The Polity of the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians [14]
of boys.
[21] See Plut. "Lycurg." 17 (Clough, i. 109).
We know that the rest of the Hellenes deal with this relationship in different ways, either after the manner of the Boeotians,[22] where man and boy are intimately united by a bond like that of wedlock, or after the manner of the Eleians, where the fruition of beauty is an act of grace; whilst there are others who would absolutely debar the lover from all conversation[23] and discourse with the beloved.
[22] See Xen. "Symp." viii. 34; Plato, "Symp." 182 B (Jowett, II. p. 33).
[23] {dialegesthai} came to mean philosophic discussion and debate. Is the author thinking of Socrates? See "Mem." I. ii. 35; IV. v. 12.
Lycurgus adopted a system opposed to all of these alike. Given that some one, himself being all that a man ought to be, should in admiration of a boy's soul[24] endeavour to discover in him a true friend without reproach, and to consort with him--this was a relationship which Lycurgus commended, and indeed regarded as the noblest type of bringing up. But if, as was evident, it was not an attachment to the soul, but a yearning merely towards the body, he stamped this thing as foul and horrible; and with this result, to the credit of Lycurgus be it said, that in Lacedaemon the relationship of lover and beloved is like that of parent and child or brother and brother where carnal appetite is in abeyance.
[24] See Xen. "Symp." viii. 35; Plut. "Lycurg." 18.
That this, however, which is the fact, should be scarcely credited in some quarters does not surprise me, seeing that in many states the laws[25] do not oppose the desires in question.
[25] I.e. "law and custom."
I have now described the two chief methods of education in vogue; that is to say, the Lacedaemonian as contrasted with that of the rest of Hellas, and I leave it to the judgment of him whom it may concern, which of the two has prodcued the finer type of men. And by finer I mean the better disciplined, the more modest and reverential, and, in matters where self-restraint is a virtue, the more continent.
III
Coming to the critical period at which a boy ceases to be a boy and becomes a youth,[1] we find that it is just then that the rest of the world proceed to emancipate their children from the private tutor and the schoolmaster, and, without substituting any further ruler, are content to launch them into absolute independence.
[1] {eis to meirakiousthai}, "with reference to hobbledehoy-hood." Cobet erases the phrase as post-Xenophontine.
Here, again, Lycurgus took an entirely opposite view of the matter. This, if observation might be trusted, was the season when the tide of animal spirits flows fast, and the froth of insolence rises to the surface; when, too, the most violent appetites for divers pleasures, in serried ranks, invade[2] the mind. This, then, was the right moment at which to impose tenfold labours upon the growing youth, and to devise for him a subtle system of absorbing occupation. And by a crowning enactment, which said that "he who shrank from the duties imposed on him would forfeit henceforth all claim to the glorious honours of the state," he caused, not only the public authorities, but those personally interested[3] in the several companies of youths to take serious pains so that no single individual of them should by an act of craven cowardice find himself utterly rejected and reprobate within the body politic.
[2] Lit. "range themselves." For the idea, see "Mem."I. ii. 23; Swinburne, "Songs before Sunrise": Prelude, "Past youth where shoreward shallows are."
[3] Or, "the friends and connections."
Furthermore, in his desire to implant in their youthful souls a root of modesty he imposed upon these bigger boys a special rule. In the very streets they were to keep their two hands[4] within the folds of the cloak; they were to walk in silence and without turning their heads to gaze, now here, now there, but rather to keep their eyes fixed upon the ground before them. And hereby it would seem to be proved conclusively
[21] See Plut. "Lycurg." 17 (Clough, i. 109).
We know that the rest of the Hellenes deal with this relationship in different ways, either after the manner of the Boeotians,[22] where man and boy are intimately united by a bond like that of wedlock, or after the manner of the Eleians, where the fruition of beauty is an act of grace; whilst there are others who would absolutely debar the lover from all conversation[23] and discourse with the beloved.
[22] See Xen. "Symp." viii. 34; Plato, "Symp." 182 B (Jowett, II. p. 33).
[23] {dialegesthai} came to mean philosophic discussion and debate. Is the author thinking of Socrates? See "Mem." I. ii. 35; IV. v. 12.
Lycurgus adopted a system opposed to all of these alike. Given that some one, himself being all that a man ought to be, should in admiration of a boy's soul[24] endeavour to discover in him a true friend without reproach, and to consort with him--this was a relationship which Lycurgus commended, and indeed regarded as the noblest type of bringing up. But if, as was evident, it was not an attachment to the soul, but a yearning merely towards the body, he stamped this thing as foul and horrible; and with this result, to the credit of Lycurgus be it said, that in Lacedaemon the relationship of lover and beloved is like that of parent and child or brother and brother where carnal appetite is in abeyance.
[24] See Xen. "Symp." viii. 35; Plut. "Lycurg." 18.
That this, however, which is the fact, should be scarcely credited in some quarters does not surprise me, seeing that in many states the laws[25] do not oppose the desires in question.
[25] I.e. "law and custom."
I have now described the two chief methods of education in vogue; that is to say, the Lacedaemonian as contrasted with that of the rest of Hellas, and I leave it to the judgment of him whom it may concern, which of the two has prodcued the finer type of men. And by finer I mean the better disciplined, the more modest and reverential, and, in matters where self-restraint is a virtue, the more continent.
III
Coming to the critical period at which a boy ceases to be a boy and becomes a youth,[1] we find that it is just then that the rest of the world proceed to emancipate their children from the private tutor and the schoolmaster, and, without substituting any further ruler, are content to launch them into absolute independence.
[1] {eis to meirakiousthai}, "with reference to hobbledehoy-hood." Cobet erases the phrase as post-Xenophontine.
Here, again, Lycurgus took an entirely opposite view of the matter. This, if observation might be trusted, was the season when the tide of animal spirits flows fast, and the froth of insolence rises to the surface; when, too, the most violent appetites for divers pleasures, in serried ranks, invade[2] the mind. This, then, was the right moment at which to impose tenfold labours upon the growing youth, and to devise for him a subtle system of absorbing occupation. And by a crowning enactment, which said that "he who shrank from the duties imposed on him would forfeit henceforth all claim to the glorious honours of the state," he caused, not only the public authorities, but those personally interested[3] in the several companies of youths to take serious pains so that no single individual of them should by an act of craven cowardice find himself utterly rejected and reprobate within the body politic.
[2] Lit. "range themselves." For the idea, see "Mem."I. ii. 23; Swinburne, "Songs before Sunrise": Prelude, "Past youth where shoreward shallows are."
[3] Or, "the friends and connections."
Furthermore, in his desire to implant in their youthful souls a root of modesty he imposed upon these bigger boys a special rule. In the very streets they were to keep their two hands[4] within the folds of the cloak; they were to walk in silence and without turning their heads to gaze, now here, now there, but rather to keep their eyes fixed upon the ground before them. And hereby it would seem to be proved conclusively