1. Spartan Literature

2. Spartan Literature
Most ancient written sources on Sparta were not written by Spartans
The period in which Sparta held significant power in the Greek world provides us with our only surviving Spartan literary sources – fragments of the poetry of Alcman and a few complete poems, and some fragments of works by Tyrtaeus.

3. Alcman
Alcman lived and worked in Sparta around the end of the 7th century BC following the 2nd Messenian War.
Clues in his poems suggest that he might have come from Sardis, the capital of the kingdom known as Lydia in Asia Minor.
His poetry reflects a cultured, prosperous society that was open to foreign influences.

4. Alcman’s Poetry - Davies
Sparta was not yet the military state it later became but a home of music and poetry.
Spartan literature began in the 7th century.
It’s from Sparta that we have our earliest substantial fragments of choral lyric, which are the work of Alcman.
Longest fragment consists of about 100 lines, complete or partial of his Parthenion or Maiden Song.
Seems to have been sung by choir of girls at a religious festival before dawn, competing in music and beauty with another choir.
Contains brilliant imagery, simplicity and melodic beauty.

5. Maiden Song There is vengeance from the gods,
but blessed is he who is blithely
winds out all his day of life
without tears. But I sing the
light of Agido. I see
her like the sun, whose shining
on us is witnessed through Agido.
But our lovely choir leader
will not let me praise her, nor
say she is not fair.
She knows well that she herself is
something dazzling,
just as if among a herd of
cattle one should set a racehorse,
sinewy, swift, and with feet full of thunder,
creature out of a dream with wings.

6. Tyrtaeus - Darlington
c. mid-7th century BC, Tyrtaeus wrote poetry that encouraged the Spartans to fight bravely during the 2nd Messenian War.
Apart from fragments, only FOUR of Tyrtaeus’ elegies (song to lament and honour the dead) have survived.
Who he really is remains a mystery.
Ancient Greek stories describe him as a poet sent by Athens to help the Spartans, a lame schoolmaster and composer, and a Spartan general.
Some scholars doubt that he ever existed.
There is evidence that his poetry was sung by Spartan soldiers on march until at least the 4th century BC.

7. Tyrtaeus
Approximately 12 fragments, including at least three complete poems, have been preserved in books by Strabo and other writers.
They were written to praise the Spartan constitution and to encourage heroism in Spartiates.
Historians date most of Tyrtaeus’ poems to around c.650BC.