Review of sources on Sparta
- Created by: EmmaMintram
- Created on: 12-04-16 17:59
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- Literary sources for Sparta
- Xenophon
- He was born in c. 430 BC in Attica
- His agenda was essentially didactic (meant to teach)
- He fought for the Spartans against a Greek coalition which included the Athenians
- He was exiled from Athens
- Much of his work was left incomplete
- Diodorus
- Greek historian born c. 100 BC and lived during the reign of Caesar and Augustus
- He does not always quote his sources
- His is the only continuous historical source that has survived
- Gives us an insight into sources that have been lost
- Aristophanes
- Greek comic playwright
- Wrote plays for entertainment and to win competitions
- His plays consistently opposed radical new influences in Athenian society
- Disliked Cleon and regularly used his plays to attack his character
- Born ca. 446 BC and was writing during and after the Peloponnesian War
- He survived the Pelopennesian War, two Oligarchic revolutions and two democratic restoration
- Tyrtaeus
- Was writing c. 450 BC
- Some sources claim that he was Spartan, however, some say he was an Athenian sent to Sparta. Either way, he spent time in Sparta
- He wrote poetry encouraging Spartans to be brave and stay loyal during the 2nd Messenian War
- His poetry follows the Homeric style
- Thucydides
- Born c. 460 BC in Alimos, South Athens
- He was elected Strategos, a military magistrate of great importance, in 424 BC
- He caught the plague between 430-429 BC and survived
- He was defeated by the Spartan General Brasidas which led to his exile from Athens
- Recites speeches that he couldn't have possibly heard first hand e.g the debate at Sparta (book 1)
- He avoids storytelling and focuses on battle strategies
- Plutarch
- Born AD 46 in Boeotia, Greece
- He displays evidence of extensive research
- He mixed with Roman emperors such as Hadrian and Trajan
- He was widely travelled, visiting cities such as, Sparta, Corinth and Alexandria
- He was well-educated and studied mathematics and philosophy
- Was writing with the purpose of entertaining Roman aristocrats
- Herodotus
- Born c. 484 BC in modern-day Turkey
- He produced the first great narrative history in the ancient world
- He was well-travelled visiting much of the Persian Empire
- Xenophon
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