Lower coast gazette., 1913-07-26

SPARTAN vi uldAAly
and have good children"
know of only one other Spartan
princess who is mentioned, n his
for the reason that she was a royal
princess who had no brothers, but
who married a king. Her name was
Lampito. On all the other prlncesses
serious history is silent, and will not
de:gn to repeat stray bits OF sscandai
that come down to us, such as we hear
about many exalted persons as a re-
suit of "the fierce light that beats
upon the throne"
There are some very distinct allu-
sions to the physical strength n
beauty of Spartan women; it was the
ambition of mothers elsewhere in
Greece to procure Spartan nurses, on
account of their ability to increase the
health and yigor of infants.
We can conceive Of a Spartan nurse
only as a prisoner of war, captured IN
some raid on the Laconian coast. we
know that Spartan men, when put up
for sale at auction, were indignant at
being called Spartans; there is a story
that one exclaimed im%patiently, mot
Spartan. but a prisoner of war!"
In Their Girlhood.
Plutarch, in his "Life of Lycurgus,'
which is the best source was nave on
this matter, says that the lawglyer
took care that parents should not
bring up girls in the seclusion OF the
house, but that they should encour-
age them to take open-air exercise,
and even to engage in races anu
: games in the presence OF the young
men. other Greeks accused the Spar
tan girls Of doing these things in very
scant dress, just as our young ain
letes now appear in costumes that are
adapted to exercise, but that are IN
!. like the ordinary garments Of society.
II is quite consistent with this great
freedom from convention that Spar
tan women should have enjoyed the
:, highest character in Greece for the
responsibility and virtue OF their prl-
yate lives; for this reason people non.
% ored them, not only in their own our
try, but throughout Greece.
All these conditions seem to make
it certain that they must have been
excellent mothers. They were more
outspoken than the men in their dis
gust for cowardice, and, according 70
the unanimous verdict Of antiquity,
no children ever got such training IN
manliness as the Spartans got. 1t Is
= even reported that one mother, When
her d came home branded as q COW
ard. stabbed him to the heart!
Nevertheless, it is apparent that aft
or their sons were seven years old tn
mothers had only a moral influence
over them. For then. the State too
the boys in hand, and kept them IN
=, der the exclusive control Of their mas
tiers. as the boys in English puoll
schools are kept. The Spartans. nov
:, ever, did not have the long holiday
~, that bring English boys back to tnei
homes at least twice a year. IN
Spartan education was n exclusivel
for war-the use of arms, and INTEL
gence in scouting. The teachers 81
nc couraged the sport of hunting in ordt
49,. to develop the physical endurance
their pupils. So far as we know, Il
, mothers we're wholly forbidden to ]
@u' ~terfere in this course Of training.
y" According to the anecdotes that 81
yive, the ability Of the boys to enou
pain was DESTINATIONS. We have
;. ~ : Gently obtained new and interesth
80 evidence about that from the exca'
items. at Sparta. There was an, :
cient and barbarous rite Of flogei
boys by way Of sacrifice to the prl'
tive goddess, Artemis Orthia. +
- tarch and Cicero both report thai t
Civ cruel practise lasted to their day, 9
that there were boys who died UNI
about wa" .h.n ,,+tor : crv
death VIC go
pain. J.
'a.lo The recent excavations show t
round the altar where the rite
practised, there was a kind OF thes
ed Dy to accommodate spectators who ca
men," together to see the exhibition OF n
rulers " endurance. There, no doubt, 81
}, o tan mothers looked on and to q
men. when others endured was a disgl
're 70 not only to the boy, but to his mo
e was and sisters, who had come to 8
; WIFI their family pride at his expense
lleslan The freedom with which these
Sparta men went about among men and
~ anu unteered their advice was notori
away Aristotle says that on one occai
during the crisis Of a Theban inva'
lin to the INSTRUMENTATION Of the wo
not to made them more troublesome
began than the enemy.
and at Spartan Heiresses.
er, the In Sparta, women held property
ost not some were great heiresses; I'M
his the the Importance that was attacne
tho marriage of an indirect heir Il