The Father Of The “Spartan” Lifestyle Allegedly Played A Huge Role In Circulating Homer’s Epic Poetry

A great deal of what we know about Spartan history comes from Plutarch (c. 50-120), a Greek scholar born in Boeotia while the region was under Roman influence. In a series of biographies known as the Parallel Lives, Plutarch alternated between accounts about Roman and Greek figures from history, including several influential men of Sparta. One of Plutarch’s many subjects was Lycurgus, the man credited with founding Sparta’s iconic culture of pragmatic simplicity and disciplined militancy. By the time Plutarch was writing, the legends of Lycurgus were more myth than history, a reality that Plutarch freely admitted in his work. Nevertheless, he recounted the stories he had collected about Lycurgus, often listing out his sources and judging which versions he believed were more feasible. As many of the sources he used regarding Sparta have now been lost or damaged, modern historians rely heavily on Plutarch’s summaries.

Concerning Lycurgus, Plutarch admitted that there were conflicting accounts that clashed on almost every part of the legend’s life.  Nevertheless, the scholar impressively pieced together a narrative and notified his readers where most of the inconsistencies occurred. Even the century in which Lycurgus was supposed to have lived was unknown, ranging from as early as the 9th century BCE, in the age of Homer, or as late as the 6th century BCE, by which time Sparta had become noticeably militant and adverse to luxury.

According to Plutarch’s sources, Lycurgus was a king of Sparta for eight months until he abdicated in favor of his infant nephew. So as not to be a threat to the boy-king’s power, Lycurgus allegedly decided to travel the Mediterranean, collecting information that would be helpful for Sparta, as well as recruiting wise people that would be beneficial to Spartan society. The various sources that Plutarch browsed disagreed on where exactly Lycurgus traveled. Most stated that the wandering Spartan sailed to Crete, and then wandered around Anatolia, spending time in the Greek-settled coastal region of Ionia. In addition, Plutarch claimed that other individual sources reported Lycurgus as also having traveled through Libya, Iberia, Egypt and India.

While in Ionia, the homeland of Homer, Lycurgus was said to have run across a community that descended from Creophylus, a legendary figure who was close to the poet. This unnamed community had apparently taken it upon themselves to preserve the works of Homer. According to the tale, the Greeks of Lycurgus’ time had a vague notion of the Ionian poet, but had not fully embraced the famous epics. Plutarch wrote that Lycurgus initially dismissed the poetry as useless, but once he recognized the wise military, political and cultural lessons embedded in the verses, he changed his mind and made copies of Homer’s works. Therefore, according to the tale, Lycurgus helped popularize the poems of Homer by bringing his copies home to mainland Greece. Ironically, along with the timeless poetry, Lycurgus also brought back with him the “Spartan” way of life, which was famously opposed to art and excessive education.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Lycurgus of Sparta, by Merry-Joseph Blondel (1781–1853), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• On Sparta (Life of Lycurgus), by Plutarch excerpted from his Parallel Lives, translated by Richard J. A. Talbert. New York: Penguin Classics, 2005.

Aristotle Did Not Believe That Modesty And Humility Were Virtues

In his text, The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE) created a system of moral behavior that is known as Virtue Ethics. He wrote that achieving a virtuous lifestyle takes time and practice—virtue, for him, was not something you were born with, but rather it was a proper state of mind and action that a person must impose on themselves. He warned that many people would find it difficult to live by a code of virtue. Nevertheless, he also promised that those who persisted in trying to live virtuously would eventually find themselves practicing virtue by habit.

Interestingly, The Nicomachean Ethics reads almost like a Buddhist text, as Aristotle constantly instructs his readers to take a middle path. All of Aristotle’s virtues are on the middle ground between two extremes of a human trait. In the modern world, many people consider modesty and humility to be virtues. Yet, for Aristotle, these were actually extreme behaviors that should be avoided by a virtuous person.

Aristotle highly prized the virtues of sincerity and truthfulness. For him, modesty and humility were actually produced by a deficiency of sincerity. He believed that claiming your worth and importance as being less than what is true did not meet the criteria of sincerity and, therefore, was not a virtuous act. In fact, Aristotle wrote that modest and humble behavior was only appropriate for children. The other extreme on the excessive side of sincerity was boastfulness or arrogance. So, instead of being humble and understating your abilities, or being boastful and overstating your abilities, Aristotle would suggest that you take the middle path and simply be sincere about yourself.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Marble 2nd century portrait of Aristotle (housed in the Museo Nazionale Romano) in front of a painting of Plato’s Academy by Raphael (1483–1520), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Nicomachean Ethics (Book IV, chapter ix) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

The Rise And Destruction Of The Legalist, Lord Shang

According to traditional dating, Lord Shang was born in the ancient Chinese state of Wei around 390 BCE. At the time, as he was not yet a lord, he went by the name Wei Yang or Gongsun Yang. He began his career of law and education in his homeland of Wei, but eventually traveled to the dukedom of Qin, where his teaching would leave a lasting legacy.

Wei Yang began his political rise as an advisor to Duke Xiao of Qin (r. 361-338 BCE). He focused his advice on making the Qin state’s military, agriculture, and taxing systems more efficient. Most important, however, was Wei Yang’s vision for the law code of Qin. He envisioned a system of laws and penalties that had no exceptions and no exemptions, applicable to both peasantry and royalty. His teachings, published as The Book of Lord Shang, would serve as a foundation and standard for the government philosophy of Legalism.

Wei Yang’s policies gave the state of Qin a visible advantage in the tumultuous time of the Warring States Period, an age when numerous Chinese states battled continuously for centuries in pursuit of great power. As Wei Yang’s policies continued to shape the dukedom of Qin into an efficient and streamlined empire-building machine, Duke Xiao also promoted the advisor higher and higher in the ranks of the Qin state. Eventually, Wei Yang personally led Qin armies on campaigns, usually targeting the state of Wei. He proved himself to be a sound military strategist, successfully besieging opposing cities, and capturing rival military leaders. With his accomplishments growing, Wei Yang was granted a noble title equivalent to that of a marquis, after which he was thereafter known as Lord Shang (or Shang Yang).

Nevertheless, even though Lord Shang’s laws were strengthening Qin and he had achieved a noble title for his work, his popularity among the other nobles in the Qin court (especially the heir apparent) was abysmal. After all, Lord Shang wanted the nobility to be held just as accountable to his strict laws as the peasantry. As such, when Lord Shang’s patron, Duke Xiao, died around 338 BCE, the reforming lord quickly found himself surrounded by bitter enemies. Lord Shang tried to flee from his enemies in Qin, but Duke Huiwen, the new ruler of the Qin state, apprehended the lord and brought him back to face the angry nobility. The nobles of Qin (much like Lord Shang’s laws) showed no mercy. He was allegedly executed by being gruesomely pulled apart by horse-drawn carriages or chariots.

Even so, Lord Shang had left his mark. Legalism would survive in the state of Qin and would be a vital tool utilized by Shihuangdi, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, who emerged victorious from the Warring States Period in 221 BCE. Yet, just like Lord Shang, the Qin Dynasty and its Legalist policies met an early end—it collapsed around 207 or 206 BCE. The Han Dynasty that succeeded the Qin Dynasty reinstituted the Confucian view of government, but gladly kept diluted ideas from Legalism in place.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture attribution: (Terracotta army soldier, [Public Domain] via pixabay.jpg).

Sources:

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993. 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Shang-Yang 
• http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/social-sciences-and-law/sociology-biographies/shang-yang 
• https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/chinese-legalism/ 
• http://philosophy.hku.hk/ch/Lord%20Shang.htm  

Han Fei Tzu Was Executed By The Greatest Follower Of His Legalist Government Philosophy

(Portrait of Han Fei Tzu, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Around 280 BCE, Han Fei Tzu was born a prince into the Han Kingdom, of central China. Han Fei could sense that his country was going to fall if government reform was not put in place to improve the strength and efficiency of the Han Dynasty.

Unfortunately for Han Fei Tzu, he had no oratory skill—in fact, he had a horrible stammer. His speech impediment, however, did not deter him from spreading his ideas. Instead of speaking, Han Fei Tzu put his teachings on paper and managed to circulate his message throughout the region.

Han Fei Tzu’s philosophy was extreme legalism. He envisioned a state where law would direct every aspect of a person’s life—even religious texts and literary works would be replaced by legal code.

The Han Kingdom largely ignored Han Fei Tzu’s authoritarian ideas. Another king, however, did take notice of Han Fei’s philosophy. He was the king of Ch’in (also spelled Qin), who had risen to power in 246 BCE. He and his advisors began implementing the extreme legalist policies that could be found in the works of Han Fei Tzu. Under his rule, the Kingdom of Ch’in invaded Han in 234 BCE. The Han Kingdom was clearly losing the war against Ch’in, so they sent Han Fei Tzu to try to negotiate with the king of Ch’in. They thought that the king of Ch’in’s blatant admiration for Han Fei Tzu’s philosophy of authoritarian legalism would make Han Fei a perfect diplomat to win the favor of the Ch’in.

The king of Ch’in initially welcomed Han Fei Tzu with warmth, but soon the king had a change of heart—Han Fei Tzu was thrown into a dungeon. Accounts of that ancient time claim that the advisors of the king of Ch’in thought that Han Fei would remain loyal to their enemy, the Han kingdom, and that his authoritarian philosophy was too much of a threat to be allowed to spread to other kingdoms. In the end, Han Fei Tzu died of poisoning in the dungeon of the king of Ch’in.

Though Han Fei was dead, his philosophy lived on in the Ch’in Kingdom. The king in whose dungeon Han Fei Tzu died would use Han Fei’s authoritarian legalist philosophy to conquer much of China and be proclaimed, Emperor Shihuangdi, the first emperor of China.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

thehistorianshut.com

Take a look at our Han Fei Tzu quote pictures, here.

Source:

• Han Fei Tzu: Basic Writings, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Colombia University Press, 1964.