He is also
mentioned
Lyc.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
Menag.
ad loc.
), who, nevertheless, LYCORTAS (Avkoptas), of Megalopolis, was
highly prized the tragedies of Lycophron (Diog. ii the father of Polybius, the historian, and the ciose
a
:
## p. 849 (#865) ############################################
LYCORTAS.
849
LYCURGUS.
out,
friend of Philopoemen, to whose policy, prudent at tas for general, against Antiochus Epiphanes; but
once and patriotic, we find him adhering through his motion was unsuccessful. From this period we
In B. c. 189, he was sent as ambassador to hear no more of him. Had he been alive in B. C.
Rome, with his rival Diophanes, to receive the 167, he would doubtless have been among the
senate's decision on the question of the war which 1000 Achaeans who were apprehended and sent to
the Achaean League had declared against Lacedae Rome after the conquest of Macedonia : but his
mon; and, while Diophanes expressed his willing- son Polybius makes no mention of him, nor even
ness to leave every thing to the cente, Lycortas alludes to him, as one of the prisoners in question.
urged the right of the league to free and indepen. We may, therefore, perhaps infer that he was by
dent action. (Liv. xxxviii. 30–34. ) In B. c. 186, that time dead. (Pol. xxix. 8—10 ; see above, vol.
he was one of the three ambassadors sent to i. p. 569, b; Clint. F. 11. vol. iii. pp. 318,
Ptolemy V. (Epiphancs), to effect a new alliance 386. )
[E. E. ]
between Egypt and the Achaeans ; but, at an as- LYCTUS (AÚktos), a son of Lycaon, and the
sembly held at Megalopolis in the next year, when mythical founder of the ancient town of Lyctos in
Ariståenus was strategis, neither Lycortas and his Crete. (Ilom. Il. ii. 647; Eustath. ai llom. p.
colleagues nor the Egyptian envoys, who had ac- 313 ; Steph. Byz. s. v. )
(L. S. ]
companied them from Ptolemy's court, could spe- LYCURGUS (Auxoūpyos). 1. A son of Dryas,
cify which of the several treaties made in former and king of the Edones in Thracc. lle is fuous
times with Egypt had now been renewed ; and for his persecution of Dionysus and his worship on
Lycortas accordingly incurred much blame and the sacred mountain of Nyscion in Thrace. The
furnished a triumph to the party of Aristaenus. god himself leaped into the sea, where he was
(Pol. xxiii. 1, 7, 9. ) In the same year (185), kindly received by Thetis. Zeus thereupon blinded
Philopoemen and Lycortas defended successfully, the impious king, who died soon after, for he was
at Argos, the treatment of the Lacedaemonians by hated by the immortal gods. (Hom. II. vi. 130,
the Achaeans, which had been censured by Caeci- &c. ) The punishment of Lycurgus was represented
lius Metellus ; and, when Appius Claudius was in a painting in a temple at Athens. (Paus. i.
sent from Rome, in B. c. 184, to settle the ques. 20. $ 20. ) The above Homeric story about Ly-
tion, Lycortas, now general of the league, again curgus has been much varied by later poets and
contended that the Achaeans were justified in the mythographers. Some say that Lycurgus expelled
mode in which they had dealt with Lacedaemon : Dionysus from his kingdom, and denied his divine
but he did not carry his point with Appius. (Pol. power ; but being intoxicated with wine, he first
xxii. 23, xxiii. 1, 7, 10, 11, 12, xxiv. 4 ; Liv. attempted to do violence to his own mother, and to
xxxix. 33, 35— 37, 48 ; Plut. Philop. 16, 17; destroy all the vines of his country. Dionysus
Paus, vii. 9. ) In B. c. 183, when Deinocrates and then visited him with madness, in which he killed
his party had withdrawn Messenia from the league, his wife and son, and cut off one (some say both)
Lycortas was sent against them by the aged Phi- of his legs; or, according to others, made away
lopoemen, but was unable to force his way through with himself. (Hygin. Fab. 132, 242; Serv. ad
the passes into Messenia. Being, however, made Aen. iii. 14. ) According to Apollodorus (iii. 5.
general of the league, on the death of Philopoemen, 1), Dionysus, on his expeditions, came to the
at the end of the same year or the beginning of kingdom of Lycurgus, but was expelled ; where-
182, he invaded Messenia and took full vengeance upon he punished the king with madness, so that
on the chief authors of Philopoemen's murder. he killed his son Dryas, in the belief that he was
(DEINOCRATES ; PHILOPOEMEN. ) Soon after cutting down a vine. When this was done, Ly-
Messenia was re-admitted into the league, and curgus recovered his mind; but his country pro-
Lycortas, at the same time, urged successfully duced no fruit, and the oracle declared that fertility
against Diophanes the re-admission of Lacedaemon should not be restored unless Lycurgus were killed.
also. (Pol. xxiv. 12, xxv. 1, 2, Spic. Rel. xxiv. 2, The Edonians therefore tied him, and led him to
3 ; Plut. Philop. 18—21 ; Paus. iv. 29; Liv. mount Pangaeum, where he was torn to pieces by
Xxxix. 48—50 ; Just. xxxii. 1. ) In B. C. 180, horses. Diodorus (i. 20, iii. 65) gives a sort of
Lycortas, together with his son Polybius, and rationalistic account of the whole transaction. Ac-
Aratus (son of the famous general of the same cording to Sophocles (Antig. 955, &c. ), Lycurgus
name), was again appointed ambassador to Ptolemy was entombed in a rock. (Comp. Ov. Trist. v. 3,
Epiphanes, who had made the most friendly ad- 39. )
vances to the Achaeans ; but the intelligence of 2. A son of Aleus and Neaera, and a brother of
the king's death prevented the embassy from being Cepheus and Auge, was king in Arcadia, and
sent (Pol. xxv. 7. ) In B. c. 179, when Hyper- married to Cleophile, Eurynome, or Antinoe, by
batus was general of the league, Lycortas spoke whom he became the father of Ancaeus, Epochus,
strongly against compliance with the requisition of Amphidamas, and Jasus. (Apollod. ii. 9. ),
the Romans for the recal of all the Lacedaemonian &c. ; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 164. ) Some also
exiles without exception. On this occasion he was op- call Cepheus his son, and add another of the name
posed to Callicrates and Hyperbatus; and, of course, of Jocrites. (Apollod. i. 8. $ 2; Steph. Byz. s. v.
he became more and more an object of dislike and Bwtaxida. . ) Lycurgus killed Areïthous with his
suspicion to the Romans He adhered, however, lance, meeting him in a narrow valley. He took
firmly to the moderate policy which he had adopted the club with which his enemy had been armed,
from the first; and, when the war between Ronie and and used it himself; and on his death he be-
Perseus broke out, he recommended the Achaeans queathed it to his slave Ereutbalion, his sons
to preserre a strict neutrality. (Pol. xxvi. 1, &c. , having died before him. (Hom. Il. vii. 142, &c. ;
xxviii. 3, 6. ) In B. c. 168, we find him proposing, Paus. viii. 4. § 7. ) His tomb was afterwards
in opposition again to Callicrates and Hyperbatus, shown at Lepreos. (Paus, v. 5. $ 4. )
to send aid to the two Ptolemies (Philometor and 3. A son of Pronax and brother of Amphithen,
Physcon), who had asked for a force, with Lycor- the wife of Adrastus. He took part in the war o
VOL. II.
31
## p. 850 (#866) ############################################
850
LYCURGUS.
LYCURGUS.
the Seven against Thebes, and engaged in a con- the time of the Heracleido. (Xen, Rep. Lac. x. 8. )
test with Amphiaraus, which was represented on Timaeus, perhaps in order to remove the difficulty,
the throne of Apollo at Amyclac (Paus. iii. 18. & assumed that there were two Lycurgi. (Plut.
7 ; Apollod. i. 9. § 3).
He is also mentioned Lyc. 1. ) It appears from these discrepancies that
among those whom Asclepius called to life again the name of Lycurgus did not occur in the list of
after their death. (Apollod. iii. 10. § 3 ; Schol. Spartan kings, which belongs to the oldest docu-
ad Pind. Pyth. iii. 96, ad Eurip. Alcest. 1. ) ments of Greek history (Müller, Dor. i. 7. $ 3. )
4. A son of Pheres and Periclymene, á brother Therefore it is intelligible how Herodotus could
of Admctus, was king of the country about Nemea, (i. 65) call Lycurgus the guardian of his nephew,
and married to Eurydice or Amphithen, by whom Labotns, the Eurysthenid; whilst Simonides
he became the father of Opheltes (Apollod. i. 9. 8 (Aelian, V. H. ix. 41) calls him the son of Pry-
14, iii. 6. & 4). His tomb was believed to cxist tanis, brother of Eunomus, the Proclid, Diony-
in the grove of the Nemcan Zeus. (Paus. ii. 15. sius (ii. 49) makes him to be uncle to Eunomus ;
$ 3. )
and the common account (Plut. Lyc. 2 ; Arist. Pol.
5. One of the suitors of Flippodamein, was killed ii. 7. 1; Ephor. up. Strab. x. p. 482) the son of
by Oenomaus. (Paus, vi. 21. 8 7. )
Eunomus, and guardian of his nephew Charilaus. "
6. A son of Eunomus, a mythical legislator of Sparta was in a state of anarchy and licentiousness,
the Lacedacmonians. llis son is called 'Eucosmus perhaps in conscquence of the conquest of Laconia,
(Plut. Lyc. 1), and he is said to have lived at a time when the victorious Dorians, finding
shortly after the Trojan times. But his whole themselves in a new position, in the midst of a con-
existence is a mere invention to account for the quered and subject population, and in a compara-
chronological inconsistencies in the life of the tively rich land, had not yet been able to accom-
famous legislator Lycurgus, who himself scarcely modate their old forms of government to their new
belongs to history. (See below. ) [L. S. ) situation. There were conflicts between the kings,
LYCURGUS (Aukoúpnos), the Spartan legis- who aspired to tyranny, and the people, anxious
Intor. We cannot more appropriately begin the for democratic reforms. (Arist. I'ol. v. 8. § 4;
life of Lycurgus than by repeating the introduc- Heracl. Pont. c. 2; Plut. Lyc. 2. ) At this junc-
tory remark of Plutarch, that concerning Lycurgus ture the king, Polydectes, the brother of Lycurgus,
nothing can be said for certain, since his genealogy, died, leaving his queen with child. The ambitious
his travels, his death, and likewise his laws and woman proposed to Lycurgus to destroy her yet
political arrangements, are differently told by dif- unborn offspring if he would share the throne with
ferent writers. Modern criticism has not been her. He seemingly consented; but when she
satisfied with such a simple statement of inextri- had given birth to a son, he openly proclaimed
cable difficulties, but has removed them all at once, him king; and as next of kin, acted as his
by denying the real existence of Lycurgus alto- guardian. But to avoid all suspicion of ambitious
gether. However, such hasty scepticism is war- designs, with which the opposite party charged
ranted neither by conflicting and vague statements, him, and which might seem to be confirmed by the
which, in the case of a semi-historical personage, untimely death of the young king, Lycurgus left
cannot well be otherwise ; nor even by the fact, Sparta, and set out on his celebrated journey, which,
that Lycurgus had a temple in Sparta, and was almost like the wanderings of Heracles, has been
there worshipped as a hero. But although we do magnified to a fabulous extent. He is said to
not deny the existence of Lycurgus, we cannot pre- have visited Crete, and there to have studied the
tend to know any thing for certain beyond his wise laws of Minos, and of his Dorian kinsmen.
bare existence. Hardly a single action, or a single Thence he repaired to Asia Minor, where he de-
institution, commonly attributed to Lycurgus, can rived not less instruction from comparing the disso-
be historically proved to belong to him. Of the lute manners of the Ionians with the simple and
real Lycurgus we know almost nothing; and the honest hardihood of the Dorian race.
;
Here he is
one with whom we are acquainted is the Ly- said to have met either with Homer himself, or at
curgus of half historical fiction. Yet to his name least with the Homeric poems, which he introduced
are attached questions of the highest importance. To into the mother country. But not content with the
him is attributed the framing of the most peculiar, Grecian world, he is further said to have penetrated
as well as the most highly and universally extolled into Egypt, the land of mystery from the days of
(Plut. Lyc. 35) of the constitutions, which ancient Herodotus to our own, and therefore duly entitled
Greece, like a fertile soil, brought forth with won- to claim the authorship of everything the origin of
derful exuberance and unparalleled variety. We which was or seemed obscure ; and he is even re-
shall try therefore in the following article, 1. to give ported to have been carried by his curiosity into
an outline of what passes for the life of Lycurgus ; Libya, Iberia, and India, and to have brought back
2. to point out the general features and the character to rugged Lacedaemon and his Spartan warriors
of the Spartan constitution, while for the details the philosophy of the gymnosophists. It is use-
we refer once for all to the respective articles in less for criticism to try to invalidate these accounts.
the Dictionary of Antiquities; and 3. to trace the Their very extravagance sufficiently proves their
origin of the Spartan constitution.
falsehood. The return of Lycurgus to Sparta was
Aristotle makes Lycurgus to be a contemporary hailed by all parties, since he was considered as the
of Iphitus, who lived B. C. 884. In conjunction man who alone could cure the growing diseases of
with Iphitus, Lycurgus is said to have established the state. He undertook the task : yet before he
the sacred armistice of Olympia, which prohibited
all wars during the Olympic festivals, and protected * On the chronology of Lycurgus, which is in-
the territory of the Eleians for ever against all hos volved in almost inextricable confusion, see Her-
tile attacks. (Müller, Dor. i. 7. § 7. ) Xeno- mann, Pol. Ant. § 23, 10; Müller, Dor. i. ch. 7,
phon differs widely from Aristotle in placing $ 3; Clinton, Fast. llell. vol. i.
Pp.
140-144 ; and
Lycurgus more than 200 years earlier, that is, at | Grote's History of Greece, rol. ii. p. 152, &c.
## p. 851 (#867) ############################################
LYCURGUS.
851
LYCURGUS,
arms.
bet to work he strengthened himself with the nu- military commanders they were restricted and
thority of the Delphic oracle, and with a strong warched by commissioners sent by the senate ; the
party of influential men at Sparti, who were able functions of high priest were curtailed lenst, per-
in case of need to support his measures with their baps, because least obnoxious. In compensation
The reform seems not to have been carried for the loss of power, the kings enjoyed great
altogether peaceably. The new division of all the honour's, both during their life and after their death,
land among the citizers must have violated many which at Spiria might almost be thought extrava-
cxisting interests. Plutarch has preserved a state- gint. Still the principlo of monarchy was very
ment, that king Charilaus fied into the temple of weak among the Spartans, although their life re-
Athene Chalcioccos; and we may presume (if the soulled more that of the camp than that of a town.
whole story can be looked upon as authentic) that Mil. tory obedience wils nowhere so strictly enforced
this was not from a more mistake, as Plutarch as at Sporta, but nowhere was the commander him-
thinl. s, but from nccessity.
self so much restricted by law and custom.
Whatever opposition there was, however, was It is more difficult to decide whether the aristo-
ovcrborne, and the whole constitution, military and croticrl or the democratical olement prevailed.
civil, was remodelled. After Lycurgus had ob- The powers of the senate were very important:
tuined for his institutions an approving oracle of the they had the righit of originating and discussing all
national god of Delphi, he exacted a promise from measures before they could be submitted to the deci-
the people not to make any alterations in his laws sion of the popular assembly ; the management of
before his return. And now he left Sparta to foreign policy and the most important part of the
finish his life in voluntary exile, in order that his administration was entrusted to them ( Isocr. Pan.
countrymen might be bound by their oath to pre p. 265, a ; Dionys. ii. 14; Paus. iii. 11. & 2;
serve his constitution in violate for ever. Where Aeschin. in Tim. p. 25. 36); they had, in conjunc-
and how he died nobody could tell. He vanished tion with the ephors, to watch over the due ob-
from the earth like a god, leaving no traces behind servance of the laws and institutions ; and they
but his spirit ; and he was honoured as a god at were judges in all criminal cascs, without being
Sparta with a temple and yearly sacrifices down to bound by any written code. For all this they
the latest times. " (Herod. i. 65; Plut. Lyc. 31; were not responsible, holding their office for life, a
Ephor. ap. Strab. viii. p. 366. )
circumstance which Aristotle (Pol. ii. 6, § 17)
The Spartan constitution was of a mixed nature : strongly censures.
the monarchical principle was represented by the Dut with all these powers, the elders formed no
kings, the aristocracy by the senate, and the de- real aristocracy. They were not chosen either for
mocratical element by the assembly of the people, property qualification or for noble birth. The senate
and by their representatives, the ephors. The was open to the poorest citizen, who, during 60
question has therefore arisen, what the prominent years, had been obedient to the laws and zealous
feature of the Spartan constitution was. Plato in the performance of his duties. (Arist. Pol. ii.
doubts whether it ought to be called a tyranny, on 6. § 15. ) Tyrannical habits are not acquired at
account of the arbitrary power of the ephors, or a such an age and after such a life ; party spirit
monarchy, on account of the kings ; while, at other cannot exist but in a close corporation, separated
times, no state seemed more democratical," although from the rest of the community by peculiar in-
(he adds) not to call it an aristocracy (i. e. a go- terests. Thus, in Sparta, during its better days,
vernment of the đploto, or best), is altogether the elements of an aristocracy were wanting. The
absurd. ” (Leg. iv. p. 712. ) So too Isocrates says in equal division of property was alone sufficient to
one place (p. 270; comp. p. 152, a) that the Spartans prevent it. The only aristocracy was one of merit
had established among themselves an equal demo- and personal influence, such as will and must
cracy, and in another (p. 265, a) that the Spartan always exist.
government was a democracy mixed with aristo- There are mentioned, however, a class of citizens
cracy. (Comp. Arist. Pol. ii. 6. ) A gain, Aristotle called the equals, or peers ("Ouotoi) (Xen. Hell.
says (Pol. iv. 9) “ that the test of a well mixed ii. 3, § 4, &c.
highly prized the tragedies of Lycophron (Diog. ii the father of Polybius, the historian, and the ciose
a
:
## p. 849 (#865) ############################################
LYCORTAS.
849
LYCURGUS.
out,
friend of Philopoemen, to whose policy, prudent at tas for general, against Antiochus Epiphanes; but
once and patriotic, we find him adhering through his motion was unsuccessful. From this period we
In B. c. 189, he was sent as ambassador to hear no more of him. Had he been alive in B. C.
Rome, with his rival Diophanes, to receive the 167, he would doubtless have been among the
senate's decision on the question of the war which 1000 Achaeans who were apprehended and sent to
the Achaean League had declared against Lacedae Rome after the conquest of Macedonia : but his
mon; and, while Diophanes expressed his willing- son Polybius makes no mention of him, nor even
ness to leave every thing to the cente, Lycortas alludes to him, as one of the prisoners in question.
urged the right of the league to free and indepen. We may, therefore, perhaps infer that he was by
dent action. (Liv. xxxviii. 30–34. ) In B. c. 186, that time dead. (Pol. xxix. 8—10 ; see above, vol.
he was one of the three ambassadors sent to i. p. 569, b; Clint. F. 11. vol. iii. pp. 318,
Ptolemy V. (Epiphancs), to effect a new alliance 386. )
[E. E. ]
between Egypt and the Achaeans ; but, at an as- LYCTUS (AÚktos), a son of Lycaon, and the
sembly held at Megalopolis in the next year, when mythical founder of the ancient town of Lyctos in
Ariståenus was strategis, neither Lycortas and his Crete. (Ilom. Il. ii. 647; Eustath. ai llom. p.
colleagues nor the Egyptian envoys, who had ac- 313 ; Steph. Byz. s. v. )
(L. S. ]
companied them from Ptolemy's court, could spe- LYCURGUS (Auxoūpyos). 1. A son of Dryas,
cify which of the several treaties made in former and king of the Edones in Thracc. lle is fuous
times with Egypt had now been renewed ; and for his persecution of Dionysus and his worship on
Lycortas accordingly incurred much blame and the sacred mountain of Nyscion in Thrace. The
furnished a triumph to the party of Aristaenus. god himself leaped into the sea, where he was
(Pol. xxiii. 1, 7, 9. ) In the same year (185), kindly received by Thetis. Zeus thereupon blinded
Philopoemen and Lycortas defended successfully, the impious king, who died soon after, for he was
at Argos, the treatment of the Lacedaemonians by hated by the immortal gods. (Hom. II. vi. 130,
the Achaeans, which had been censured by Caeci- &c. ) The punishment of Lycurgus was represented
lius Metellus ; and, when Appius Claudius was in a painting in a temple at Athens. (Paus. i.
sent from Rome, in B. c. 184, to settle the ques. 20. $ 20. ) The above Homeric story about Ly-
tion, Lycortas, now general of the league, again curgus has been much varied by later poets and
contended that the Achaeans were justified in the mythographers. Some say that Lycurgus expelled
mode in which they had dealt with Lacedaemon : Dionysus from his kingdom, and denied his divine
but he did not carry his point with Appius. (Pol. power ; but being intoxicated with wine, he first
xxii. 23, xxiii. 1, 7, 10, 11, 12, xxiv. 4 ; Liv. attempted to do violence to his own mother, and to
xxxix. 33, 35— 37, 48 ; Plut. Philop. 16, 17; destroy all the vines of his country. Dionysus
Paus, vii. 9. ) In B. c. 183, when Deinocrates and then visited him with madness, in which he killed
his party had withdrawn Messenia from the league, his wife and son, and cut off one (some say both)
Lycortas was sent against them by the aged Phi- of his legs; or, according to others, made away
lopoemen, but was unable to force his way through with himself. (Hygin. Fab. 132, 242; Serv. ad
the passes into Messenia. Being, however, made Aen. iii. 14. ) According to Apollodorus (iii. 5.
general of the league, on the death of Philopoemen, 1), Dionysus, on his expeditions, came to the
at the end of the same year or the beginning of kingdom of Lycurgus, but was expelled ; where-
182, he invaded Messenia and took full vengeance upon he punished the king with madness, so that
on the chief authors of Philopoemen's murder. he killed his son Dryas, in the belief that he was
(DEINOCRATES ; PHILOPOEMEN. ) Soon after cutting down a vine. When this was done, Ly-
Messenia was re-admitted into the league, and curgus recovered his mind; but his country pro-
Lycortas, at the same time, urged successfully duced no fruit, and the oracle declared that fertility
against Diophanes the re-admission of Lacedaemon should not be restored unless Lycurgus were killed.
also. (Pol. xxiv. 12, xxv. 1, 2, Spic. Rel. xxiv. 2, The Edonians therefore tied him, and led him to
3 ; Plut. Philop. 18—21 ; Paus. iv. 29; Liv. mount Pangaeum, where he was torn to pieces by
Xxxix. 48—50 ; Just. xxxii. 1. ) In B. C. 180, horses. Diodorus (i. 20, iii. 65) gives a sort of
Lycortas, together with his son Polybius, and rationalistic account of the whole transaction. Ac-
Aratus (son of the famous general of the same cording to Sophocles (Antig. 955, &c. ), Lycurgus
name), was again appointed ambassador to Ptolemy was entombed in a rock. (Comp. Ov. Trist. v. 3,
Epiphanes, who had made the most friendly ad- 39. )
vances to the Achaeans ; but the intelligence of 2. A son of Aleus and Neaera, and a brother of
the king's death prevented the embassy from being Cepheus and Auge, was king in Arcadia, and
sent (Pol. xxv. 7. ) In B. c. 179, when Hyper- married to Cleophile, Eurynome, or Antinoe, by
batus was general of the league, Lycortas spoke whom he became the father of Ancaeus, Epochus,
strongly against compliance with the requisition of Amphidamas, and Jasus. (Apollod. ii. 9. ),
the Romans for the recal of all the Lacedaemonian &c. ; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 164. ) Some also
exiles without exception. On this occasion he was op- call Cepheus his son, and add another of the name
posed to Callicrates and Hyperbatus; and, of course, of Jocrites. (Apollod. i. 8. $ 2; Steph. Byz. s. v.
he became more and more an object of dislike and Bwtaxida. . ) Lycurgus killed Areïthous with his
suspicion to the Romans He adhered, however, lance, meeting him in a narrow valley. He took
firmly to the moderate policy which he had adopted the club with which his enemy had been armed,
from the first; and, when the war between Ronie and and used it himself; and on his death he be-
Perseus broke out, he recommended the Achaeans queathed it to his slave Ereutbalion, his sons
to preserre a strict neutrality. (Pol. xxvi. 1, &c. , having died before him. (Hom. Il. vii. 142, &c. ;
xxviii. 3, 6. ) In B. c. 168, we find him proposing, Paus. viii. 4. § 7. ) His tomb was afterwards
in opposition again to Callicrates and Hyperbatus, shown at Lepreos. (Paus, v. 5. $ 4. )
to send aid to the two Ptolemies (Philometor and 3. A son of Pronax and brother of Amphithen,
Physcon), who had asked for a force, with Lycor- the wife of Adrastus. He took part in the war o
VOL. II.
31
## p. 850 (#866) ############################################
850
LYCURGUS.
LYCURGUS.
the Seven against Thebes, and engaged in a con- the time of the Heracleido. (Xen, Rep. Lac. x. 8. )
test with Amphiaraus, which was represented on Timaeus, perhaps in order to remove the difficulty,
the throne of Apollo at Amyclac (Paus. iii. 18. & assumed that there were two Lycurgi. (Plut.
7 ; Apollod. i. 9. § 3).
He is also mentioned Lyc. 1. ) It appears from these discrepancies that
among those whom Asclepius called to life again the name of Lycurgus did not occur in the list of
after their death. (Apollod. iii. 10. § 3 ; Schol. Spartan kings, which belongs to the oldest docu-
ad Pind. Pyth. iii. 96, ad Eurip. Alcest. 1. ) ments of Greek history (Müller, Dor. i. 7. $ 3. )
4. A son of Pheres and Periclymene, á brother Therefore it is intelligible how Herodotus could
of Admctus, was king of the country about Nemea, (i. 65) call Lycurgus the guardian of his nephew,
and married to Eurydice or Amphithen, by whom Labotns, the Eurysthenid; whilst Simonides
he became the father of Opheltes (Apollod. i. 9. 8 (Aelian, V. H. ix. 41) calls him the son of Pry-
14, iii. 6. & 4). His tomb was believed to cxist tanis, brother of Eunomus, the Proclid, Diony-
in the grove of the Nemcan Zeus. (Paus. ii. 15. sius (ii. 49) makes him to be uncle to Eunomus ;
$ 3. )
and the common account (Plut. Lyc. 2 ; Arist. Pol.
5. One of the suitors of Flippodamein, was killed ii. 7. 1; Ephor. up. Strab. x. p. 482) the son of
by Oenomaus. (Paus, vi. 21. 8 7. )
Eunomus, and guardian of his nephew Charilaus. "
6. A son of Eunomus, a mythical legislator of Sparta was in a state of anarchy and licentiousness,
the Lacedacmonians. llis son is called 'Eucosmus perhaps in conscquence of the conquest of Laconia,
(Plut. Lyc. 1), and he is said to have lived at a time when the victorious Dorians, finding
shortly after the Trojan times. But his whole themselves in a new position, in the midst of a con-
existence is a mere invention to account for the quered and subject population, and in a compara-
chronological inconsistencies in the life of the tively rich land, had not yet been able to accom-
famous legislator Lycurgus, who himself scarcely modate their old forms of government to their new
belongs to history. (See below. ) [L. S. ) situation. There were conflicts between the kings,
LYCURGUS (Aukoúpnos), the Spartan legis- who aspired to tyranny, and the people, anxious
Intor. We cannot more appropriately begin the for democratic reforms. (Arist. I'ol. v. 8. § 4;
life of Lycurgus than by repeating the introduc- Heracl. Pont. c. 2; Plut. Lyc. 2. ) At this junc-
tory remark of Plutarch, that concerning Lycurgus ture the king, Polydectes, the brother of Lycurgus,
nothing can be said for certain, since his genealogy, died, leaving his queen with child. The ambitious
his travels, his death, and likewise his laws and woman proposed to Lycurgus to destroy her yet
political arrangements, are differently told by dif- unborn offspring if he would share the throne with
ferent writers. Modern criticism has not been her. He seemingly consented; but when she
satisfied with such a simple statement of inextri- had given birth to a son, he openly proclaimed
cable difficulties, but has removed them all at once, him king; and as next of kin, acted as his
by denying the real existence of Lycurgus alto- guardian. But to avoid all suspicion of ambitious
gether. However, such hasty scepticism is war- designs, with which the opposite party charged
ranted neither by conflicting and vague statements, him, and which might seem to be confirmed by the
which, in the case of a semi-historical personage, untimely death of the young king, Lycurgus left
cannot well be otherwise ; nor even by the fact, Sparta, and set out on his celebrated journey, which,
that Lycurgus had a temple in Sparta, and was almost like the wanderings of Heracles, has been
there worshipped as a hero. But although we do magnified to a fabulous extent. He is said to
not deny the existence of Lycurgus, we cannot pre- have visited Crete, and there to have studied the
tend to know any thing for certain beyond his wise laws of Minos, and of his Dorian kinsmen.
bare existence. Hardly a single action, or a single Thence he repaired to Asia Minor, where he de-
institution, commonly attributed to Lycurgus, can rived not less instruction from comparing the disso-
be historically proved to belong to him. Of the lute manners of the Ionians with the simple and
real Lycurgus we know almost nothing; and the honest hardihood of the Dorian race.
;
Here he is
one with whom we are acquainted is the Ly- said to have met either with Homer himself, or at
curgus of half historical fiction. Yet to his name least with the Homeric poems, which he introduced
are attached questions of the highest importance. To into the mother country. But not content with the
him is attributed the framing of the most peculiar, Grecian world, he is further said to have penetrated
as well as the most highly and universally extolled into Egypt, the land of mystery from the days of
(Plut. Lyc. 35) of the constitutions, which ancient Herodotus to our own, and therefore duly entitled
Greece, like a fertile soil, brought forth with won- to claim the authorship of everything the origin of
derful exuberance and unparalleled variety. We which was or seemed obscure ; and he is even re-
shall try therefore in the following article, 1. to give ported to have been carried by his curiosity into
an outline of what passes for the life of Lycurgus ; Libya, Iberia, and India, and to have brought back
2. to point out the general features and the character to rugged Lacedaemon and his Spartan warriors
of the Spartan constitution, while for the details the philosophy of the gymnosophists. It is use-
we refer once for all to the respective articles in less for criticism to try to invalidate these accounts.
the Dictionary of Antiquities; and 3. to trace the Their very extravagance sufficiently proves their
origin of the Spartan constitution.
falsehood. The return of Lycurgus to Sparta was
Aristotle makes Lycurgus to be a contemporary hailed by all parties, since he was considered as the
of Iphitus, who lived B. C. 884. In conjunction man who alone could cure the growing diseases of
with Iphitus, Lycurgus is said to have established the state. He undertook the task : yet before he
the sacred armistice of Olympia, which prohibited
all wars during the Olympic festivals, and protected * On the chronology of Lycurgus, which is in-
the territory of the Eleians for ever against all hos volved in almost inextricable confusion, see Her-
tile attacks. (Müller, Dor. i. 7. § 7. ) Xeno- mann, Pol. Ant. § 23, 10; Müller, Dor. i. ch. 7,
phon differs widely from Aristotle in placing $ 3; Clinton, Fast. llell. vol. i.
Pp.
140-144 ; and
Lycurgus more than 200 years earlier, that is, at | Grote's History of Greece, rol. ii. p. 152, &c.
## p. 851 (#867) ############################################
LYCURGUS.
851
LYCURGUS,
arms.
bet to work he strengthened himself with the nu- military commanders they were restricted and
thority of the Delphic oracle, and with a strong warched by commissioners sent by the senate ; the
party of influential men at Sparti, who were able functions of high priest were curtailed lenst, per-
in case of need to support his measures with their baps, because least obnoxious. In compensation
The reform seems not to have been carried for the loss of power, the kings enjoyed great
altogether peaceably. The new division of all the honour's, both during their life and after their death,
land among the citizers must have violated many which at Spiria might almost be thought extrava-
cxisting interests. Plutarch has preserved a state- gint. Still the principlo of monarchy was very
ment, that king Charilaus fied into the temple of weak among the Spartans, although their life re-
Athene Chalcioccos; and we may presume (if the soulled more that of the camp than that of a town.
whole story can be looked upon as authentic) that Mil. tory obedience wils nowhere so strictly enforced
this was not from a more mistake, as Plutarch as at Sporta, but nowhere was the commander him-
thinl. s, but from nccessity.
self so much restricted by law and custom.
Whatever opposition there was, however, was It is more difficult to decide whether the aristo-
ovcrborne, and the whole constitution, military and croticrl or the democratical olement prevailed.
civil, was remodelled. After Lycurgus had ob- The powers of the senate were very important:
tuined for his institutions an approving oracle of the they had the righit of originating and discussing all
national god of Delphi, he exacted a promise from measures before they could be submitted to the deci-
the people not to make any alterations in his laws sion of the popular assembly ; the management of
before his return. And now he left Sparta to foreign policy and the most important part of the
finish his life in voluntary exile, in order that his administration was entrusted to them ( Isocr. Pan.
countrymen might be bound by their oath to pre p. 265, a ; Dionys. ii. 14; Paus. iii. 11. & 2;
serve his constitution in violate for ever. Where Aeschin. in Tim. p. 25. 36); they had, in conjunc-
and how he died nobody could tell. He vanished tion with the ephors, to watch over the due ob-
from the earth like a god, leaving no traces behind servance of the laws and institutions ; and they
but his spirit ; and he was honoured as a god at were judges in all criminal cascs, without being
Sparta with a temple and yearly sacrifices down to bound by any written code. For all this they
the latest times. " (Herod. i. 65; Plut. Lyc. 31; were not responsible, holding their office for life, a
Ephor. ap. Strab. viii. p. 366. )
circumstance which Aristotle (Pol. ii. 6, § 17)
The Spartan constitution was of a mixed nature : strongly censures.
the monarchical principle was represented by the Dut with all these powers, the elders formed no
kings, the aristocracy by the senate, and the de- real aristocracy. They were not chosen either for
mocratical element by the assembly of the people, property qualification or for noble birth. The senate
and by their representatives, the ephors. The was open to the poorest citizen, who, during 60
question has therefore arisen, what the prominent years, had been obedient to the laws and zealous
feature of the Spartan constitution was. Plato in the performance of his duties. (Arist. Pol. ii.
doubts whether it ought to be called a tyranny, on 6. § 15. ) Tyrannical habits are not acquired at
account of the arbitrary power of the ephors, or a such an age and after such a life ; party spirit
monarchy, on account of the kings ; while, at other cannot exist but in a close corporation, separated
times, no state seemed more democratical," although from the rest of the community by peculiar in-
(he adds) not to call it an aristocracy (i. e. a go- terests. Thus, in Sparta, during its better days,
vernment of the đploto, or best), is altogether the elements of an aristocracy were wanting. The
absurd. ” (Leg. iv. p. 712. ) So too Isocrates says in equal division of property was alone sufficient to
one place (p. 270; comp. p. 152, a) that the Spartans prevent it. The only aristocracy was one of merit
had established among themselves an equal demo- and personal influence, such as will and must
cracy, and in another (p. 265, a) that the Spartan always exist.
government was a democracy mixed with aristo- There are mentioned, however, a class of citizens
cracy. (Comp. Arist. Pol. ii. 6. ) A gain, Aristotle called the equals, or peers ("Ouotoi) (Xen. Hell.
says (Pol. iv. 9) “ that the test of a well mixed ii. 3, § 4, &c.
