Why Did Krypteia Exist

Spartans military was a hard core and well rounded out military in its time. Part of the reason why they were so successful is because of their rigorous training each boy had to go through. Why I said boy is because the Spartan military training would start at age 7 for a chosen boy. The boy gets chosen to live in spartan society at birth. If the Spartans did not believe that the boy would be rounded out for their society they would leave the boy to die. During the boys training hazing and fighting was encouraged to help improve strength among the boys. During spartan training each boy was mainly taught mathematics, music, and how to fight. Also during their training, they would learn how to steal but without getting caught. If they were caught they would not be punished for stealing but only for getting caught. This type of training continues until the boys would become men. Which is at the age of 20 for the Spartan's. At age 20 Spartan men would have to pass a series of demanding

Spartans were very strict and set high expectations for their men in war. Taken from their families at the young age of 7 to train, the boys were whipped and starved. Spartans also enslaved people, called helots. The innocent helots were killed without warning. Spartans were so

This distinctive reputation came about through many different ways. A defeat in battle in Tegea 7th C BC may have initiated their fixated focus on the army. Spartans are famous for the agoge; their ‘education system’. Nearly every healthy male child was selected after strict evaluation through the “ test” put in the wild. These young boys then endured years of systematic rigorous brutality and training until they became men, soldiers that were able to fight in the Spartan wars.

In the fifth century BCE, Sparta developed in the Eastern Mediterranean. Sparta was limited in size (population), but its military was famous for its toughness. Even with a small population of an army of about 8,000 men, they managed to defend Sparta from incoming attacks. Unfortunately, Spartan boys were forced to join and receive training from age 7. Like the battle of Thermopylae, Sparta was able to shield itself, but all the warriors died.

They were forced to sneak into helot territory with a dagger and a lot of food and secretly capture and kill some helots (Doc C). This was bad because their soldiers became murders. Then because they were forced to do that after the horrible earthquake the helots rebelled and threatened Sparta with considerable danger ( Doc C). That is a bad education system that could possibly end

There were many different aspects to the Spartan cultural life which ancient sources and evidence have provided insight and knowledge for our modern societies. These features include art, architecture, writing and literature, and Greek writer’s views of Sparta. The Spartan cultural life also gives us knowledge into other aspects of Spartan life and the society in which they lived.

College history students should read this novel because many of the concepts and ideals of the Spartan culture are presented and described. One of the author’s greatest strength in the novel is his ability to demonstrate the Spartan’s culture through the use of story. For example, readers can often gather from a traditional textbook that the Spartans were one of the greatest fighting forces of their time. This is brought out in the novel when Pressfield describes how “men passed beyond themselves… [and] feats of heart-stopping valor fell down from the sky like rain” (308). This is showing that the Spartans presented great courage, bravery and fearlessness in battle, which is often how they are

Athens and Sparta shared the same sources of income, agriculture and slave labor, but they managed them in different manners. The slaves in Sparta were called helots and since they had no rights, they were often treated as tools rather than as human beings. The helots belonged to the state not to their landlord, so they can be considered a part of the agricultural technology. Since Spartans major obligation in life was serving in the army, they left the management of their land to

“Life at Sparta in several ways resembled that of a military camp,” (Powell 2001, 219). Many laws that Lycurgus proposed revolved around the benefit of the Spartan military. These implementations set by Lycurgus do not give any benefit to the democratic changes occurring in society at the time.

The next stage in turning a Spartan male into a Spartiate soldier was for them to become enrolled as an eiren, or a prefect. Their job was to oversee the younger boys, as had been done for them. They were encouraged to use violence against the younger boys to toughen them up. The older boys were now expected to attempt to get into a syssition, however if they failed to get into the syssition they applied for they would lose their citizenship and become an outcast. The Spartans at this point were able to go to war and get married, however they were not allowed to leave the barracks.

Sparta was ruled by a king or at some point two kings. These two kings were from two separate families of royalty and neither of them had absolute power. The king or kings had to be consulted by the Ephors. The Ephors had a lot of power and authority in the Spartan government. They were a group of five elders, men over the age of 30 who would serve in this position for a year. They had the power to bring up charges against anyone in Sparta, including the king. Unlike Athens who was set on trying to establish a peaceful democratic atmosphere; Sparta was a lot more militaristic and strict. One of the Spartan government’s main priorities was the strength of the Spartan army. They believed that strength, endurance and numbers were a key part in a successful and powerful army. Therefore every Spartan boy at the age of seven would be taken away from their mothers and put into training for the next 13 years.

The spartans only accepted babies that were strong. If the baby was weak they would leave it to die one Mount Taygetus. They would begin at the age of seven for training. The selection of spartan warriors began before birth. They would send boys at the age of seven to military boarding school.

After an embarrassing defeat at the battle of Hysiai Sparta went through great military change, these changes dramatically changed all other areas of Spartan life, turning Sparta into a military focused state. This militaristic influence impacted greatly on Spartan education, essentially aiming to mass produce the perfect solider. The education and training of Spartan boys aged as young as 7 in the agoge became the crucial

The progressing city-state of Sparta was infamous for many things. Sparta was known for its powerful army, strict guidelines, and eccentric values. Due to these unique characteristics, residents of Sparta had to keep up to continue its legacy. Being a resident of Sparta meant taking numerous risks yet for reasonable causes. These risks were taken for the progression of the city state. Risks included krypteia mindlessly killing Helots to prevent them from rebelling. Despite this lack of respect for human life, Sparta had atoned for this by providing relevant teachings for women and lessons on survival. Sparta, being a city state with a small population , was primarily focused on winning battles. Thus they perpetrated many feats that were meant to benefit this major cause. Although there was a lack of respect for human life in Sparta, the strengths of a Spartan education are clearly greater than its weaknesses because of the education provided for women and teachings on survival.

In the excerpt “Forties” from the novel Reverence to Rape, Haskell examines the portrayal of women in the films from the forties. American screenwriters during this time portrayed female protagonists in a negative way. Women were displayed as severely evil and immoral beings. This was a great contrast to the sexually and morally free women in the films created in the thirties.