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aleathielWhy is it taking such an incredibly long time to get anywhere with this essay?
More interestingly, I discovered this story yesterday while looking at stuff for the Sparta paper I'm studying.
In 378 a Spartan soldier called Sphodrias led an unauthorised attack on Piraeus. He was put to trial afterwards because he was not given permission for such an action and as such had disobeyed the state and faced execution. There was never any doubt that he was guilty, but he was let off because the King of Sparta, Agesilaos decided that Sphodrias was basically too good a person to face death even if he had broken the law. So Sphodrias was released and his bravery was praised.
However, when you look into this further it becomes more complex. It turns out that Sphodrias's son and Agesilaos's son were lovers.
I adore the idea that the king's son must have gone to his father to beg for the life of his lover's father. So totally romantic. And the fact that we will never know what actually happened all those thousands of years ago, or what became of the relationship between the boys makes it even more poigniant.
More interestingly, I discovered this story yesterday while looking at stuff for the Sparta paper I'm studying.
In 378 a Spartan soldier called Sphodrias led an unauthorised attack on Piraeus. He was put to trial afterwards because he was not given permission for such an action and as such had disobeyed the state and faced execution. There was never any doubt that he was guilty, but he was let off because the King of Sparta, Agesilaos decided that Sphodrias was basically too good a person to face death even if he had broken the law. So Sphodrias was released and his bravery was praised.
However, when you look into this further it becomes more complex. It turns out that Sphodrias's son and Agesilaos's son were lovers.
I adore the idea that the king's son must have gone to his father to beg for the life of his lover's father. So totally romantic. And the fact that we will never know what actually happened all those thousands of years ago, or what became of the relationship between the boys makes it even more poigniant.
