Quiz The Spartan Polis

When the warriors drawn from Sparta, fighting under king Menelaus, appear in the Homeric Iliad, the city already has a reputation for its strange method of training for constant military deployment. The Spartan state has always been "weird" in this sense, according to the earliest Greek texts.

False

According to the etiological myths of Greek settlement history, this legendary king of the asian city of Lydia tried to sacrifice his son, Pelops, to the gods, but the gods pieced Pelops back together and reanimated him. As punishment, the king was tied to a tree, condemned to spend the rest of his life thirsty but unsatisfied with his mouth just inches from a stream of water. The king was named ____________________?

Tantalus

According to the etiological myths of Greek settlement history, this son of Tantalus, king of Lydia, emigrated to and settled the southern most region of the Greek mainland, lending his name to the region where the famous cities of Mycenae, Argos, and Sparta would later be founded.

Pelops

In what region of the Greek mainland is Sparta located?

The Peloponnesus

The county or hinterland surrounding the 4 primary villages that made up the ancient city of Sparta was called _______________. (The Greek and Latin words for "Spartan" were derived from the name of this region.)

Laconia(Yes. Spartans were called "Lacadaemonians" or "Laconians," that is, "men from Laconia.")

When the envoy from the Persian empire arrived in Sparta to invite the city to submit to the distant and nominal oversight of the Persian King of Kings, the city was asked to do which of the following?

Merely render tokens of submission -- earth and water -- beyond this, no real submission or alteration of the Spartan way of life was expected.

The Spartan city state is engineered to defend which of the following principles in particular?

autonomia

Which of the following best defines the Spartan understanding of "autonomia"?

"Autonomia" literally means "self rule" and is one of the words which we might translate into English as "freedom." However, in the context of ancient Sparta, "autonomia" means the self-rule or freedom of the polis (the city), _NOT_ the freedom of the individual. Specifically, "autonomia" means the freedom of the city from tyranny and from outside rule.

The famous Spartan king and lawgiver who was reputed to have reformed the Spartan system following a violent helot uprising.

Lycurgus

Which three principles best express the essence of the "Great Rhetra," given to king Lycurgus by the oracle of Apollo at Delphi?

Extreme Austerity, Physical Perfection, Radical "Sameness"

Homoioi, a goal of the Spartan way of life, is best translated as: _______________________.

"the same ones"

The Spartan way of life, believed to originate in the reforms of Lycurgus, the legendary lawgiver, was called ______________, meaning simply "the way."

Agoge

Which of the following terms best describes the Spartan form of government?

a mixed system (republic)

(Yes. Spartan government was a mixture of monarchy (rule by king), aristocracy (rule by the best), and democracy (rule by the people). The Romans would later call this form of government a Republic.)

In Sparta the lives of individuals were so valued that the Spartan state even invaded neighboring cities rumored to have practiced infanticide in order to save unwanted children.

False (False. Sparta valued the the survival of the city over the survival of the individual so much that individual Spartan infants were inspected for any abnormalities. Only perfect children were permitted to live and be raised in the Spartan polis, so that they could grow up to become effective warriors and defenders of the state against all invaders.)

According to the Greek historian Plutarch, the Spartan way of life even encouraged "wife-swapping" so that the most vigorous and physically imposing men could always mate with the most fertile and physically perfect women, regardless of the marriage bond. Giving one's wife to another man was thus considered a patriotic duty, in defense of the polis.

True (Yes. This is actually true. Yet another example of Sparta preferring the freedom of the state _over_ the freedom, comfort, or happiness of the individual.)

In Sparta, which was more important: 1. the freedom of the individual Spartan (his happiness, his family life, protection of his property) or the 2. freedom the state (the protection of the city from tyranny or foreign invasion)?

the freedom of the state