Spartan mothers were known to tell their sons as they sent them to battle: "Come back with your shield-or on it."
When Gorgo, the wife of Leonidas accompanied her husband on a diplomatic mission to Athens, the Athenian matrons noticed that she counseled her husband and he listened to her. One asked her "Why is it that Spartan women are the only women in Greece who control their men." She replied "Because Spartan women are the only women in Greece who bear men."
But my favorite Sparta story was the one about the Greek from another polity who was visiting Sparta and was invited to dine at one of the Syssitia. He asked to sample some of the famous Spartan black broth, a staple of the Spartan diet. He took a spoonful and remarked: "Now I understand why Spartan men are so eager to die on the battlefield!"
If you want a more nuanced account of Spartan life, I strongly recommend reading Helena Schrader's outstanding trilogy: Leonidas, Boy of the Agoge, Leonidas a Peerless Peer, and Leonidas, An Heroic King.
When I visited my grandmother’s ancestral village nearby Tripoli (in central Peloponnese), I noticed the women there today also seemed to do all the work, men being mostly absent. Except I don’t think its military campaigns. I noticed a whole lot playing backgammon at the cafe tho. 😂
Funny enough my Peloponnesian Yia Yia married a man from Thebes, when she was about 20 and he was about 30…
Spartan mothers were known to tell their sons as they sent them to battle: "Come back with your shield-or on it."
When Gorgo, the wife of Leonidas accompanied her husband on a diplomatic mission to Athens, the Athenian matrons noticed that she counseled her husband and he listened to her. One asked her "Why is it that Spartan women are the only women in Greece who control their men." She replied "Because Spartan women are the only women in Greece who bear men."
But my favorite Sparta story was the one about the Greek from another polity who was visiting Sparta and was invited to dine at one of the Syssitia. He asked to sample some of the famous Spartan black broth, a staple of the Spartan diet. He took a spoonful and remarked: "Now I understand why Spartan men are so eager to die on the battlefield!"
If you want a more nuanced account of Spartan life, I strongly recommend reading Helena Schrader's outstanding trilogy: Leonidas, Boy of the Agoge, Leonidas a Peerless Peer, and Leonidas, An Heroic King.
Phenomenal civilization. Best ancients ever.
Oix stein agelein Lakadaimonious . Hoti seea kamethan tois kemu rhemasi Pethominoi !
A really interesting piece. I had no idea about Spartan women. (Granted, my “knowledge” of Sparta begins and ends with the movie and comic 300.)
Mine too.
When I visited my grandmother’s ancestral village nearby Tripoli (in central Peloponnese), I noticed the women there today also seemed to do all the work, men being mostly absent. Except I don’t think its military campaigns. I noticed a whole lot playing backgammon at the cafe tho. 😂
Funny enough my Peloponnesian Yia Yia married a man from Thebes, when she was about 20 and he was about 30…