Many have heard of the heroic stand of the three hundred Spartans at Thermopylae but what happened to the Spartans after that battle? The Myth of Sparta begins with the death of Leonidas, the Lion of Sparta, and the famous three hundred Spartans, at the battle of Thermopylae and culminates in a dramatic retelling of the battle of Sphacteria, a battle which dramatically deals with the question of Spartan invincibility. It tells the story of the relations between the Spartans and the Athenians who turned from being the closest of allies into implacable enemies. It follows the lives of many of the Spartans during this period, meeting its Kings and Regents, as well as lesser known characters such as Styphon, a young Spartan, whose life we follow through the mysteries of the brutal training at the Agoge, the Spartan school for warriors. The novel describes the machinations of the Athenian politicians such as Pericles and Cleon who seek to control Athens as near dictators, forcing their will upon the people, acting through the power and guise of a Democratic society. The author follows the lives of lesser known Athenians, such as Demosthenes, who becomes a General and changes forever the strategy that the Athenians follow in their confrontations with Sparta. The book explores the life of the Helots, Greek citizens who were long ago subjugated by the Spartans and turned into slaves. In particular, we meet Kallistos, who waits until a great Earthquake brings Sparta to her knees before he strikes violently to challenge the serfdom he detests so much. The Myth of Sparta covers all of this and more, breathing life into historical characters and describing in dramatic detail, a period of history long forgotten.

Covering Sparta's full classical history, The Bronze Lie examines the myth of Spartan warrior supremacy. The last stand at Thermopylae made the Spartans legends in their own time, famous for their toughness, stoicism and martial prowess – but was this reputation earned? This book paints a very different picture of Spartan warfare – punctuated by frequent and heavy losses. We also discover a society dedicated to militarism not in service to Greek unity or to the Spartan state itself, but as a desperate measure intended to keep its massive population of helots (a near-slave underclass) in line. What successes there were, such as in the Peloponnesian Wars, gave Sparta only a brief period of hegemony over Greece. Today, there is no greater testament to this than the relative position of modern Sparta and its famous rival Athens. The Bronze Lie explores the Spartans' arms and armor, tactics and strategy, the personalities of commanders and the common soldiery alike. It looks at the major battles, with a special focus on previously under-publicized Spartan reverses that have been left largely unexamined. The result is a refreshingly honest and accurate account of Spartan warfare.

Examines the use of mythology to justify conquest and colonization across the Spartan Mediterranean in the archaic and Classical periods.

“Remarkable . . . [The author’s] crystalline prose, his vivacious storytelling and his lucid historical insights combine here to provide a first-rate history.” —Publishers Weekly Sparta has often been described as the original Utopia—a remarkably evolved society whose warrior heroes were forbidden any other trade, profession, or business. As a people, the Spartans were the living exemplars of such core values as duty, discipline, the nobility of arms in a cause worth dying for, sacrificing the individual for the greater good of the community (illustrated by their role in the battle of Thermopylae), and the triumph over seemingly insuperable obstacles—qualities often believed today to signify the ultimate heroism. In this book, distinguished scholar and historian Paul Cartledge, long considered the leading international authority on ancient Sparta, traces the evolution of Spartan society—the culture and the people as well as the tremendous influence they had on their world and even ours. He details the lives of such illustrious and myth-making figures as Lycurgus, King Leonidas, Helen of Troy (and Sparta), and Lysander, and explains how the Spartans, while placing a high value on masculine ideals, nevertheless allowed women an unusually dominant and powerful role—unlike Athenian culture, with which the Spartans are so often compared. In resurrecting this culture and society, Cartledge delves into ancient texts and archeological sources and includes illustrations depicting original Spartan artifacts and drawings, as well as examples of representational paintings from the Renaissance onward—including J.L. David’s famously brooding Leonidas. “A pleasure for anyone interested in the ancient world.” —Kirkus Reviews “[An] engaging narrative . . . In his panorama of the real Sparta, Cartledge cloaks his erudition with an ease and enthusiasm that will excite readers from page one.” —Booklist “Our greatest living expert on Sparta.” —Tom Holland, prize-winning author of Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic

"Myth, Text, and History at Sparta unites three studies that offer close readings concerning the interaction of the source material on Spartan history with the unfolding of actual historical events. These contributions take the position that not only political, but also social, policies at Sparta, as well as the historical actors giving them shape, were intensely--and to an unusual degree--influenced by myth, tradition, and popular memory about the Laconian past. Sparta drew strength from its professed adherence to the legacy of the Dorian conquest and to the legislative program of Lykourgos. And, objectively, Sparta represented the most tightly articulated instance of an archaic Greek sociopolitical order. However, past and present at Sparta co-evolved. The reader will find in the studies brought together in this volume that ideology, recollection, and wish-fulfillment stood in dynamic tension not only with practical decision-making, but also with the enthralling, centuries-long quest by individual Spartans for authority, legitimacy, and authenticity"--Provided by publisher.

For millennia, men have told the legend of the woman whose face launched a thousand ships—but now it's time to hear her side of the story. Daughters of Sparta is a tale of secrets, love, and tragedy from the women behind mythology's most devastating war, the infamous Helen and her sister Klytemnestra. As princesses of Sparta, Helen and Klytemnestra have known nothing but luxury and plenty. With their high birth and unrivaled beauty, they are the envy of all of Greece. But such privilege comes at a cost. While still only girls, the sisters are separated and married to foreign kings of their father's choosing— Helen remains in Sparta to be betrothed to Menelaos, and Klytemnestra is sent alone to an unfamiliar land to become the wife of the powerful Agamemnon. Yet even as Queens, each is only expected to do two things: birth an heir and embody the meek, demure nature that is expected of women. But when the weight of their husbands' neglect, cruelty, and ambition becomes too heavy to bear, Helen and Klytemnestra must push against the constraints of their society to carve new lives for themselves, and in doing so, make waves that will ripple throughout the next three thousand years. Daughters of Sparta is a vivid and illuminating reimagining of the Siege of Troy, told through the perspectives of two women whose voices have been ignored for far too long.

This book discusses Greek attitudes to settlement and territory as articulated through myths and cults. It covers the spectrum from explicit charter myths legitimating conquest, displacement, and settlement, to the 'precedent-setting' and even aetiological myths, rendering new landscapes 'Greek'.