Document – Tyrtaeus, “Praise for the Virtuosity of the Citizen Soldier"

Abstract and Keywords

Greek warfare in the Archaic and Classical, or Hellenic, periods (600 to 323 BCE) was not connected with large empires as Chinese, Roman, and Indian warfare came to be after 200 BCE. But Greek attitudes toward war influenced much of southwest Asia after the conquests of Alexander the Great and also influenced the Romans. Greek warfare occurred between small city-states and was conducted by hoplite phalanxes. Hoplites were infantrymen armed with bronze body armor, large shields, and spears. They were also the well-off members of the city-state, arming themselves and serving mostly out of civic duty as a militia force. They stood shoulder to shoulder with their friends and neighbors in dense blocks called phalanxes. Two phalanxes would meet on a level piece of ground, charge each other, and push until one side gave way. Such battles were brief but bloody, especially among the front ranks and during the short pursuit after one side broke and ran, and they tested the community solidarity of a city’s citizens. Hoplite warfare and its communal virtues were closely connected to the varyingly collective forms of government, from dual monarchies and limited aristocracies to broader oligarchies and even to the democracy of Athens, practiced by Greek city-states. However, the fairly elite character of those who could afford the hoplite panoply, even if they were only independent farmers, should not be forgotten.

The selection here is a poem by Tyrtaeus, a Spartan from c. 650 BCE. Sparta had the most professional and effective of all the phalanx armies, mostly because Sparta based its economy on a large population of rural slaves, called helots, who both made possible (through their agricultural production) and necessitated (by their numbers and thus the possibility of a massive revolt) Sparta’s maintenance of a full-time, professional force of soldiers. Tyrtaeus praises the virtues that made the trained Spartan phalanx such a formidable force in the Greek world.

Richmond Lattimore, Greek Lyrics, 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (1960): pp. 14–15.

Document

I would not say anything for a man nor take account of him for any speed of his feet or wrestling skill he might have.

Not if he had the size of a Cyclops and strength to go with it, not if he could outrun Boreas, the North Wind of Thrace.

Not if he were more handsome and gracefully formed than Tithonos, or had more riches than Midas had, or Kinyras too,

nor if he were more of a king than Tantalid Pelops,

or had the power of speech and persuasion Adrastos had, not if he had all the splendors except for a fighting spirit. For no man ever proves himself a good man in war unless he can endure to face the blood and the slaughter, go close against the enemy and fight with his hands. Here is courage, mankind’s finest possession,

here is the finest prize that a young man can endeavor to win.

And it is a good thing his city and all the people share with him

when a man plants his feet and stands in the foremost spears relentlessly, all thought of foul flight completely forgotten,

and has well trained his heart to be steadfast and to endure,

and with words encourages the man who is stationed beside him. Here is a man who proves himself to be valiant in war.

With a sudden rush he turns to flight the rugged battalions of the enemy and sustains the beating waves of the assault.

And he who so falls among the champions and loses his sweet life, so blessing with honor his city, his father, and all his people,

with wounds in his chest, where the spear that he was facing has transfixed that massive guard of his shield,

and gone through his breastplate as well.

Why, such a man is lamented alike by the young and the elders, and all his city goes into mourning and grieves for his loss.

His tomb is pointed out with pride and so are his children, and his children’s children,

and afterward all the race that is his.

His shining glory is never forgotten, his name is remembered, and he becomes an immortal, though he lies under the ground, a brave man who has been killed by the furious War God standing his ground and fighting hard for his children and land.

But if he escapes the doom of death, the destroyer of bodies, and wins his battle and bright renown for the work of his spear, all men give place to him alike, the youth and the elders,

and much joy comes his way before he goes down to the dead. Aging he has reputation among his citizens.

No one tries to interfere with his honors or all he deserves.

All men withdraw before his presence and yield their seats to him: Youth and the men of his age and even those older than he.

Thus a man should endeavor to reach this high place of courage with all his heart and so trying never be backward in war.

Review

1. What is the key military virtue for Tyrtaeus? What does this imply about styles of warfare?
2. What does this style of warfare imply about Greek attitudes toward political participation more broadly? Was participation in warfare an “ennobling” act for Greeks?
3. What does Tyrtaeus’ poem tell us about the social setting of warfare—the impact warfare had on the families, friends, and community of the soldiers?