Cultural Life

•“Suppose, for example, that the city of Sparta were to become deserted and that only the temples and foundations of buildings remained, i think that future generations would, as time passed, find it very difficult to believe that the place had really been as powerful as it was represented to be… Since, however, the city is not regularly planned and contains no temples or monuments of great magnificence, but is simply a collection of villages, in the ancient Hellenic way, its appearance would not come up to expectation. If, on the other hand, the same thing were to happen to Athens, one would conjecture from what met the eye that the city had been twice as powerful as in fact it is.”

Thucydides 1.10

Many people accept this negative assessment of the Spartans cultural and artistic pursuits.
However, there is now significant archaeological as well as historical evidence that Sparta enjoyed an artistic Golden Age from roughly 650 to 550 BC. In this period, its artistic achievements were renowned throughout the known world.
At this time, Spartan sculptors were active not only at home but also in cultural centers such as Olympia and Delphi; at least nine sculptors are known by name.
Spartan bronze products were of such high quality that they were viewed as valuable diplomatic gifts and found their way to the far corners of the earth.

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5. Cultural Life.ppt