still had to eat at public mess halls. This helped to enforce the idea that the State and Sparta were more important than one’s own family. Even though the quality of each individual soldier was far superior to that of Athens or the other Greek city states, the Spartans did have two significant challenges. Firstly, Sparta did not have a strong navy to rival the Athenian navy. Secondly, fears of slave revolts forced Sparta to keep a significant amount of troops in the homeland. These disadvantages would become evident in the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars. Nevertheless, on land Sparta’s military was unmatched. 

While Sparta’s military prowess is often discussed, life in Sparta is relatively unknown by most people. Even though certain aspects of their history, such as their treatment of the Messenians, were abhorrent, we still must learn what led up to them being the Greek superpower they would eventually become. 

Hesiod’s Theogony

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Pin on Fashion History: Ancient Greece
Sculpture of the Greek god Zeus.

Poetry and plays provide insight into the lives of the ancient Greeks. Their religion was ritual-based, each city-state had its own separate rituals, and citizenship was open only by participating in these customs. Performing as part of the annual festival of the god Dionysus, plays and poems helped unite the society. 

One of these poems was Hesiod’s “Theogony” which was written around 750 BC. In “Theogony,” Hesiod discusses the origins of the Mount Olympus’ gods who are not the same as the local gods, city gods, or gods of the underworld. Although it is the most well-known poem about the story of the gods, it’s not the only one. 

The whole opening section of the poem is a description of gods called “muses”: the daughters of Zeus. He is the supreme god but not omnipotent and he worries about being overthrown. 

Hesiod was a pious man, telling readers to respect the gods and even claiming that the gods told him in a vision to write the poem. However, he highlights multiple times in “Theogony” that they do many immoral and vile things such as murder, deception, and vengeance. Hesiod even points out that since there are no ethical rules among the gods, peace is impossible. 

The story of creation is told in “Theogony” and goes like this: the god chaos was first, then chaos created earth and from chaos came night and day, then earth bore heaven. The gods use humans to get their will and create war and conflict on earth. Interestingly, at birth men are chosen to be either good or evil, and their fate is also decided at that time by the gods. Like in the Old Testament of the Bible, the five fundamental themes are shown in “Theogony.” Sanctions are displayed when men are punished during a feud between two gods. The sanctions include suffering death, blame, woe, and “ruthless avenging fates.” One of these fates is women, who were created to destroy men and are referred to as the “deadly race.” Hierarchy is shown through “Theogony” as well with there being a complex order amongst the gods, with Zeus being supreme. 

Aeschylus’s “Agamemnon”

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Agamemnon.

“Agamemnon” is the first of three plays that was performed in 458 BC. One of its characters, Tantalus, was an inhabitant of Tartarus, the deepest portion of the underworld where Odyesseus saw him. Tantalus was banished there because of his heinous crimes, such as sacrificing his son to a god and cannibalizing people.

Another figure from the play, Pelops, was venerated at Olympia, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the Olympic games. Pelops entered a chariot race against Oenomaus to try to get his daughter’s hand in marriage. With the help of the god Poseidon, Pelops defeated Oenomaus and his helper Myrtilus, with both dying in the race. Uttering his last breath, Myrtilus cursed Pelops’s family, causing three of Pelops’s sons to perish.

Agamemnon was Pelops’s grandson and the son of Atreus. Agamemnon had to placate the god Artemis, so he curried favor through human sacrifice. This angered the other gods, who placed negative sanctions on Agamemnon for his crime. 

Explaining the moral of the play, the author Aeschylus says that there is no security for the rich, and that profane people will ignore the god’s standards and be punished. The chorus warned Agamemnon and pronounced that a good man will discern his true character. Agamemnon then blamed everyone but Odyesseus for his trouble and bragged that he would destroy Troy. Agamemnon’s wife also tricked and tempted him, eventually killing him. 

The gods will be the end of the Greeks, Aeschylus stated, and that the god Apollo is a vengeful god and a seducer. The chorus proclaimed that wealth will only satisfy you temporarily and called on fate to bring Agamemnon’s son Orestes back. Even though they were sometimes influenced by each other, all of the gods were sovereign. The leader of the gods was Zeus, whose subordinates were Artemis and Apollo. Eventually fighting Troy, the Greek fleet was utterly destroyed in the battle. However, they also conquered Troy. As a result of their horrible crimes, the Greeks received negative sanctions from the gods.