This project will examine Spartan culture through the lenses of athletics and athleticism. It seeks to rectify the Spartan Mirage and present Sparta as a warrior society that also had an incredibly refined and complex culture. The primary goal of this project will be a thorough examination of how the thread of athletics was interwoven between many important aspects of Spartan life during the classical period.
This project will demonstrate that during the classical period Spartans shaped and, in turn, were shaped by their society to highly value athletics and the traits involved with athleticism within their culture. This project will not prove that the classical Spartans were the greatest athletes of their time, nor will it demonstrate that athletics were consciously in the forefront of every decision that the Spartans made.
This project will examine some technical aspects of athletic activities and the athleticism needed to perform, however the main focus will be on the cultural aspects of athletics and athleticism. To clarify the terms, athletics being the sports, competitions, or activities performed and athleticism being the qualities such as strength, speed, agility, as well as overall mental and physical fitness possessed by the athletes. Additionally, for athleticism, the qualities previously mentioned can be understood as important in the realms of both demonstrated performance as well as perceived ability.
While it would be impossible to discuss all of Sparta’s culture in one sentence, this project will divide it into five major categories: the personal lives of individual Spartans, warfare, representations in art, politics, and religion. The aforementioned categories will serve as chapters to guide the research and will highlight the importance of athletics and athleticism within that particular aspect of Spartan culture.
Additionally, other city-states, as well as Greek culture as a whole, will be examined alongside Spartan culture throughout each chapter to highlight similarities and differences. Most of the focus for this research project will be on literary sources instead of material sources. Material sources will be used more extensively in the ‘Representations in Art’ section of this project, but with the understanding that these are pieces of art and not identical reproductions of actual Spartans or Greek athletes. Ancient texts share a similar weakness as the information may also have some inaccuracies and biases, which will be addressed.