GretaGarbo
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Question. Is the death of a Spartan king then celebrated/mourned by a festival?
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- Thread starter GretaGarbo
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illin
Ill factor
celebrated
eg. Leonidas, etc...
eg. Leonidas, etc...
sugared plum
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ooh my sister just did an assignment on this ...
from "Religion in Public Life" Robert Parker (1989) in Sparta ed Michael Whitby.
p161
What most impressed other Greeks, though, was the semi-divinity that hedged Spartan kings. Herodotus looked to barbarian lands for parallels, and Xenophon spoke of the 'more than mortal honours' of a Spartan royal funeral. The funerals indeed reveal that the laws of Lycurgus 'honour the kings not as mortals but as heroes'. (fn- Herodotus 6.58.2, 59; Xenophon "Hellenica" 3.3.1; Xenophone "Lacedaimonion Politeia" 15.9) ...
p162
... royal funerals were surely among the most spectacular pageants that the Peloponnese ever saw. (fn- Herodotus 6.58, cf Tyrtaeus fr. 7 West, Xenophon "Hellenica" 3.3.1; Xenophone "Lacedaimonion Politeia" 15.9; Cartledge, "Agesilaos, 331-45 who cites modern sociological studies of the sumbolic significance of royal funerals) Fixed numbers of perioikoi and helots from all Laconia converged on Sparta to join a man and a woman from every Spartiate household; and, says Herodotus, 'when they are all assembled, many thousands of them with the women too, they beat their brows enthusiastically and lament without ceasing'. Subsequently all public business remained suspended for ten days. Nothing brings out the realities of hierarchy and power as well as a funeral. The royal corpse became a symbol of regal authority for the Spartiates, of Spartan authority for the subject classes; representatives of every class, including helots and perioikoi who perhaps never normally visited the capital, were summonded to Sparta to do it forced homage.
from "Religion in Public Life" Robert Parker (1989) in Sparta ed Michael Whitby.
p161
What most impressed other Greeks, though, was the semi-divinity that hedged Spartan kings. Herodotus looked to barbarian lands for parallels, and Xenophon spoke of the 'more than mortal honours' of a Spartan royal funeral. The funerals indeed reveal that the laws of Lycurgus 'honour the kings not as mortals but as heroes'. (fn- Herodotus 6.58.2, 59; Xenophon "Hellenica" 3.3.1; Xenophone "Lacedaimonion Politeia" 15.9) ...
p162
... royal funerals were surely among the most spectacular pageants that the Peloponnese ever saw. (fn- Herodotus 6.58, cf Tyrtaeus fr. 7 West, Xenophon "Hellenica" 3.3.1; Xenophone "Lacedaimonion Politeia" 15.9; Cartledge, "Agesilaos, 331-45 who cites modern sociological studies of the sumbolic significance of royal funerals) Fixed numbers of perioikoi and helots from all Laconia converged on Sparta to join a man and a woman from every Spartiate household; and, says Herodotus, 'when they are all assembled, many thousands of them with the women too, they beat their brows enthusiastically and lament without ceasing'. Subsequently all public business remained suspended for ten days. Nothing brings out the realities of hierarchy and power as well as a funeral. The royal corpse became a symbol of regal authority for the Spartiates, of Spartan authority for the subject classes; representatives of every class, including helots and perioikoi who perhaps never normally visited the capital, were summonded to Sparta to do it forced homage.
Last edited:
Spadge
New Member
Both, really.
If I recall correctly, they had a period of ritual mourning and then celbrations of the king's life and achievements.
If I recall correctly, they had a period of ritual mourning and then celbrations of the king's life and achievements.