‘Kalos kagathos’ and Scholarly Perceptions of Spartan Society

Davies, Philip

Abstract

In the course of his exhaustive study regarding the development of the term kalos kagathos, Félix Bourriot has proposed a specifically Spartan usage of the term, with a narrow military meaning. Here, I critically examine his arguments for this Spartan usage, exposing a number of flaws in his analysis. Ultimately, I argue that Bourriot’s hypothesis serves as an instructive example of the detrimental effects of the un-nuanced extreme of the preconception, still held by many scholars, of Spartan society as exceptionally militarised and militaristic.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2013
• Deposit Date: Nov 13, 2023
• Journal: Historia
• Print ISSN: 0018-2311
• Electronic ISSN: 2365-3108
• Publisher: Franz Steiner Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 62
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 259-279
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.25162/historia-2013-0013
• Keywords: History; Classics
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/27365667
• Publisher URL: https://biblioscout.net/article/10.25162/historia-2013-0013