TOPIC: SPARTAN SOCIETY TO THE BATTLE OF Name:
LEUCTRA
Homework Task
Horses and hunting: How did the
Spartans spend their leisure?
Use the sources to answer the questions which follow. Refer to the sources and
background information to support your answers.
SOURCE 1: Painted detail from inside a
Dorian ceramic pot. From
http://www.larkin.net.au/ah_hsc/Sparta/images/
09_Sparta_hunting_01_lge.jpg
SOURCE 2: Xenophon, Spartan Society, 6.3-5.
Lycurgus made it possible for a man to
use someone else’s servants in case of
need, and established a similar system
of sharing hunting dogs; those who
need the dogs invite the owner to join
the hunt and if he has not the time
himself he lends the pack with
pleasure. They make a similar use of
horses. When someone is ill, needs a
horse, he takes it, uses it, uses it
carefully, and returns it. Another
custom concerns hunting parties which
are caught out late at night and need
SOURCE 3: K. Welch, ‘Spartan Society’ in J. food but have none prepared; they open
Lawless et. al., Societies from the Past, Nelson, sealed caches of food, according to
South Melbourne, 1998, p.188. Lycurgus’ rule, have left ready after
In addition to time spent keeping fit and healthy, a eating, take what they need food but
Spartan male could go hunting. According to have none prepared; they open sealed
Xenophon, if a Spartiate had no hunting dogs, he could caches of food which others who have
borrow them from a more prosperous neighbor, just as
food, according to Lycurgus’ rule, have
he could borrow his Helots or his weapons. Hunting
pictured on Spartan vases of the late 6th century left ready after eating, take what they
provides more evidence of how popular a pastime it need and reseal them. Because they
was. Important to note is the fact that in other Greek share in this way, even those who are
societies, hunting would be the sport only of the wealthy not well-off have some part in the
because of the time and the cost of equipment. resources of the country when they are
in need of something.
SOURCE 4: P. Cartledge, Sparta and Lakonia (2nd. ed.), Routledge, London & New York, 2002, p.149.
Dikaiarchos notes that exceptionally fish, a hare or a ring-dove might be eaten in the mess. The fish were presumably
sea-caught by Perioikoi and perhaps dried but the hare and the dove were prizes of a favourite Spartan pastime,
hunting. The chief prize, however, was the wild boar, to the capture of which the Spartans apparently devoted
considerable thought. The specially bred ‘Lakonian’ hound was valued as a scenter; horses, dogs and provisions
were made available on demand to all Spartans, though they were no doubt owned only by the rich; and a hunting
party was one of the only two legitimate excuses for being absent from the communal meal. The popularity of boar-
hunting with the Spartans is demonstrated by archaeology. Lakonian artists represented boars and sometimes
hunting scenes in vasepainting, terracotta, bronze and stone during the sixth century and later. A funeral mound of
c.600, … contained bones of wild boar. The chief hunting area near Sparta seems to have been the region of the
lower eastern slopes of central Taygetos known as Therai (Paus. 3.20.5). The area was no doubt more densely
wooded than it is today.
SOURCE 5: P. Cartledge, Sparta and Lakonia (2nd. ed.), Routledge, London & New York, 2002,
p.150.
… there are horses bred for racing. Being extremely expensive to maintain, horses were the prerogative of
the rich and often aristocratic few. Since they require extensive pasture and abundant water, conditions in
the ancient forerunners of the modern Helos plain and Pamisos valley appear to have been most suitable.
The Pseudo-Platonic Alkibiades suggests there was a remarkably large number of horses kept in Lakonia
and Messenia, and it is no surprise to meet a Messenian supplying horses to Alexandria in the third century
(Plut. Kleom. 35.3)
SOURCE 6: K. Welch, ‘Spartan Society’
in J. Lawless et. al., Societies from the Past, SOURCE 7: P. Cartledge, Sparta and Lakonia
Nelson, South Melbourne, 1998, p.188. (2nd. ed.), Routledge, London & New York, 2002,
p.135.
In many respects, even the average Spartan
could enjoy aspects of a life which would have Instead of conspicuous consumption in
been the preserve of the aristocrats or wealthy in food, clothes, personal possessions or
any other city. One clear manifestation of this is dedications to the gods, the Spartan
that the Spartans were horse-mad. Anyone who plutocrats from c.550 onwards displayed
had the resources went into chariot racing if he their riches with enormous success and
or she could. In the second part of the 5th rare gusto in that ‘most expensive, most
century, Sparta dominated the four-horse chariot aristocratic and most glory-bringing of all
event at Olympia. Children were named after events in the Greek games’ (Finley 1968a,
horses or had ‘horsey’ nicknames. Only at the 45), the four-horse chariot-race at
very end of Sparta’s greatness did what had Olympia. For victory here satisfied the
been a leisure interest affect the military claims both of personal prestige and of
structure when King Agesilaus introduced
cavalry into the Spartan army. Before this,
horses and horse riding were for pleasure only,
and a pastime which a great many Spartans
SOURCE 8: P. Cartledge, Sparta and Lakonia
could and did experience. (2nd. ed.), Routledge, London & New York, 2002,
p.199.
… the military reorganization of Spartan society was to be associated with the remarkable passion for
horseracing attested by the outstanding record of rich Spartans in the four-horse chariot race at Olympia
between c.550 and 370. The palm or rather wreath must go to Euagoras, who in the late sixth century
won at three successive Olympics with the same team of mares (Hdt. 6.103.4).
SOURCE 9: P. Cartledge, The Spartans. An Epic History, Pan Macmillan, London, 2020, p.259.
Scruton himself mentions the hunting of wild boar, to which Xenophon devotes a chapter of his treatise.
What he does not mention, despite some amateur attempts at a social anthropology of modern hunting, is
that the ancient Greek boar hunt – unlike the modern British foxhunt – was a manhood test in the most
literal sense, a very suitable test of the sort of andreia (manliness, virility) that would be required
paradigmatically of a Greek hoplite on a battlefield. Boarhunting was also in a symbolic sense both a rite
of passage, technically speaking, and – in all cities but Sparta – a mark of elite social distinction. Scruton
is keen - too keen – to stress what he sees as the demotic, cross-class quality of his foxhunting. But few
Greeks had the horses and equipment to ride off to the boarhunt, and those who did would use slaves –
another fact that Scruton disingenuously or innocently obscures – to act as beaters, netkeepers, grooms
and other indispensable support personnel. Only in Sparta, with its ample resources of Helots, and its
insistence on the value of hunting as a form of military training for all, would ordinary citizens also take
part in this highly dangerous ‘pastime’. But it is doubtful that Scruton would wish to single out Sparta as
his ancestral model hunting society.
SOURCE 10: Plutarch, On Sparta, Penguin, London, §21, p.33.
They were no less enthusiastic about training in lyric poetry and singing than they were about good style
and purity in speech. Moreover their songs offered stimulus to rouse the spirit and encouragement for
energetic, effective action, in style they were plain and unpretentious, while their subject matter was serious
and calculated to mould character.
SOURCE 11: K. Welch, ‘Spartan Society’ in J. SOURCE 12: K. Welch, ‘Spartan Society’
Lawless et. al., Societies from the Past, Nelson, South in J. Lawless et. al., Societies from the Past,
Melbourne, 1998, p.188. Nelson, South Melbourne, 1998, p.188.
Religious duties always involved a certain amount of
Women did not go hunting but
banqueting and although there were many they did not have to do much housework
prohibitions on getting drunk we have scenes on either. They participated in athletics at
Laconian vases of gatherings, dancing and sacrificial least until their marriage and after that
ritual. The Spartan poet Alcman provides 7 th century appear to have taken a visible part in the
stories of wine and banqueting. There is no real community (if not political) life. Certainly
reason to believe this practice stopped. The vases whenever any of the famous Spartan
which depict this kind of activity continued to be women we know about was asked an
made for some time into the 6th century. The evening opinion, it appears to have been offered in
mess meal must have often been a convivial affair public and very loudly. Women had their
with its own ritual and significance. Richer men were own religious activities which would also
again expected to share their wealth, as well as their have involved feasting and dances.
glory, with their fellow diners. Songs and stories Relationships between men and
accompanied the meal. women in Sparta do appear to be closer to
what we regard as ‘normal’ than in many
SOURCE 13: P. Cartledge, The Spartans. An other ancient situations. … Spartan poets
could speak of the beauty of Spartan girls.
Epic History, Pan Macmillan, London, 2020, p.259.
In a worn but fascinating portrayal,
In fact, music in general occupied an honoured place in believed to be Helen and Menelaus, the
Spartan culture and society. Among the early composers male and female figures are shown in a
and poets named by Plutarch, in his essay On Music, as tender embrace. Part of this freedom
having achieved fame outside their immediate locality, was came from the fact that a greater value
one Xenodamus of Perioecic Cythera. The finds from the generally was placed on Spartan women
sanctuary of Artemis Orthia include fragments of auloi made and their role in all community (as
out of animal bone, some aulos-players and players of the opposed to political) activity was more
kithara, a form of lyre. The conservative Spartans were
supposed to have been very strict with kithara players who
SOURCE 14: Ceramic painting showing a
played around with the canonical number of strings.
Spartan riding a horse. From Wikipedia, Black
Besides playing instruments, the Spartans were also
Figure Pottery.
particularly keen on choral singing; Pratinas of Elis
amusingly likened every Spartan to a cicada – always
seeking a chorus. Also, … Alcman of Sparta invented one
particular form of Greek choral singing, the partheneion, or
maiden-song.
The word choros in Greek originally meant dance,
so the Spartans were often to be found literally making a
song and dance. In fact, they were credited with a number
of peculiar local dances, including some that were frankly
obscene. When, in about 575 BC, an Athenian aristocrat
got a little too emotional during a contest for the hand of the
daughter of a Peloponnesian tyrant, he is said to have
lapsed into performing some Spartan dances on the table-
top, perhaps becoming the original table dancer. All such
performances were considered within the sphere of the
divine Muses, so formally they contradict the ancient myth-
image of Sparta according to which the practical Spartans
would have no truck with the higher arts. However, it is only
fair to end this digression by mentioning the handsome
bronze figurine of a trumpeter, dedicated to the state’s SOURCE 14: S. Pomeroy, Goddesses, Whores,
patron goddess Athena on the Spartan acropolis in about Wives and Slaves, Pimlico, London, 1975.
500 BC. He was clearly intended to represent a figure who,
in the real situation of hoplite warfare, after the aulos- Citizen women were occupied with
players had piped their men into battle, played a vital role in gymnastics, music, household
management and child rearing.
SOURCE 15: B. Hughes, Helen of Troy. Goddess, Princess, Whore. Johnathan Cape, London, 2005,
p.72.
Throughout the archaic and classical periods this (Amyklai) was the home to alfresco festivals
such as the Hyakinthia which was held in honour of Apollo and Hyakinthus. The textual references are
matted, but there is a strong possibility that Helen was worshipped here too in a festival called the
Heleneia. Families would take tents, picnics and plenty of wine to the sanctuary and eat, drink and dance
long into the night. Girls would drive here in kannathra from the town of Sparta: some of these gaudily
decorated carts were in the shape of fantastical creatures – griffins or goat-stags. The whoops and cries of
the drivers and the jingle of tack would be heard for miles about as the young Spartans raced each other in
Helen’s honour. The course ran through the outskirts of Sparta to Amyklai, or to ‘eis to Helenes’ – to
Helen’s sanctuary. The races were popular, the competition fierce. It is all a far cry from Athens, where
women were allowed to ride in chariots only to weddings and funerals.
SOURCE 16: Information on dancing SOURCE 17: Pausanias, A Guide to Greece. Volume 2:
as a form of leisure in Sparta. From Southern Greece, Penguin, London, 5.16.2-4.
www.mythsandchronicles.com
Every fourth year there is woven for Hera a robe by the
The ancient Spartans loved to dance, Sixteen women, and the same also hold games called
it was a good fit with their athletic Heraea. The games consist of foot-races for maidens.
These are not all of the same age. The first to run are
persuasions and also allowed them to
the youngest; after them come the next in age, and the
celebrate and show off their physical
last to run are the oldest of the maidens. They run in
skills. The Spartans would dance for the following way: their hair hangs down, a tunic
fun, to show their skills and to reaches to a little above the knee, and they bare the
highlight the beauty of the body, the right shoulder as far as the breast. These too have the
Spartans were not shy about showing Olympic stadium reserved for their games, but the
off their hard earned skills. The course of the stadium is shortened for them by about
Spartans would celebrate and dance one-sixth of its length. To the winning maidens they
at various festivals including the give crowns of olive and a portion of the cow sacrificed
to Hera. They may also dedicate statues with their
Gymnopaedia which was celebrated
names inscribed upon them. Those who administer to
yearly. the Sixteen are, like the presidents of the games,
married women.
SOURCE 18: Information on
athletics as a form of leisure in Sparta. SOURCE 19: Top section of the Spartan stele of
From www.mythsandchronicles.com Damonon showing horses hitched to a chariot.
In ancient Sparta, athletics
was a massive part of life.
Young and old, male or
female, athletics would be
something that everyone in
Sparta would be involved in.
It’s one of ancient Sparta’s
defining points that women
would partake in sports too,
which was not typical in the
ancient world. Not only was it
recommended it was actually
considered crucial, the
Spartans believed that a fit
woman was more healthy and
better prepared for childbirth,
and the Spartan women not
only got involved in athletics,
just like the Spartan men
they excelled at it.
Activities:
1. In Source 1 Spartan men are depicted:
(a) riding horses;
(b) fishing;
(c) hunting;
(d) dancing. (1 mark)
2. From Source 2, what was NOT be shared by Spartans when they hunted wildlife:
(a) hunting dogs;
(b) slaves;
(c) horses;
(d) clothing. (1 mark)
3. Source 3 indicates that the Spartans were different from Greeks in other states
because:
(a) only wealthy Spartiates could hunt;;
(b) all citizens, not just the wealthy could hunt;
(c) helots were permitted to hunt;
(d) hunting was unpopular in Sparta. (1 mark)
4. From Source 4 our main source of information on Spartan hunting comes from:
(a) painting on ceramics;
(b) descriptions by Pausanias;
(c) archaeological remains of boar and fish bones;
(d) poems by Tyrtaeus. (1 mark)
5. In Source 5 horses were bred for:
(a) family pets;
(b) farrowing land for crops;
(c) trading for gold;
(d) racing. (1 mark)
2. What evidence is there that the Spartans enjoyed hunting for leisure
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3. Which sources indicate that the Spartans enjoyed horse racing?
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4. Apart from hunting and horse racing, how did the Spartans spend their leisure time?
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(5 marks)
5. Horse racing and hunting are seen as very masculine leisure activities, yet the
Spartans also enjoyed music, dance and banqueting at meals hosted by friends and
these could be viewed as feminine leisure activities. What conclusions can you draw
about Spartan leisure? (10 marks)
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