Paıdeía 13
commands all to say in harmony, with one voice from one mouth, that all the
[city’s] nómoı are finely made by gods.” Sophocles’ Menelaus speaks for Sparta
when he asserts,
Not in a city would the laws ever succeed unless dread was there estab-
lished; nor would an army ever show restraint and be ruled unless it had a
protective screen of fear and of awe. And even if a man develops great
strength, he should be of the view that he can be felled by an evil quite
small. For, where there is dread together with shame, know that you have
safety. But where it is permitted to be insolent and to do whatever one
wishes, be aware that such a city will run before favorable winds and fi-
nally into the deep. For me let there be a seasonable dread.Reverence and dread came easily to a people living in fear. More effectively
than any other Greek city, Sparta used superstition to reinforce that total obe-
dience to the law which constituted civic virtue and that steadfastness in battle
for which the Lacedaemonians were famous. It is by no means fortuitous that
the most important unit in the Spartan army was called an enōmotía. As the
word’s etymology suggests, this unit of forty or so men was a “sworn band”
united by a solemn oath binding its members to remain in formation if they
did not wish to bring down on their own heads the wrath of the gods.^26
Superstition was by no means the only force employed. The Spartans gave
to the citizens the same opinions and fostered in them the same passions by
means of the agōgē ́, their much-celebrated system of education and moral
formation.^27 When a male child reached the age of seven, he was taken from
his mother, classified as a paîs, and added to an agélē—a herd—of boys his
own age. When he returned home thereafter, he did so as a visitor: his true
home was to be the community of his contemporaries. In this new home, he
would learn to think of himself not as an individual, nor as a member of a
particular household, but as a part of the community. Apart from that com-
munity, he was nothing.^28
In the agélē, the boys were subjected to a regimen of exercise interspersed
with sessions dedicated to learning the communal dances, the poetry, and the
songs of Sparta. Because physical stamina and the ability to march to the ca-
dence of the flute were required for victory in hoplite warfare, the boys were
encouraged to compete in athletics, in mock battles, in dancing, and in musi-
cal contests. Because endurance and craft were necessary for success when on
campaign, they were inured to pain and hardship and kept on short rations;
for additional sustenance, they were forced to steal, and those who were caught
were severely punished.^29 There is a famous story told by Plutarch regarding a