Spartan Reflections [Hardcover]

Paul Cartledge (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520231236 | ISBN-13: 978-0520231238 | Publication Date: June 2, 2001 | Edition: First

The complex and distinctive Spartan tradition has been a prominent theme in western thinking from antiquity to today. Sparta is also one of a handful of ancient Greek cities with enough existing evidence for historians to create a realistic social portrait. Over the past quarter-century Paul Cartledge has established himself as the leading international authority on ancient Sparta. Spartan Reflections is a superb collection of his essays--two are published here for the first time, and the rest, often difficult to locate, have been revised and updated for publication in book form. Giving us a real sense of what Sparta was like as a culture, these essays constitute a fascinating introduction to and overview of ancient Spartan history and its reception. This collection, unique in breadth and scope, will be an essential source for anyone interested in this idiosyncratic society.
Cartledge brings us up to date on what is known about the most important and intriguing aspects of Sparta: its military development, questions of gender and sexuality, and the difficult problem of artistic and literary aspects of Sparta. We learn about the institutions that distinguished Sparta from other city-states, including its religion, education process, degree of literacy, secret service, unusual system of servitude, and institutionalized pederasty. Throughout, Cartledge also makes important comparisons with Athens, helping us grasp what is really striking about Sparta.
Cartledge's writing is clear and engaging as he draws from myriad sources both ancient and modern, as well as from political and cultural theory. These essays, together with their magisterial bibliography, demonstrate his remarkable scholarly and intellectual range. Spartan Reflections will be an important source on the most significant issues in Sparta scholarship today as well as a fascinating look at this culture for general readers.
A Selection of the History Book Club

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Cartledge . . . embraces more or less all of those matters Spartan that have won praise, or condemnation, from antiquity onwards." -- Times Literary Supplement

From the Inside Flap

"This is a book that scholars will read with pleasure, and a book from which advanced undergraduates and graduates will gain a sense of what Sparta was like as a culture, and (just as important) the nature and state of play of contemporary Spartan studies. And it will be accessible for the well informed lay reader as well."--Josiah Ober, author of Political Dissent in Democratic Athens

"Paul Cartledge's aim, in this powerful collection of essays, is to shed light in dark places, to demythicize... Cartledge is shrewd, realistic, and far from starry-eyed. Over a quarter-century's exhaustive research, now updated, has gone into these densely documented and tightly argued essays. These Spartans, in the last resort, are exploitative slave-drivers, obsessed with keeping their serfs down (by annually killing off any resisters, among other things)... Modern idealizers of cold baths, black broth, mindless discipline and long route marches should read this book and, hopefully, have second thoughts."--Peter Green, author of Alexander to Actium

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 276 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; First edition (June 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520231236
• ISBN-13: 978-0520231238
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,629,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Paul Cartledge is the inaugural A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture in the Faculty of Classics at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of Clare College. He is also Hellenic Parliament Global Distinguished Professor in the History and Theory of Democracy at New York University. He written and edited over 20 books, many of which have been translated into foreign languages. He is an honorary citizen of modern Sparta and holds the Gold Cross of the Order of Honor awarded by the President of Greece.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reflections on a mirage, April 25, 2004

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D. Roberts "Hadrian12" (Battle Creek, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Spartan Reflections (Hardcover)

Paul Cartledge of Cambridge university is one of the foremost philhellenes and classical scholars in the world. Beyond that, to my knowledge he is the preeminent authority on ancient Sparta of the present age. In fact, I can only think of a handful of names that would qualify as being in his class.

The present book is a compilation of essays that Cartledge wrote during various times during his intellectual career. Cartledge engages sundry enduring questions that the in inquisitor of Spartan history is apt to have.

Some of the topics covered include the Laconian approach to slavery, homosexuality, the art of war, the duel kingship concept, the idea of the egalitarian citizen, the position and treatment of Lacedamon women as well as the AGOGE [i.e.: public education] of young Spartan males.

Through it all, Cartledge attempts an elucidation between what Sparta was "really" like and what he liked to call the Spartan "mirage" would have outsiders believe. The latter was how Sparta wished to project herself to all other Greek city states.

The present text is far easier to read than his SPARTA AND LACONIA (which was his doctoral dissertation presented in book form). Nevertheless, it would be prudent for the reader to have at least some familiarity with the Homeric epics as well as Herodotus and Thucydides. If you're able to grasp some of the inferences Cartledge makes, you'll be fine. If not, you might get lost.

This is a book that should be read by all graduate and undergraduate classrooms where the course is has in mind a focus on ancient Sparta. If Sparta is what you're interested in, then Cartledge is whom you should be reading. He really is that good.

15 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars retaliation, November 14, 2004

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M. Jack (glasgow, scotland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Spartan Reflections (Hardcover)

for the above reviewer, too academic you say, how much so are you the general reader. i'm 20, in my second year at uni studying classical greece and it's at a level to which everyone can read. it is an insult to the general readers intelligence that you refer to it as too academic. may i suggest concentration!

1 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars this book sucked., January 8, 2009

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Paul from Queens (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spartan Reflections (Paperback)

uhh no... if ur interested in the Spartans then dont get this boring book. this book was like that terrible text book u were forced to read in school. dry, boring, drained the life out of you.