The Spartan Mirage

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The Spartan Mirage

Episode 20 • 26th December 2023 • The Remedial Scholar • Levi Harrison

00;00;00;01 - 00;00;26;01

Levi

Piggybacking off our last episode where we looked into some of history's greatest military blunders, Today we're exploring some of the myths surrounding Spartan culture. That's right. You know, the shirtless Greek warriors trained from birth to grow into fearsome warriors with no fear of death. The cultural zeitgeist would have us believe that Spartans were part of a military base culture that churned out soldiers like the Borg from Star Trek, mindless units instructed to fight born out of a vat of discipline and rigidity.

00;00;26;02 - 00;01;05;29

Levi

But when it comes to the hyper curated depictions of these small gents, I think it's time to separate fact from fiction. Today, we're looking at some of the long standing myths about the Spartan culture. On another episode of the Remedial Scholar bad sanctioned headmistress, Mrs.. I feel I was denied a critical need to know in information. Information belongs to simply stop stuck in your remedial classes.

00;01;06;01 - 00;01;25;22

Levi

Welcome, everyone. I hope your holidays are fantastic so far if you still have any left and that the ones that you had were excellent. If you find yourself in a car driving long distances to find your way back home, hopefully this episode will make that drive a little shorter and you learn some fun things along the way. Before we get too far along, as you know, as always, I have a few housekeeping things to discuss.

00;01;25;25 - 00;01;49;02

Levi

First and foremost. Don't forget to share us wherever possible. Also, thank you for the continued ratings and reviews on all platforms. Lastly, if you enjoy the show, but would like me to discuss something different, something that you find particularly interesting from history, email me remedial scholar at gmail.com. Give me topic suggestions and all the links are going to be in the description wherever you're in taking this.

00;01;49;02 - 00;02;17;03

Levi

So check that it is links to the merch as well as social media pages and all those interesting things. So that's it. Quick, quick little thing. Let's get into the actual topic itself. Ancient Greece, the birthplace of democracy known for city states like Athens, Corinth, Thebes, where public debates raged in dedicated spaces called the Guerra's ancient pantheons of gods were worshiped in temples that dotted the fertile countryside and hillsides of the polis polis, meaning cities.

00;02;17;03 - 00;02;42;01

Levi

By the way, Greek civilization reached its zenith in the northeastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, composed of city states largely defined by geography. Smart Greek, Greek civilization was characterized by infighting and expansion, whereas city states such as Athens, synonymous with producing an array of philosophers and politicians, places like Sparta, best known for producing ranks of skilled soldiers borne out of a nation hell bent on discipline.

00;02;42;01 - 00;03;08;21

Levi

So without further ado, let's get into a bit of Greek history to set the scene. Talk a bit about the origins of Sparta and do a little bit of debunking when it comes to the long standing beliefs about Spartan culture. These beliefs are largely upheld by works of fiction movies like Zack Snyder's 300, which glorified the exploits of the Battle of Thermopylae by the Spartans against the Persians, as well as a recent co-opting of the Spartan ethos by some elements of Americana.

00;03;08;22 - 00;03;29;23

Levi

Now I'm going to talk about it a little bit later, but I want to I want to go on the record to say that the movie 300 did not inspire me to do this episode. I know that that's based on a comic book, so I don't think that that movie being as historically inaccurate as it is, deserves any kind of like wrongdoing because it is a work of fiction based on a different work of fiction.

00;03;29;23 - 00;03;47;12

Levi

And I kind of get annoyed. I watch a lot of top ten lists on YouTube, and a lot of the times will do historically inaccurate movies. We'll talk about 300 like, yeah, the movie based on a comic book. Of course, it's historically inaccurate. It's based on a comic book. And I'll talk about that movie specifically when I get to that.

00;03;47;12 - 00;04;08;26

Levi

But I just wanted to get in front of that. So people are going, guy, watch 301 time now Hates the Spartans. What's up with that? Spartans came to be known culturally as the representation of warrior culture, but what was the origin of this mighty city state to put things in a context, let's backtrack to a time of analogous and what would be the real life timeline of the Trojan War.

00;04;08;26 - 00;04;38;14

Levi

Whether or not the legendary Trojan War was indeed real is still a matter of historical debate. Either way, the storied ten year debacle that supposedly resulted from the taking of Helen of Sparta by Trojan Prince Paris has been referenced in many works of Greek literature, but most notably Homer's Iliad and The Odyssey. Helen, whose beauty launched a thousand ships, was married to King men, allows the Sparta before being whisked away by Paris of Troy, who, despite it being a movie, I will always imagine him as Orlando Bloom.

00;04;38;14 - 00;05;00;21

Levi

ury BCE, specifically between: 1211

00;05;00;24 - 00;05;27;19

Levi

During this time, the great Mycenae and that civilization in Greece, the first distinctly Greek civilization known for its palatial economy, art and urban organizations and writing system ceased to be this period known as the late Bronze Age collapsed and is more or less the Greek Dark Ages. This time is characterized by a shift from a palace economy or redistribution economy to a system of small, isolated village cultures delineated by their geographic enclaves.

00;05;27;26 - 00;05;49;28

Levi

In a palace economy, the bulk of the wealth of the nation is filtered through a central body, then trickles back out to the populace in the peninsula, The southern Peloponnese region of Greece, nestled by the Thai ghettos mountain range in the fertile valley bordering the euro. This river, a new Sparta, was born from the ashes. Some 200 years after the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization.

00;05;50;00 - 00;06;11;29

Levi

It is said that the original palace was made up of four villages located in this place. Now geography played a crucial role in Sparta's unfettered growth and the unique inclinations of its societal structure. Being located between the southeastern end of the Peloponnese provided Sparta with natural defenses. The rugged mountain range that flanked the fledgling city state provided both isolation and protection.

00;06;11;29 - 00;06;42;09

Levi

What's more, this geography informed the cultural distaste for, quote unquote, the other strangers. Travelers. Foreigners were all mistrusted by Spartans who reveled in secrecy and maintained Spartan hierarchy and elitism as the backbone of their egalitarian society. And will there be more on that later? It's an egalitarian to them, but anyway, because of their relatively safe position back home, Spartans focused their might on military campaigns and dominance outside of their territory instead of in defense.

00;06;42;14 - 00;07;12;06

Levi

In other words, not having to allocate resources and constant defense meant that they could be on the offensive. and they also had slaves known in ancient texts as less a demon. By the late eighth century BCE, the city state of Sparta was expanding greatly by subjugating neighboring peoples from regions of Macedonia and less Ionia. These folks were more or less seen as second tier citizens of the Spartan Polis Annex, people that were called the Perry Okoye, which translates roughly to those dwelling around or nearby.

00;07;12;09 - 00;07;37;20

Levi

The Perry Igwe, unlike first tier Spartan citizens who would be in charge of some of the chore, albeit mundane elements of a functioning Spartan society such as commerce, business, crafts and manufacturing. These tasks higher ranking Spartan citizens thought of as beneath them. In a sense, this middle class paid taxes and could serve in the army often as an obligation as opposed to an honor which would bolster the ranks.

00;07;37;23 - 00;08;05;05

Levi

The Perry Clay were otherwise excluded from political life. So you can fight in the wars, but you can't. Can't decide which wars we got to help. Sparta society was characterized by distinct social classes. Below the Perry Okoye was another subjugated classes. The Helots. The Helots also assimilated by force from nearby regions, but having the distinction of having resisted were bound to Spartan citizens undertook the most basic minutia of societal functioning, such as forced agricultural labor.

00;08;05;08 - 00;08;33;11

Levi

They were, in essence, state slaves. Sometimes Helots were allowed to keep portions of the produce that they cultivated for themselves in time of acute military necessity or expansion. How it could be conscripted serve above the periodic way, and Helots were the Spartan citizens, of course, having relegated the task required for the upkeep of structured society. Citizens were able to focus on what they saw as their rightful way of existence military training, athletics, sport, hunting and politics.

00;08;33;15 - 00;08;54;19

Levi

Now, this debunks one of these so-called values of Spartan society, namely the idea of equality. Suffice to say, equality was a concept that was definitely not upheld across the board. Sparta was built on the back of slave labor. This is a distinct part of its societal makeup. Were the words egalitarian in Sparta are often said in the same breath?

00;08;54;19 - 00;09;19;26

Levi

But the reality is that freedom was reserved for just the elite. Not all Spartan men were soldiers. In fact, only the best warriors were selected to be part of the Spartan Army, thus gaining full citizenship. Spartans devoted a lot of importance to their military careers, and for citizens, this path started early. By the age of seven, young boys were sent to what amounts to a military academy called the Golgi, meaning to lead.

00;09;19;28 - 00;09;40;23

Levi

This was a place where boys learn to live communally in order to prepare themselves for military lives. This fate was not reserved for all men, however. For instance, in the movie 300 King Leonidas of Sparta is portrayed as being forced to participate in this. However, firstborn sons were exempt from the program as the future king, Leonidas would not have been tossed in with common folk either.

00;09;40;26 - 00;10;03;26

Levi

If you have seen this movie, this is where he's like training in fighting with the regular people in the state sponsored education system. Young men were divided into ultimately corresponded into three categories young children, adolescents and young adults. Another aspect of the ecology was the fact that young boys were encouraged as part of their initiation to steal food without being caught.

00;10;03;28 - 00;10;29;06

Levi

They were reportedly underfed to stimulate the need to steal. If they were caught, they would be beaten. The idea here was to encourage the development of stealth and resourcefulness, which is strange, but also kind of not surprising. This kind of logic inspired fascination even by ancient authors at the time. The goal of the ecology was besides character building, to physically acclimate the boys within the harshness of war, get them, I guess, accustomed to it.

00;10;29;07 - 00;10;53;01

Levi

Cultural depictions of this truly portray it as synonymous to a military academy. However, it's more like a place where men of the elite families learn to live communally, where this tradition would be extended into part of their adult lives. They would live away from their families as you as they would if they were campaigning inside Sparta's walls. Familiar life would see a nucleus structure differently as well.

00;10;53;02 - 00;11;14;28

Levi

So let's get into that. There was an aspect of Spartan life that strive for the idea of communality or exemplified equality, at least for Spartan citizens anyway. For example, the land surrounding Sparta was divided up into equal plots, with many of them allocated to Spartan citizens. Family units were structured a little bit differently. Men were not allowed to live with their families for a certain period of time.

00;11;15;00 - 00;11;41;14

Levi

Instead, they enjoying the company of other men in their communal mess halls. Source material is scant and largely unfounded, but there is a is largely believed that women were relatively freer in Sparta than in other city states in Greece. However, one can infer that since the men were absent, whether it was due to war or some other weird social obligation, that women were forced to compensate with the full scope of domestic and family life, including managing the property.

00;11;41;14 - 00;12;03;00

Levi

So you can start to see here how Spartan society is organized already at its core to favor military existence above all else, and it already cultivates a certain allure. Another fascinating aspect of Spartan culture lies in its governance. The fact is, Sparta was ruled by two kings. This was meant as a precaution when one king would head to a military campaign, the other would stay and rule the city.

00;12;03;01 - 00;12;35;25

Levi

In addition to a double monarchy, a council of five elected for a council of five elected elders called the E force, supplemented the ruling kings like a chuckle because it spread out. I don't know how it's actually pronounced, but it's spelled h0rs, and I just naturally pronounce it e for as it could be f hours. But for me, e for that was like, that was the, the ranking that I achieved when I was in the military and that is a if you don't know about it.

00;12;35;25 - 00;12;58;21

Levi

E Fours are kind of like, like the letter e-44. The confusion is like a equate it to a very junior managerial level thing, like a manager in training or something like that where you get some responsibility but not a lot. And there's yeah, there's just a lot of inside jokes and that, that that's why I probably don't need to explain it.

00;12;58;21 - 00;13;21;18

Levi

But anyway, it just made me think of that. So if you're like, why didn't you just laugh after that? It's not, it's not because the words are funny, but I'm just in my own head. Sorry. Anyway, anyway, so like I said, Council five elected elders called the Enforcer f, f, r it or e for it offered counsel. They also served as judicial, religious and legislative functions and facilitated foreign affairs.

00;13;21;19 - 00;13;50;28

Levi

It goes without saying that the Council was composed of men from the noblest of families and effectively making Sparta a double monarchy and oligarchy. So and there's also the number of elders ranges depending on some sources. So just also don't focus too much on that, as it were. Politics and military life were the watermarks of aristocracy in Spartan culture, the highest aristocratic class of men also called Sparta.

00;13;50;28 - 00;14;08;26

Levi

It's spent most of their their life in the military barracks away from the nuclear family units. Their lands were left to be tilled by slaves and managed by their wives. Wouldn't you know? Pretty much all the time. They practice the art of war, an honor bestowed upon them as a reflection of their privilege, like, Hey, you're pretty fancy, man.

00;14;09;04 - 00;14;24;14

Levi

You get to play, you get to play war all the time. You just get to live in the barracks and you can you can afford to because you know a wife who's going to take care of your stuff. And also you have slaves to keep your land going. So you can just do whatever you want. Like you don't have to go home.

00;14;24;14 - 00;14;51;04

Levi

Really. So what made Sparta such a reputable force? Militarily speaking, the Santangelo cultural notions of Spartan military prowess spiraled out of control and distinguish that fact from fiction in the process. The colloquial term for citizen soldiers in ancient Greece culture is hoplite. This comes from the Greek word poplar, meaning equipment. The word hoplite thus translates loosely to a fully equipped man.

00;14;51;06 - 00;15;13;21

Levi

And this is quite funny, given the fact that Spartans are often depicted in popular culture as fighting battles in scanty outfits. Yellow shirt lists, 16 pack abs, big packs, no armor kits. Why would you need that? It also makes me think of like in video games, like fantasy style video games. There's the running joke that, you know, women armor.

00;15;13;21 - 00;15;40;20

Levi

And in these video games, like what is it protecting? Because usually it's very, very scanty and it shows a lot. So quite revealing. And like the male fantasy just wants no protection for women. And then you look at like Zack Snyder's 300. Like, male fantasy doesn't want protection for men either, obviously. So anyway, hoplites are foot soldiers who fight in a close formation called a phalanx or phalanx.

00;15;40;20 - 00;16;11;25

Levi

I've always pronounced that phalanx, but I recognize that my small town Nebraska pronunciation is probably not accurate. And I see a lot of people online calling it Phalanx. So that's probably have actually pronounced and you might see the failings in a couple of different things. It's honestly, it is depicted in a lot of different ways. If you've ever watched the movie Troy, the scene where Brad Pitt and crew also shot Troy, they actually wore armor in that movie.

00;16;11;29 - 00;16;36;01

Levi

I mean, granted, Brad Pitt was half naked for the other half. But like the fighting scenes, he was wearing armor. Anyway, the scene where Brad Pitt and crew first gets to the beaches of Troy jumps out of the boat, The Trojan archers are already lining up the beaches, shooting arrows, and they institute a phalanx. They they get their their shields up and everything.

00;16;36;01 - 00;17;04;08

Levi

And it start it protects them as performers, this big like turtle shell. A lot of these depictions, however, are kind of kind of more along the lines of what the Romans would actually do. So, you know, the phalanx is obviously not unique to Spartans, especially since I just gave you an example of a group of people who because I don't even remember what Brad Pitt's like, what Achilles, his people were in Troy, but they weren't Spartans because that was that one guy.

00;17;04;10 - 00;17;40;23

Levi

And anyway, so it's not a uniquely Spartan thing. Also, feel ever watch the movie? If you've ever found a week to dedicate the time to watch the Alexander movie where Colin Farrell plays Alexander, they also utilize some failing strategies in that. But what is a phalanx? It's a rectangular, massive formation. Hoplites would stand tightly packed side by side with their first few rows, projecting their spears over the ranks of their shields ahead of them, like it's this giant hedgehog composed of military men, shields, spears and all this.

00;17;40;23 - 00;18;05;28

Levi

But here's the thing I mention the Romans depiction, because they did a thing called the Test Studio. Also in 300, they do have a phalanx where they have the shields. And Leonidas is explaining, you know, your your shield has to cover because they have the shin armor. Right? So you cover from the knee up and shoulder below because they have helmet and then you look like you're close, close quarter with the guy next to you.

00;18;05;28 - 00;18;29;07

Levi

And then also you have people behind you with their shield or what they're spears draped over. If Spartan military superiority is to be believed, it would stand to reason that the phalanx and hoplite regalia is distinctly Spartan. However, as we said earlier, this is not the case. Hoplite regalia and failing formation are not specific to Sparta, but less common fighting style of many Greek police.

00;18;29;10 - 00;18;48;21

Levi

Yeah, and it's not like any one Greek felt like they they intermingled so much that it was like, okay. Like they all came from a very similar background. And then when, you know, the Bronze Age collapse, they kind of split into their Greek city state and they kept those things. And then when they would trade, they would like, that's a good idea.

00;18;48;22 - 00;19;12;01

Levi

So complex themselves were heavily armored. They used fighting spirit call a dory a backup sword, call it ciphers or Copus and shield, some kai sometimes called aspens. What's more, hoplites were reasonable for what's more, hoplites were responsible for procuring their own equipment. Again, reinforcing the notion that to be part of the army was actually a sign of higher status.

00;19;12;03 - 00;19;31;09

Levi

It's kind of expensive. I mean, Greek armor, authentic Greek armor from this time is very expensive now, pretty much priceless. But back then, you know, it did cost a lot of money to have this made. Like like now, if you wanted to have some metal Smith craft you saw, it's not going to be cheap. A good one's not going to be cheap.

00;19;31;09 - 00;20;01;00

Levi

You can get a stainless steel stamped out sword, but it's going to break in battle in the same way. Like even if you translated it to modern military equipment, like play carriers, guns, it's all very expensive to procure. That's why that's why the government provides most of them. So anyway, hoplites carried their armor. The whole of it was sometimes called a panoply that was often emblazoned with same family sigils or crests that represented certain regions.

00;20;01;00 - 00;20;22;02

Levi

Body armor sometimes could be made of textiles, most likely for the lower class infantry and breast plates of the could be made us like heavy materials such as bronze in. This leads us to another bout of debunking in popular culture, you know, depictions of the Spartan War machine would have these shirtless men bounding for the adversaries with nary a smidge of armor in sight.

00;20;22;02 - 00;20;53;23

Levi

Course, there's this complete lunacy and even even in the normal depictions of like, there's still so many like bad depictions of it. Like even when they do give them chess play, like their arms are still out in the open and like sure that you can make the argument that it was for mobility. But like for the most part you would still have something like you would have like you would get a leather plate or some kind of thing to block that because you don't want your just raw arm out there.

00;20;53;23 - 00;21;19;09

Levi

But of course you do have in like movies, video games, Spartan, Total Warrior comes to mind where you do have like this chess plate, this thick bronze chess plate that like locks you in. And then you have that and maybe maybe you wear a helmet, maybe you don't. But then you have, you know, other depictions where and not just 300, but other ones where they're like shirtless, throw spears, whatever.

00;21;19;10 - 00;21;39;21

Levi

And that's that's nonsense. Aside from the bronze dress, Spartan soldiers also sported skin coverings, and the helmet helmet depicted in popular culture is the iconic Corinthian helmet, which came to be in the city state of Corinth. Course often made of bronze. The helmet covered the entire head and neck with are almond shaped slits for the eyes and a large slit for the mouth.

00;21;39;21 - 00;22;08;22

Levi

In stylized depictions, it is often shown as having a winged tip. This helmet type was not exclusively used by the Spartans, but most military men of all city state. And that's why it's so popular is because that's the most like we found it most all over the place are like all versions of it. The idea that professional military men would be over skilled to the point of not needing armor, of course, simply is just the result of colorful storytelling and not rooted in fact or logic.

00;22;08;22 - 00;22;30;22

Levi

But I feel like you are pretty intelligent enough to have put that together, you know? But there's some people who just don't there. There's people who just refuse to believe that they're like, God, these guys are just so badass. And it's there's no it reminds me of like the Viking Berserkers where they're like, these guys with like, there's so many myths around what they did and didn't wear.

00;22;30;22 - 00;22;51;07

Levi

And you know, that like, there's depictions of them fighting completely naked, and then there's depictions of them being like these over armored hulks that we're just impossible to bring down because they had so, so much armor. I don't know. But like, I haven't done the research either one way, but it reminds me of that where it's like you have these two completely different things, not for nothing.

00;22;51;08 - 00;23;18;01

Levi

While I'm on the topic and slightly off topic, you know, Spartan's name was given to the Spartans in Halo, you know, and those guys are heavily armored tanks, not just good soldiers in that game series, but they are completely over armored. They're heavily armored. They're more armored than they're human counterparts in that game. They have energy shields, they have all this extra stuff.

00;23;18;01 - 00;23;46;23

Levi

And it's like, okay. And then the idea of like living Spartan, like you have a Spartan lifestyle and you have like that means there's less stuff, like it's more rudimentary, that it's very confusing. Anyway, some researchers espouse the theory that the Spartan phalanx was different from others in its cohesion. In recounting the last seven years of the Peloponnesian War, historian Xenophon Chronicles that Spartan Army was made of significantly more officers than the armies of other city states.

00;23;46;23 - 00;24;09;23

Levi

This implies that units with more command personnel were in fact more effective, according to my source materials, Spartans had the ability, a distinct ability to move one victorious hoplite faction from one end of the battlefield onto the next. This ability was distinct from the documented and limited abilities of other armies, and maybe it was because they had so many like officers directing the way.

00;24;09;25 - 00;24;34;04

Levi

It can also be inferred that because of their communal style of living that was adopted from an early age, the men of Sparta were used to thinking as a unit their hoplite troops were, in effect, bonded in a way that was different from the other infantrymen in the other city state. What's more, in popular culture, depictions of soldiers fighting a single combat style on the battlefield strays very far from the actual fighting style that was distinct in hoplite culture.

00;24;34;05 - 00;24;59;09

Levi

Sure, it is very badass, but is untrue and essentially the opposite of what made Spartan military tactics definite and successful. Also, if Spartans did adopt such fighting style battles such as one waged at Thermopylae, they would have been mowed down in minutes as opposed to standing strong for days. The sheer weight of the equipment that a hoplite soldier wears would not be conducive to a single fighting and single hand combat style.

00;24;59;09 - 00;25;22;03

Levi

And, you know, it's not just like I think 300 is the easiest depiction because it is straight up like the most popular depiction. But even then, like we have other like there's games, there's other movies. Assassin's Creed Odyssey takes us to ancient Greece and so much single handed combat in that game. And I get it. It's an Assassin's Creed game.

00;25;22;03 - 00;25;52;18

Levi

But come on, man, let me do let me do some Phalanx operations. Let me let me fight some guys, like in a little more strategic way. Thankfully, Total War franchise has never let me down in that aspect. I can fight with all the phalanxes I want in that game. Popular culture would have us believe that Spartan men showed their worthiness by venturing off alone in the wilderness once again with very little armor to prove that they are worth enough to be far part of the fighting class.

00;25;52;18 - 00;26;15;26

Levi

Coming back alive and unscathed was a mark of this worthiness again. In the movie 300 King Leonidas proves his worth by venturing off alone in the wilderness and killing a wolf coming back with his skin. In reality, it is documented that Spartan use would prove their worth by stealthily killing off something. But it was not a wolf about an unarmed helmet, much less brazen, if you ask me.

00;26;15;28 - 00;26;46;10

Levi

As for the idea of military worth being quantified by solo venture, this would be inherently against the central tenets of Spartan military tactics, namely the idea that individualism went on the back burner in favor of teamwork, as best exemplified by the failings formation and the early life of Spartan men as part of the collective. However, it should be noted that because military might in physical health was glorified in Spartan culture stands to reason that individual Spartan specimen was in fact better suited for warfare.

00;26;46;13 - 00;27;09;09

Levi

Historian Xenophon once again notes that Spartans were in fact better suited physically for war. They were, of course, a wealthy cast that had access to good food, shelter, overall well-being. Spartans enjoyed sport hunting athleticism, contributing greatly to the overall physical agility and body strength. However, this argument can also be countered by the fact that large number of Helots too, were often conscripted.

00;27;09;09 - 00;27;30;28

Levi

As such, the slave class would balance out the healthy physicality of the wealthiest part. As part, its plays were often kept in check. By withholding food, they were overworked, subjugated to corporal punishment. Sense of reason, therefore, that overall the Spartan army would have been more balanced in terms of brute strength and health. Now, due to the fact that Sparta was essentially built on the backs of slaves.

00;27;30;28 - 00;27;59;24

Levi

Sound familiar? America and ruled by a diminutive upper class, there was always this lingering possibility that widespread revolt would occur in its infancy. Spartan was in its infancy. Sparta withstood a series of violent slave revolts by the Helots that served as a transformative event that would eventually galvanize the laws that would distinguish Sparta from other city states. For instance, revolt spurred the idea of a centralized military state where uprisings could be crushed and expansion pursued at will.

00;27;59;24 - 00;28;25;10

Levi

This became one of the central tenants. In doing so, the other societal pursuits fell by the wayside, namely the arts and literature. However, a common misconception about Spartan culture is that it was culturally barren. There were, however, instances of warrior poets such as Tertius Tertius served as a state poet. He chronicled events during the Second Mycenaean War, in which he urged Spartans to not fear fighting to their deaths.

00;28;25;10 - 00;28;56;08

Levi

So yes, the arts and literature were present. They were just distinctly martial little propaganda, if you will. The full military re-orientation of Spartan Society is largely credited to a figure known as Lycurgus as it was in these cases. It is not certain whether or not Lycurgus was a historical figure or a hodgepodge of many different people. Either way, it's not that he was a prominent Spartan lawmaker who institutional who instituted militaristic and communistic reforms outlined in the great rhetoric.

00;28;56;11 - 00;29;25;12

Levi

The name given to what was essentially the Spartan Constitution. The set of laws were in line with the three Spartan virtues, which were equality among citizens only military fitness and austerity fun. One of the most enduring facts, quote unquote facts floated around in regard to Spartan society is the treatment of their infants. There's an idea that infants were that were deemed unworthy, were catapulted into gorges where they would, of course, you know, fall to their death.

00;29;25;12 - 00;29;57;15

Levi

This idea is very vague. Like what? What would be the criteria that an infant would possibly not about? Like what's what is this baby doing that you don't approve of? Now, this legend comes from one passage in a book by Plutarch, part of him The Life of Lycurgus. This book was actually an account of the lawmaker, Lycurgus, his exploits and the quote goes, Offspring was not reared at the at the will of the father, but was taken and carried to but was taken and carried by him to a place called Lesch, where the elders of the tribes officially examined the infant.

00;29;57;15 - 00;30;26;06

Levi

and assigned it to one of the: 9000

00;30;26;08 - 00;30;46;21

Levi

Now, whether or not the Spartans did indeed practice eugenics is still up for debate. This passage in source material is not firmly rooted in fact, and it was compiled in the second century CE Five centuries after the Spartan culture fell out of prevalence. What's more brutal Spartan traditions when it came to their child rearing got even more distorted through time.

00;30;46;21 - 00;31;09;28

Levi

Some historians, some historians say that this part of families would actually leave newborns overnight on the slopes of the Tiger turns mountains. If the infant survived, it would be deemed worthy of rearing. Other stories deduced that infants were not killed outright, but placed in protective baskets. Their faces to give them a standing chance of being found by other people before animals or elements got to them.

00;31;09;28 - 00;31;37;24

Levi

Either way, pretty brutal. Now, structural infanticide would certainly fit the model of rigid society that demanded physical perfection from its citizens, being that military prowess was the highest state of being. However, is more likely that these tall tales stem from the glorification of Spartan way of life by later Greek and Roman authors and tradition of over inflation that will persist into the tradition of over inflation that will persist into the 21st century.

00;31;37;24 - 00;31;57;04

Levi

, which came out in: 2006

00;31;57;04 - 00;32;17;24

Levi

Frank Miller's very famous in the graphic novel sphere. The movie is highly stylized and definitely falls into the historical fiction category, as I mentioned before, and I want to take a second to discuss this this a little further because as I mentioned earlier, you know, people like to latch on to the 300 as being this work of art.

00;32;17;24 - 00;32;54;13

Levi

This is how like a you're you're going to sit there and tell me that this is how they didn't know. Dude, this is a comic book adapted into a movie. And if you think that it's historically accurate, then you need to read more books, I guess. I don't know what to tell you like. And the weirder part is that people who don't know that it's based off of a graphic novel or comic book, whatever you want to describe it as, people that don't, they'll see the the instances in the movie where they have like monster guys with like blades for arms and like these demonic looking elephants and like all these things.

00;32;54;13 - 00;33;16;29

Levi

And you got to remember the plot of the movie. It starts out a guy telling a story, right? He's telling a story about Leonidas and his 300 Spartans In the narrator at the very end comes full circle and is preparing. He's giving a speech because he was there. He's in he was in the battle or the initial battle, and then he got his eye cut out or something like that.

00;33;17;06 - 00;33;43;06

Levi

And they sent him home to get more soldiers because they knew it was going to be futile. And even if you take away that is based on a comic book, I want you to if you ever watch this movie again, look at it through this lens, because this is how I interpreted it that I don't know if everybody had done so, but the guy telling this story is give relaying information that he witnessed and things that he had maybe not seen before.

00;33;43;07 - 00;34;06;21

Levi

Elephants, rhinos, crazy guys with swords for hands like giants in the battlefield. And he's a he's probably got some PTSD. B, he is trying to inspire these guys and he's telling these stories like he had all these crazy monsters and it still didn't work because we had 300 Spartans and now we have however many, whatever. So do yourself a favor.

00;34;06;21 - 00;34;27;22

Levi

Next time you watch that movie, think about it. Then a little more of like, Well, he's never seen these things. He's trying to describe it. And that's why these images, because it's all his recollection. It's not it's not him. It's not a documentary following King Leonidas. It's this guy telling the story later on. So anyway, have my soapbox on that.

00;34;27;22 - 00;34;55;26

Levi

The actual Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., the Persian Empire under Xerxes. The first was advancing on Greece Alliance of Greek city states spearheaded by Sparta 100 King Leonidas. The first was staving off the impending invasion. The crux of the Greek Persian conflict was fought over seven days at the pass of Thermopylae, where a contingent of 300 Spartans as well as 700 thespians, blocked the road that would that went through the pass in order to protect the retreating Greek army.

00;34;55;26 - 00;35;15;13

Levi

Of those seven days, three of them were spent in direct battle. In addition to the 700 thespians, it is reported that 900 Helots and 400 Thebans were part of the contingent that stayed behind to protect the retreating Greek army. The advancing Persians were alerted by a trader efforts of the secret passage, allowing them to outflank the steadfast Greek ally.

00;35;15;14 - 00;35;40;02

Levi

to: 300000

00;35;40;02 - 00;36;00;23

Levi

sians at the pass with nearly: 7000

00;36;00;23 - 00;36;18;25

Levi

However, it is believed that around 900 Helots were also forced to remain in addition to the 400 thebans that I mentioned before, as it were, all the soldiers save for the Helots who had no real allegiance to the cause, fight to the death. Now this part was real and no doubt contributed to their romanticized portrayal of the singular battle.

00;36;18;25 - 00;36;52;29

Levi

However, the Spartans were ultimately crushed at Thermopylae and Athens, subsequently sacked by the Persians in a cinematic call back to the old Athens versus versus Sparta beast. It was ultimately Athens defeat of the Persian naval fleet at Thalamus, a battle that was being waged concurrently with the siege of Thermopylae that solidified the Persian defeat for Greece. If you've seen, again, coming back to the actual movie, because I think it's just easier just to visualize because it is on screen, but in the movie 300, you can I think even the second 300 is about this.

00;36;53;01 - 00;37;22;08

Levi

I don't know. I have it's been a long time since I watched the second one, that's for sure. Anyway, I'm pretty sure it depicts the Athenian navy and the Persian Navy. Anyway. Conversely, the fact that the Spartans were put in charge of the military aspect of the coalition of Greek city states against the Persian threat must have carried its weight through a history, must have carried its way through history, and helped cement the Excellency of Spartan military tactics and elevated them to this thing.

00;37;22;10 - 00;37;47;27

Levi

Now, the value system espoused by Sparta in popular culture would have Spartan be warriors who had no fear of death and readily forced into battle. However, source material by notable historian Herodotus, the quote unquote father history would suggest a different and less altruistic reason. Behind this feat, Herodotus suggests that Spartans routinely favored death in battle because toxic shame was tied to any hint of cowardice back home.

00;37;47;27 - 00;38;08;26

Levi

In his chronicling of the Battle of Thermopylae, Herodotus recounts the story of a messenger name named Pantiles, who, by no fault of his own, was delivering a message when the final battle took place. Having survived the ordeal by mistake, the tides returned to Sparta. He hung himself shortly thereafter as he was shamed ruthlessly for and heavily for reluctant survival.

00;38;08;26 - 00;38;29;28

Levi

The tide eases. Death by suicide is one of the three examples given by Herodotus showcasing the fear of shame outweighed by the fear of death for Spartan military men. Now, as touched upon earlier, Sparta favored some of the more rigid elements of societal life, military structure, physical health and overall. In contrast, other city states favored the arts and literature.

00;38;29;28 - 00;38;50;02

Levi

This is best exemplified by the city state of Athens, where temples were erected as a testament to the distinct style that was being cultivated by the Athenian architects and artists at the time. These works acted as a larger than life tribute to their ideal of beauty and perfection, their communion with the world and their communion with the world around them.

00;38;50;02 - 00;39;11;08

Levi

And representations of how Athenians saw themselves as part of the Athenian style was referred to classical. Another contrasting element between the two city states can be found in their politics. Athens was set up as a true democracy where various different members of the populace could participate in political life. In contrast, of course, we know the Spartans was distinctly more elitist.

00;39;11;08 - 00;39;40;03

Levi

The the double monarchy slash oligarchy combo kind of gives away just to just a little bit. Now, within Sparta, there is this idea that Spartans were single minded and that they were war obsessed and no one would ever dare engage them in battle. This is perhaps due to the fact that Athens did indeed always avoid engaging in direct combat with Sparta during their prolonged conflict, known as the Peloponnesian War, which was waged between 431 and 404 BCE.

00;39;40;03 - 00;40;10;20

Levi

The reason for this, however, is multilayered. The fact is neither Athens nor Sparta possessed enough military advantage to overtake the other. So it was a little bit of Cold War going on. This is this is exemplified by the fact that they engaged in sporadic warfare for many decades. In fact, the history in fact, the historian Thucydides, who chronicled the first 20 years of the war place, their origin of the conflict as sparta's insecurity about athens's perceived rise to greatness.

00;40;10;20 - 00;40;33;21

Levi

To that is, it should be noted here was also an Athenian general, so this could have just been a prolonged humblebrag as told by the annals of Time. However, it should be noted that Drew Sedaris is widely known as the first historian. He referred to his recounting of the Peloponnesian War as being a possession for all time characterized by impartiality and evidence gathering.

00;40;33;21 - 00;40;56;23

Levi

Interestingly, Thucydides did not focus on what he perceived as extraneous information in his recounting of the war, which was essentially any mention of arts and culture, citing that he was, quote, recording an event, not a period. This could also contribute to the notion that Sparta was not focused on such extraneous things themselves, i.e. not for a lack of it per se, but simply a lack of documentation.

00;40;56;23 - 00;41;24;16

Levi

Thucydides is very interesting and there was a quote that until recently I thought that he had said, and I am sad that I found out that it was not him that had said it. So the quote is often credited to him stating, quote, The nation that will insist on drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking done by cowards.

00;41;24;17 - 00;41;58;03

Levi

Great quote. Kind of honestly fits Thucydides, especially when you think about the Peloponnesian War and Sparta and Athens, right? Like you can kind of attribute those aspects of that quote, but it's actually incorrectly attributed and is supposed to be attributed to a British actor, a British author from the 19th century, so or 20th century. So that's annoying. Anyway, it appears that Athens inferred that Anyway, it appears that Athens inferred a math.

00;41;58;06 - 00;42;34;19

Levi

Either way. Anyway, it appears that Athens interfered in matters between Corinthian, a Spartan ally, and one of its colonies, Coursera, Sparta, as it were, declared for war first. Naturally, this fact added to its warmongering aura. What's more, Sparta possessed a bigger army, and its soldiers were said to have been of a higher overall caliber. And as we touched upon earlier, however, Athens had more resources and was able to consolidate its power by asserting a steady stream of supplies coming its way through a port at Piraeus, maintaining its army as well as naval fleet and keeping them both well fed.

00;42;34;20 - 00;42;59;02

Levi

Connecting the ports at Piraeus to the city center of Athens. The so-called, quote long walls assured that Athenians were protected as an added strategy. Rural populations were coaxed by Athenian leader Pericles to relocate within those boundaries temporarily, Thus fortifying their ranks and assuring their protection. So to recap, yes, Sparta had an army that was more formidable in size and quality.

00;42;59;05 - 00;43;21;23

Levi

And Athens did use a strategy that involved they more or less, quote, waiting it out within the long walls. But this is not because Sparta was unbeatable on the battlefield. As stated, both armies were on par with each other, with neither possessing the capacity to overtake the other outright. In the end, Sparta would win the Peloponnesian Wars because they were too insecure, had Germany for itself.

00;43;21;23 - 00;43;48;01

Levi

In the early fourth century B.C., Sparta was also able to secure dominance by forming strategic and beneficial alliances. It was at the helm of the Peloponnesian League when it overcame the Delian League, led by Athens. The Peloponnesian League included the likes of Corinth, Megara, Tagi and Alice, to name a few. But overall, Sparta wasn't cleaning it up when it come to came to battles itself.

00;43;48;02 - 00;44;08;03

Levi

Here's a list of a few of the many times on record that Sparta took an ally, as the U.S. would say. One notable moment one of these notable moments is the battle of our genocide in 406 BCE, the Spartan fleet off the coast of Lesbos was alerted to the presence of their age old frenemy, the Athenians, in nearby waters.

00;44;08;04 - 00;44;31;13

Levi

Caleb Curtis, a Spartan naval commander, ordered 120 ships to meet his enemy in the Strait by the Argungu Islands. The Athenian fleet, for their part, are said to have been enjoying dinner as the Spartans approached. Caleb Cartwright's is said to have attempted a surprise attack but was thwarted by a surprise storm. Instead, his efforts were foiled by Mother Nature.

00;44;31;15 - 00;44;48;12

Levi

Maybe this guy's part Mongolian. The following morning, the Athenian fleet, none the wiser, assembled itself in a typical battle formation. Where's. Where'd you got to go to bed and wake up and then get into formation? Like you just. You slept on a boat all day or all night. They wake up and you're all right. Let's move these boats.

00;44;48;12 - 00;45;21;06

Levi

We're going to fight these dudes. They placed a single royal ships in the center of their fleet with the Ordinance islands at their back. The Athenians also added one row of ships to each on each flank and placed a second row between each gap between ships. The goal was to block off two well-used maneuvers by the Spartan, the dying plus where ship would sail between opposing ships and turn to attack their Sterns and the parry plus, which was when a ship encircled the enemy by sailing around them.

00;45;21;08 - 00;45;58;03

Levi

The strategy proved successful as the rows on each flanks were engaged in battle, with the center rows being used as reserves. Spartans took heavy losses that day as 77 ships were drowned with. The Athenians only withstood the loss of 25 of their vessels. In 425 BCE, two battles were rages, part of the Greater Peloponnesian War. The fact this bacteria and pylos conflicts were abject failures for the Spartans and highlighted their potential vulnerability as a state during winter of that year, Athenian commander Athenian Commander Demosthenes took note of a point in the southwest Peloponnese called Pylos.

00;45;58;03 - 00;46;28;00

Levi

This area could easily be fortified and serve as a base, he theorized, for regional raids the region. Marciniak was generally unsympathetic towards Spartans in general. You'll recall that Sparta forcibly annexed folks from millenia and relegated them to the state slave helmet class. So understandable why they would not be super pumped about them by landing at Pylos. Demosthenes presented the Athenian horde as saviors, and this facilitated their ambitions at play.

00;46;28;01 - 00;46;51;20

Levi

Now let's just take a minute here to highlight just how the Spartan modus operandi of terrorizing locals and essentially engulfing them into servitude ultimately came back to bite them in the ass. I mean, it's weird if you're kidnaping the children and like men of a nation nearby you and then your other enemy comes in and goes, Hey, man, we don't like them either.

00;46;51;21 - 00;47;16;06

Levi

Like, that's that's a recipe for disaster. To meet the Athenians at Pylos, the Spartans sent a fleet which was stationed at nearby Island of Fact bacteria. This island served as a Spartan base. As such, many of their top brass were posted here when the Spartan fleet was ultimately defeated on the water, up to 292 of their elite Spartans were left marooned and imprisoned on this island.

00;47;16;07 - 00;47;41;04

Levi

As such, the pressure was turned on. Sparta volunteered a truce in order to save its elite. Again, this exposed a vulnerability in its social structure because it favored the elite. And the elite were rewarded with politicking and warfare. Losing a chunk of its elite in one fell swoop would prove damaging to the fabric of Sparta's very nation. Ultimately, the Athenian statesmen Kleon rejected the truce offer and the war raged on.

00;47;41;04 - 00;48;00;15

Levi

But Sparta had made another mistake. It showed its hand and revealed just how eager it could be to betray its allies and how soft its underbelly could be when its elite were in jeopardy. If anything, the defeat at Pylos showcases how overall Sparta was not legendary or military savvy as the annals of popular culture would have us believe.

00;48;00;17 - 00;48;29;19

Levi

One thing that has been overly associated with Spartan culture, even though it was something that has been recorded in other Greek city states, is the concept of institutionalized pederasty. There's no consensus among modern historians, but Paul Cartledge, a researcher of Spartan civilization at the University of Cambridge, leading the charge on this theory, states that in Spartan culture there was what he calls an association in between older men Orestes and younger men.

00;48;29;19 - 00;48;48;19

Levi

A Romanesque. As he notes, this uncertainty about any sexual aspects being tied to the institution but does not deny that it is not unreasonable to assume that this took place. The certainty of these associations is lost to history, I'm afraid. But it stands to reason that given human nature exercising such power dynamics certainly must have resulted in such acts.

00;48;48;20 - 00;49;13;09

Levi

Either way, the idea of pederasty is not unique to Spartan culture, but depictions of sexual acts between men and boys being found on artworks in Athens and Crete as well. But this also, you know, throws into the mix that, hey, if the Spartans especially in popular culture, play like these macho men, they don't do that boy 11 that the Athens Athenians do.

00;49;13;09 - 00;49;41;04

Levi

But turns out turns they were just as guilty. It's not a good look. Ancient Greece near canceled. Like many empires, Sparta eventually fell. It dominated the other Greek city states as leader of the charge during the Greek or Persian conflicts and had secured a majority of a majority in the early fourth century for itself during the Peloponnese wars as it ultimately overtook Athens, if only for a short, short while.

00;49;41;05 - 00;50;07;05

Levi

In the end, Sparta was engulfed as an ally of the over expanding, ever expanding Roman Empire, and its aura was left for us to pass together through the eyes of ancient historians, many of which were unapologetic fanboys of the military, city, state. Indeed, it appears that Sparta's intoxicating quality was one for the ages, and any part of Sparta's downfall was due to the fact that it often overlooked the core component of its societal structure.

00;50;07;07 - 00;50;36;15

Levi

The people that it overtook and dominated outnumbered the Spartan military, formidable as it was. Ultimately, Sparta was overtaken by Thebes, a city state that had a greater population than Sparta. A Spartan general, Civil Darius launched an attack against Piraeus in order to galvanize its control over Thebes, which was bubbling over with revolt. The attack ultimately failed, and Thebes and Athens began discussing the possibility of an alliance which ultimately contributed to the downfall of BARDA for Darius.

00;50;36;17 - 00;50;56;15

Levi

For his part, was tried in Sparta for his failed attack as Thebes grew in power. Athens shifted its alliance and folded it onto the side of Sparta. But as it were, it was too little, too late. There's a new bully in the playground. The Battle of Luke Jahre was the end for the Spartans, for Sparta, as they had stretched themselves too thin with blind military dominance.

00;50;56;22 - 00;51;21;25

Levi

They were ultimately crushed by Thebes. As Greek city states battle for hegemony during the fourth century, Sparta was leading the helm, having retained power for the better part of a better part of centuries as unchecked military authority. This would all crumble into the dust of the battle. Luke Dra fought in 371 BCE near the Battle of Art, near near the village of Lucha, and in the Boeotia region of Greece.

00;51;21;26 - 00;51;43;09

Levi

This battle saw Sparta forfeit its dominance due to a bout of shoddy warmongering. Thebes had embarked on a path of military reform that led the creation of the sacred band, which amounted to an elite fighting force. As a city state, they were on their way to usurping power from Sparta, and Leuchter was a natural placed duke it out.

00;51;43;11 - 00;52;09;03

Levi

Control over the Shia would have had significant strategic advantage for both parties involved. The Spartan force at Lucca was led by King Cleon Brutus, as it had for centuries. Spartan military tactics favored in this conflict was the hoplite phalanx and looters assemblage was no exception. The exemption on the day that the battle was waged, tradition was maintained, and the failing stood tall and proud.

00;52;09;07 - 00;52;42;23

Levi

A display of rigidity and discipline, as it were. The phalanx is elite Spartans were located on the formations right wing. For their part, the Theban military used an innovative technique at Lucca in an effort to break the Spartans ranks the sacred, composed of 150 pairs of men, used a unique formation with a strengthened left wing. The idea was that the Theban rank smaller, aiming at the weakened left side of the Spartan failings, would use its elite force to break their ranks, while the bulk of the of its force stood behind, ready to clean up the calculated, yet risky strategy upheld by epidemic.

00;52;42;29 - 00;53;11;09

Levi

Epaminondas lets these Greek dames are impossible to say. A visionary leader and warrior paid off. Spartan ranks were broken, leading confusion, disarray for the ferociously organized militia. Also in the melee king, Cleon Brutus perished, which led to a feedback loop of the demoralization that no doubt contributed to the eventual defeat of the Spartan Army 400 Sparta. Its lost their lives that day.

00;53;11;10 - 00;53;33;13

Levi

What's more, since so many of these men were social elites, their death left huge holes in the political fabric of Spartan society, which was plagued with turmoil and could simply not readjust itself. Following those last Spartan defeat it, Leuchter showcases how rigid, how rigidity can also translate to lack of resilience or adaptability in taking a risk and thinking strategically at them.

00;53;33;15 - 00;53;59;19

Levi

Epaminondas was able to defeat the Spartan Army. This is also because in honing their technique to the umpteenth degree, Sparta had perhaps lost sight of the downside of having a quote unquote perfected strategy, which is predictability. The defeat at Leuchter was proverbial Jenga piece that set the towering dominance of Sparta to a crumbling rubble. There were forever undermined as a military power and never recovered.

00;53;59;21 - 00;54;20;07

Levi

Spartan military supremacy has been questioned as an academic exercise in recent years, especially because it has been co-opted by the far right. Sci fi author Mike Cole delved into military history in the book The Bronze Lie, which explores the myth of ancient Sparta through a skeptical lens of the Spartans. He says they were cowards, just like we are.

00;54;20;14 - 00;54;38;21

Levi

They were greedy, just like we are. They showed fear, just like we do. They lost, just like we do. And they also were capable of heroics and great things. I think flawed humans are so much easier to connect with and take inspiration from than this crazy idea of mythical super warriors, which nobody ever was, let alone the Spartans.

00;54;38;24 - 00;55;10;02

Levi

of the Spartans, like in the: 2000

00;55;10;03 - 00;55;29;22

Levi

I don't know if the Roman Empire is taking off again because people are talking about it because like the Tik Tok trend or whatever. But you could apply that to them, too. Spartan culture has been adopted by the Warrior Society ethos of the of some of the elements of Americana. Think of the initial formation during a football game as a little phalanx.

00;55;29;29 - 00;55;53;11

Levi

Right. You have your offensive defensive linemen. You have this flat line that is protecting your guy, launching stuff. You know, the failings often stood in front of your projectile forces. The winged Corinthian helmet of the Spartan Warriors, often allocated by sports teams in the United States. Think of think of Michigan State. The Spartans, I think it's San Diego State.

00;55;53;11 - 00;56;17;11

Levi

Also how they see the San Diego or San Jose, one of the two. They have a Spartan helmet. There's a lot of sports teams like to use that imagery, that icon, that helmet is so powerful for like imagery. I guess part military culture has been glorified and ballooned up pop culture with elements of this righteous die for the cause mentality, even skewing heavily towards that some fewer desirable elements of patriotism.

00;56;17;11 - 00;56;42;27

Levi

Yes, you guessed it. Godwin's Law is at play here too, because now we get to talk about Nazis in order to bolster its ideology. The Nazi party of Germany held itself up by the Jenkins. The conceptual scaffolding known to borrow from various credos Nazi ism attempted to fold itself in a larger historical framework. This is demonstrated by its borrowing of Norse mythology, as well as dabbling into cultism.

00;56;42;28 - 00;57;08;28

Levi

But the Nazi Party is also interested in long surviving ideas surrounding Sparta. In fact, a lot of the right wing identity politics folds into some manufactured ideals about Spartan culture, namely their blind bravery, righteousness and unparalleled military skill. Nazi children were wrongly taught that ancient Spartans were actually an Aryan tribe. What's more, they inflated racial and martial ideologies of Spartan.

00;57;09;01 - 00;57;34;25

Levi

Sparta were retrofitted to justify the corrupt ideals of the Third Reich. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Yeah. Awesome. Academics sometimes called Spartans as a cultural influence. The quote unquote Spartan mirage. This is because this culture has evoked a lot of dissonance and has left a vestigial element of mystery that adds to the mythos. Many historians, philosophers, writers in attempting to write about Sparta, find themselves grappling with a society that is hard to pin down.

00;57;34;25 - 00;57;56;24

Levi

French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who attempted to write the history of Sparta, stated, The greatest inconvenience associated with my endeavor is that here one sees men who resemble us almost in nothing, who seem to us to be outside of nature, perhaps much because we are in that state ourselves, as because they are in fact their their crimes inspire us in horror.

00;57;56;24 - 00;58;25;20

Levi

Sometimes their virtues themselves make us shiver because we are weak and pusillanimous in good times and in bad. Everything that bears a certain character of force and vigor seems to us impossible the incredulity that we parade is the work of our cowardice rather than that of our reason. One thing that can be said about Sparta is that the regime seemed to understand that extensive grandstanding storytelling veil of secrecy and their expulsion of the other kept the Mirage working.

00;58;25;20 - 00;58;51;15

Levi

Spartans were victorious in the disdain of foreigners. There are many accounts of them not accepting travelers within city walls. Thus, the aura of mystery maintained, at least for some part of history. In many ways. It also appears, though, as though Spartans understood the value of good marketing or quote P.T. Barnum. There's no such thing as bad publicity. In other words, even in the words of historian Herodotus, Spartans were a slippery bunch, and that worked in their favor.

00;58;51;18 - 00;59;22;13

Levi

Obviously paraphrasing, although how cool would it be for artists to just say Spartans were slippery? That would be amazing. He did also infer that Spartans more or less said one thing and did another entirely, which added to the mental fog around the mysterious city state with its austere population. Recently, it has been suggested that the Spartan mores extended to cultural criticism and even academia itself, with the idea that Spartan culture and its subsequent inflation and critiques serve as a mirror of the bourgeoisie or as academic.

00;59;22;13 - 00;59;46;10

Levi

Paul A right set states a morality supportive of our own way of life. Spartans. That's the episode. I hope you all learn something valuable. I hope this was helpful in dispelling some of the major myths of these ancient people that you can go to one of those Spartan racism, wait outside the finish line and go, Well, actually, and hopefully impress all of them.

00;59;46;10 - 01;00;06;13

Levi

Probably probably get a medal. Honestly, I really think this is a fun episode to do, and I always wanted to do something similar to this with a bunch of different ones. I mean, we kind of did it with the samurai, but that was just kind of just talking about them. Really didn't do a whole lot of myth busting with them because, I don't know, I just wasn't thinking in that level.

01;00;06;14 - 01;00;28;25

Levi

I thought maybe just going straight at just describing what they were was probably the best way to go. So for this one, where it is such a pop culture zeitgeisty kind of thing, I felt like bringing it in terms of this is a thing people have a limited understanding of and the understanding that they do have is largely myth based.

01;00;28;27 - 01;01;01;10

Levi

were because it seemed in the: 2000

01;01;01;12 - 01;01;27;11

Levi

Granted, there's like sports teams that have had the Spartans as their logos and their mascots for a long time before that. But I'm talking video games, movies, TV shows like all of these things were kind of steamrolling our collective unconscious about what the Spartans were. And I think the Vikings are the current rendition of that because Go to go to Netflix and type in Vikings and see how many shows you find.

01;01;27;13 - 01;01;49;21

Levi

There are some shows that do it very well. There are some shows that, you know, fudge the numbers, so to speak. There are video games, as mentioned. I mentioned the Assassin's Creed games. They have they have ancient Greece and they have Vikings. Right. You know, and it extends into other franchises and other things. I mean, don't get me wrong, as a fan of history, I, I appreciate all of it.

01;01;49;21 - 01;02;19;06

Levi

And it's like, okay, well, that dips people's toes into it. That's great. I love that aspect of it. But I think that there is a large disconnect from where people go from, I enjoyed this video game or this movie, and then they just assume that it's facts or they don't care to look into anything further. They don't care to try and figure out what the truth of it is, because sometimes a fiction, you know, it's a little more it's sexier than the facts are sometimes.

01;02;19;06 - 01;02;50;01

Levi

And that clouds our judgment that can make us feel one way or the other about certain things, like, I don't know, it just it just seems like that's that's the way people would. It's easier to do that, right? It's easier just to assume like, yeah, this is accurate. I see a lot of still to this day I see a lot of like Spartan or even ancient Greek, like just related tattoos or, you know, profile pictures like a Spartan helmet or Leonidas or something.

01;02;50;02 - 01;03;13;06

Levi

I'm like, okay, all right, man. You know, I do a lot of off the cuff judgment on that. But you know that this is not this is not the podcast for that. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. I really did find everything fascinating because I think I think that I am not immune to some of the mythologizing that media can put out in some of the historical things.

01;03;13;06 - 01;03;35;03

Levi

And I like these episodes where I'm able to kind of break away my former, you know, preconceived notions and explain it. And I think doing these shows also helps me explain things and not helps me explain, but helps me learn things better. Because if you're teaching people stuff, you learn it better too. So anyway, that's it for this week.

01;03;35;03 - 01;04;06;26

Levi

Hopefully. Hopefully nobody nobody's made their entire identity on the Spartan ideology. And if you do, I guess maybe don't have slaves and and don't. Here's the big thing. One of the things that I thought was important is like towards the end, towards the fall of the Spartans, how they just assumed that having so many of their like important people in these battles like this that overall stretching your your country, your political system and your army so thin where you're like, it'll be fine.

01;04;06;26 - 01;04;32;12

Levi

I'll just I'll just, you know, we'll just figure it out If all of our aristocrat die, you know, and we'll just assume that we can just keep moving on. That's a very silly way to do that. But anyway, thank you for joining me. Don't forget to share us wherever you are taking this in or wherever you hang out on the Internet or even in person, you work with somebody.

01;04;32;14 - 01;04;53;14

Levi

Maybe they maybe they have a sticker from they've ran a Spartan race or like, Hey, dude, you're into like you did a Spartan and you want to learn more about Spartans, Check out this podcast. It doesn't have to be much. I don't ask for a lot. I am doing this out of my own self-interest. I enjoy this. I enjoy teaching people.

01;04;53;16 - 01;05;13;00

Levi

Most of the people that listen are my friends personally, and that's cool. But I would like, you know, I would like to teach more people. I innately I just want to be that person that is telling people random facts that they don't need to know, but they do know. So you're welcome. Yeah. Check out all of our Friends podcast.

01;05;13;00 - 01;05;33;08

Levi

All my in the description towards the very end, the description and all our friends podcast. My other show West of Nowhere is in there. You can check that out if you want. You know, I held back a little bit on like my political stances on this show, but if you want to hear me discuss those things I do sometimes on that show, pretty interesting, if you like news, I guess.

01;05;33;09 - 01;05;54;20

Levi

Otherwise, there's a lot of really sad news that we talk about and just trying to make sense of the world. And then the real creature feature my friend Mac, and then David and Sarah with the Niqab Emporium. And I think is there one other I don't think there's another one. Anyway, check those out. Check all of this out like, and subscribe to all the things and yeah, and I will see you next time by.

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