Depictions of Spartan Masculinity in Thucydides and Xenophon
Date
2013-12-13
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Abstract
Because we have no Classical Spartan writing we are reliant on the views of outsiders to try to reconstruct their social mores. Using traditional philology combined with social constructionist theory I examine how Thucydides and Xenophon depict Spartan masculinity. I have found that these authors differ in their descriptions of the Spartan masculine subject, reflecting primarily the purposes for which they wrote. Despite this, both authors describe inter-Spartan relations and relations between Spartiates and “others”, both within the Spartan system and those external to it, so as to suggest that the employment of officially propagated images of Spartan masculinity played a significant role in Spartan dealings. Accounts of Spartan employment of masculine ideology correspond significantly to hegemonic frameworks discussed in social constructionist theories of masculinity, suggesting the veracity of these aspects in accounts of Spartan society as well as the applicability of constructionist frameworks to the study of Spartan masculinity.
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Literature--Classical
Citation
Heydon, K. (2013). Depictions of Spartan Masculinity in Thucydides and Xenophon (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25553