Evaluate_the_Importance_of_Religion,_Death_and_Burial_in_Ancient_Sparta

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word ‘Sparta’' Most people, I am sure, yelled Hollywood movie 300’s famous line - “THIS IS SPARTA!” in their heads. But do they really know what Sparta was actually like' Often the true Sparta is lost in a misconception or a mythical stereotype in that we don’t see a culture imbedded in religious rituals, with important life and death practices. Instead we perceive it as a society that just war-hungry. I am here, therefore, to shed some light on the Sparta that not many people know about; far from the glamour of Hollywood impressions, Sparta was and is much more - it was a society that relied on its spiritual principles for the building and maintenance of its ideals. Religion was equally respected in public as it was private, and throughout the history of Sparta, there are numerous demonstrations of the significance of religion. A prime example of this, highlighting the value of godly worship and refuting the myth that Sparta was only interested in war and was an unspiritual nation, was the Spartans’ delay to join the Battle of Marathon as the festival of Karneia had not yet ended. A total of twelve gods and goddesses were served in daily life, Zeus the God of all creation holding the utmost importance. There were, however, a select few who held particular reverence amongst the Spartans, these included Apollo the God of music, poetry and dance, and Artemis (who was worshipped as Artemis Orthia), the goddess and protector of women, fertility and childbirth. Sparta also had two kings who were highly revered due to their ancestral link to Heracles and were therefore, it was accepted that “a king by virtue of his divine descent should perform all the public sacrifices on the city’s behalf”. The kings, with assistance from the pithioi, also had the responsibility of seeking and interpreting oracles and presided over the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi. This responsibility of the theirs held great importance pertaining to military organization and Sparta’s territorial expansion as before entering into a battle, or crossing a boarder, the kings would seek divination by sacrificing animals; a good omen would see them move forward, and a bad would see them retreat, as seen by Sparta’s four attempts to invade Argo which were foiled by bad omens. Herodotus’ accounts of these events convey the extent to which divination, and therefore religion, influenced the Spartans’ choosing of battles, but it can also be supposed that perhaps these instances were just the kings avoiding battles they knew their fate would be unfavourable in. Illustrating religion’s connection to supplying Sparta with healthy offspring, and therefore, a fit and healthy future population was the cult of Artemis Orthia, which was the combination of Artemis to Orthia, a local Spartan goddess whom not much is known about. To ensure they could successfully access the privilege of contributing healthy offspring to the state, i.e. their babies being deemed fit to live by the ephors, women would call upon Artemis Orthia for guidance during pregnancy; similarly, to be an agamoi, was seen as a disgrace, and as a result, we see through archaeological evidence that the prayers of these men and women were accompanied by votive offerings to the goddess. An abundance of lead figurines has been found in the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia and this confirms the cult’s role in upholding the Spartan ideal of being a physically elite state. Additionally, Artemis Orthia was also the god of the wilderness and hunting, thus the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia was used as the setting for the ‘cheese stealing’ ritual. Those whose efforts were successful would, therefore, be promoted to the next level in the agoge program, and the discovery of terracotta masks and figurines depicting musical instruments being played has given us indication as to how successful competitors and spectators celebrated and gave thanks to Artemis Orthia for their favourable outcome, as well as Sparta’s military achievements in general. This, when taken into account with the cult’s relation to childbirth, highlights the cult’s key role in determining just who would go on to maintain this society ideal for a physically dominant population. Religion’s role in imposing this ideal is further demonstrated by the state’s festivals. At the beginning of each, animals were sacrificed to the gods, as they were essential for the wellbeing of the state, with the Spartans believing that any fury of the gods would be taken out on these animals instead of the people. Two prominent festivals included the Gymnopaedia and Hyakinthia, which were dedicated to Apollo. The Gymnopaedia, held in July, was where males had their stamina and strength put to the test and were forced to run and perform intricate sequences of dance and song. This practice had the function of thanking Apollo for his military mercies whilst also training the hoplites who used music and dance to distinguish between different battle formations. Ultimately, every procession of music and dance served a greater purpose – to train the hoplites in precision and efficiency and also familiarize the eirenes with the music and sequences that they were essentially dedicating their lives to as military service was mandatory and for life. Also held in the summer, the three-day long Hyakinthia festival was established by Apollo to mourn and honour the death of his lover, Hyakinthos; as such it had two stages – one sorrowful and one joyful. Like the Gymnopaedia, it served a greater purpose than just to worship Apollo, for it promoted another one of Sparta’s ideals – that social cohesion is needed to strengthen unity and morale amongst the population in order to maintain Sparta’s success as a military state and minimize revolt. We are told by Athennaeus that to achieve this, Sparta was essentially left unoccupied for the duration of the festival whilst the whole community travelled to Amyclae to participate in festivities; social cohesion was so important that even the helots were allowed to participate and were entertained by the military’s elite. This enforcement of social cohesion, however, seems to exclude those who did not conform to the Spartan standard, since agamoi were not allowed to participate and citizenship was revoked from the tresentes who did not want to participate. Furthermore, the sorrowful period of the festival has led to the Hyakinthia’s association with the cult of death as myth has it that Hyakinthos was reincarnated in the form of a flower that blossoms and withers away each year. Accordingly, the Hyakinthia was a very important religious activity, as the Spartans believed it represented the natural cycle of life. Something that went hand in hand with the Hyakinthia to encourage the acceptance of death is the presence of cemeteries within the city. The legendary lawgiver, Lykourgos, implemented cemeteries in Sparta so “that they would not be disturbed by them, nor dread death”. While it must be acknowledged that there are many gaps in our knowledge of Spartan funerary customs and rituals, we do know, with thanks to Plutarch, that only women who died in childbirth and soldiers who perished in battle or were of high gallantry were honoured with proper graves, Lykourgos instating that unless a person “died in sacred office…it was not permitted to inscribe the name of the person on their tomb” - This would have given incentive for Spartans to aim for physical excellence and put the state first before their own lives so that their good name would never perish as they watch over Sparta and their families from the afterlife . The kings were also treated differently in death because of their divine ancestry and the religious roles they were given. Fittingly, their deaths marked a statewide period of mourning that was initiated by horse riders carrying the news to every corner of Sparta. Herodotus has given an account of the funerary rites of a king, the most important of these being that non-compliers were heavily fined and that after ten days, a new king would be elected and “all debts owed by Spartan citizens either to the king or to the treasury” would be forgotten. Through this it can be interpreted that death, especially death of the kings, was seen as a mechanism for restoring eunomia to the state, and minimizing chances of revolt from those who opposed the deceased king. All in all, religion, death and burial held great importance in Sparta; through religion, the core ideals of the society, such as physical elitism, were promoted and Sparta’s great military ambitions were provided with divine guidance as exemplified by the cult of Artemis Orthia and the acts of divination carried out by the kings. Religion was also important for the encouragement and enforcement of social cohesion, as witnessed through the Gymnopaedia and Hyakinthia festivals which were whole-community events. Physical excellence was promoted and adhered to as those who did not conform were shunned. Moreover, these festivals had religion act as a vessel for artistic expression as seen by the elaborate musical and dance processions performed at such events while death and burial also had an important role as honor in death had to be earned, thus provoking citizens to comply with what the state expected of them. In short, religion, death and burial held great spiritual, as well as secular, benefits for the Spartans. The rituals surrounding these three things were also uniquely Spartan in that their practices were tailored to their society, and that is why they were so important – they enabled Sparta to protect its ideals and maintain eunomia amongst its population. 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