Spartan Reflections

by Paul Cartledge

Overview

The complex and distinctive Spartan tradition has been a prominent theme in western thinking from antiquity to today. Sparta is also one of a handful of ancient Greek cities with enough existing evidence for historians to create a realistic social portrait. Over the past quarter-century Paul Cartledge has established himself as the leading international authority on ancient Sparta. Spartan Reflections is a superb collection of his essays—two are published here for the first time, and the rest, often difficult to locate, have been revised and updated for publication in book form. Giving us a real sense of what Sparta was like as a culture, these essays constitute a fascinating introduction to and overview of ancient Spartan history and its reception. This collection, unique in breadth and scope, will be an essential source for anyone interested in this idiosyncratic society.

Cartledge brings us up to date on what is known about the most important and intriguing aspects of Sparta: its military development, questions of gender and sexuality, and the difficult problem of artistic and literary aspects of Sparta. We learn about the institutions that distinguished Sparta from other city-states, including its religion, education process, degree of literacy, secret service, unusual system of servitude, and institutionalized pederasty. Throughout, Cartledge also makes important comparisons with Athens, helping us grasp what is really striking about Sparta.

Cartledge's writing is clear and engaging as he draws from myriad sources both ancient and modern, as well as from political and cultural theory. These essays, together with their magisterial bibliography, demonstrate his remarkable scholarly and intellectual range. Spartan Reflections will be an important source on the most significant issues in Sparta scholarship today as well as a fascinating look at this culture for general readers.

A Selection of the History Book Club

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520231238
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	08/01/2001
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.12(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Paul Cartledge is Professor of Greek History, University of Cambridge. He is the author of many books, including Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History 1300–362 B. C.(1979), Agesilaos and the Crisis of Sparta(1987), The Spartans: An Epic History(November 15, 2002), and (with A. Spawforth) Hellenistic and Roman Sparta: A Tale of Two Cities (1989).

Table of Contents

List of Plates
Preface
Acknowledgments

Part I: Sparta-Watching
1. 'Sparta-Watching': General Introduction

Part II: Polity, Politics and Political Thought
2. City and Chora in Sparta: Archaic to Hellenistic
3. The Peculiar Position of Sparta in the Development of the Greek City-State
4. Literacy in the Spartan Oligarchy
5. The Spartan Kingship: Doubly Odd?
6. Comparatively Equal: A Spartan Approach

Part III: Society, Economy and Warfare
7. A Spartan Education 
8. The Politics of Spartan Pederasty 
9. Spartan Wives: Liberation or Licence? 
10. Rebels and Sambos in Classical Greece: A Comparative View 
11. The Birth of the Hoplite: Sparta's Contribution to Early Greek Military Organization

Part IV: The Mirage Re-Viewed
12. The Mirage of Lykourgan Sparta: Some Brazen Reflections 
13. The Importance of Being Dorian: An Onomastic Gloss on the Hellenism of Oscar Wilde

Notes 
Bibliography 
Index Locorum 
General Index

Editorial Reviews

Generous with ideas, accurately unsolemn, thoroughly footnoted, Cartledge casts keen light on Athens's surly Other.

Times Literary Supplement