Myth, text, and history at Sparta / edited by Thomas Figueira.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Figueira, Thomas J., editor.

Series:

Gorgias studies in classical and late antiquity ; 18.

Gorgias studies in classical and late antiquity ; 18

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ideology.

History.

Collective memory.

Memory--Social aspects.

Memory.

Memory--Political aspects.

Myth.

Social aspects.

Myth--Political aspects.

Sparta (Extinct city)--History--Sources.

Sparta (Extinct city).

Sparta (Extinct city)--Historiography.

Sparta (Extinct city)--Politics and government.

Sparta (Extinct city)--Social policy.

Myth--Political aspects--Greece--Sparta (Extinct city)--History.

Myth--Social aspects--Greece--Sparta (Extinct city)--History.

Memory--Political aspects--Greece--Sparta (Extinct city)--History.

Memory--Social aspects--Greece--Sparta (Extinct city)--History.

Collective memory--Greece--Sparta (Extinct city)--History.

Ideology--Greece--Sparta (Extinct city)--History.

Greece--Sparta (Extinct city).

Physical Description:

viii, 343 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Piscataway, NJ : Gorgias Press LLC, 2016.

Summary:

"Myth, Text, and History at Sparta unites three studies that offer close readings concerning the interaction of the source material on Spartan history with the unfolding of actual historical events. These contributions take the position that not only political, but also social, policies at Sparta, as well as the historical actors giving them shape, were intensely--and to an unusual degree--influenced by myth, tradition, and popular memory about the Laconian past. Sparta drew strength from its professed adherence to the legacy of the Dorian conquest and to the legislative program of Lykourgos. And, objectively, Sparta represented the most tightly articulated instance of an archaic Greek sociopolitical order. However, past and present at Sparta co-evolved. The reader will find in the studies brought together in this volume that ideology, recollection, and wish-fulfillment stood in dynamic tension not only with practical decision-making, but also with the enthralling, centuries-long quest by individual Spartans for authority, legitimacy, and authenticity"--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction / Thomas Figueira

Politeia and Lakonika in Spartan historiography / Thomas Figueira

The Lysandreia / Aaron J. Beck-Schachter

Getting carried away with Theseus : the evolution and partisan use of the Athenian abduction of Spartan Helen / Aaron Hershkowitz.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781463205959

1463205953

OCLC:

949760265

Publisher Number:

40026414621