Editing Tyrtaeus (section)

==Life ==

=== Birth and place of origin ===
The [[floruit]] given in the first entry of ''Suda'' is perhaps too early since [[Jerome]] offers a date of 633–632 BC.{{Sfnp|Gerber|1999|p=25 n. 2}} Modern scholars are less specific and provide instead date ranges for the [[Second Messenian War]] (and thus for Tyrtaeus' life) such as "the latter part of the 7th century",<ref>V. Parker, 'The Dates of the Messenian Wars', ''Chiron'' 21 (1991), pages 25–47, as summarized by {{harvp|Gerber|1999|p=45 n. 1}}.</ref> or "any time between the sixties and the thirties" of the 7th century.{{sfnp|Campbell|1982|p=169}}

The confusion about his place of origin, which emerged by the 5th century BC,<ref>{{Harvp|Gerber|1997|p=102|ps=: "Tyrtaeus' Athenian birth appears first in Plato (Laws 1.629a)..."}}</ref> may have had several causes. It has been suggested that the depictions of Tyrtaeus as a lame schoolmaster from Athens were invented to denigrate Sparta,{{sfnp|Gerber|1997|p=102}} which in the views of Athenians could not have had a talented poet of its own.{{sfnp|Campbell|1982|p=170}} According to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], the Athenians sent the lame, mentally defective teacher-poet to Sparta as a compromise, wishing to obey the oracle which had demanded an Athenian, but unwilling to help the Spartans in their war with a more capable individual.<ref name="Paus-4.15.6">[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/tyrtaeus-testimonia/1999/pb_LCL258.31.xml 4.15.6], cited by {{harvp|Gerber|1999|p=31}}.</ref> Yet, Tyrtaeus was not listed by [[Herodotus]] among the two foreigners ever to have been awarded Spartan citizenship.<ref>Herodotus ix. 35.</ref> One ancient source even listed Aphidnae as his supposed Athenian [[deme]], but there was also a place of that name in Laconia.{{sfnp|Gerber|1999|p=39 n. 7}}

Ancient Athenian propaganda might indeed have played a role,{{sfnp|Gerber|1997|p=102}} although even [[Plato]], who could hardly have intended any denigration as an admirer of Sparta,{{sfnp|Gerber|1997|p=102}} gave credence to the poet's Athenian origin.<ref>Plato ''Laws'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/tyrtaeus-testimonia/1999/pb_LCL258.27.xml 1.629a–b], cited by {{harvp|Gerber|1999|p=27 n. 1}}.</ref> According to scholar N. R. E. Fisher, "[t]he story was surely an invention by Athenians, designed in the first instance for a predominantly Athenian market. It must have been aimed at making co-operation between Sparta and Athens more acceptable".{{sfnp|Fisher|1994|pp=362–364}} It has also been noted that Tyrtaeus did not compose in the vernacular Laconian [[Doric Greek|Doric dialect]] of Sparta, as could be expected of a native Spartan like his near contemporary [[Alcman]].{{sfnp|Barron|Easterling|1985|p=130}} However, Greek elegists used the [[Ionic Greek|Ionic dialect]] of [[Homer]] regardless of their city of origin or their audience.{{sfnp|Gerber|1997|p=103}}

Scholars generally agree that Tyrtaeus was a native of [[Laconia]] for several reasons: the use of the first personal plural to include himself among the [[Heracleidae|Heraclidae]] whom Zeus had given to Sparta in fragment 2;{{sfnp|Gerber|1997|p=103}} the presence of occasional Doric words in his vocabulary;{{sfnp|Barron|Easterling|1985|p=130}} and his tone of authority when addressing Spartan warriors, which would have been tolerated only if delivered by a Spartan-born poet.{{sfnp|Gerber|1997|p=103}}{{sfnp|Barron|Easterling|1985|p=130}}

=== Sources ===
Virtually all that is known about the life of Tyrtaeus is found in two entries of the ''[[Suda]]'', a [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[encyclopedia]] redacted in the 10th century AD.{{Sfnp|Gerber|1997|p=102}} [[File:3195 - Athens - Stoà of Attalus Museum - Spartan shield (425 BC) - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 9 2009.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Bronze Spartan shield captured by Athenian soldiers at the [[Battle of Pylos]] in 425 BCE and now stored in the [[Ancient Agora Museum]]]]The first of the entry of the ''Suda'' runs as follows:{{Blockquote|Tyrtaeus, son of Archembrotus, a [[Laconia]]n or [[Milesians (Greek)|Milesian]] elegiac poet and pipe-player. It is said that by means of his songs he urged on the Lacedaemonians in their war with the Messenians and in this way enabled them to get the upper hand. He is very ancient, contemporary with those called the [[Seven Sages of Greece|Seven sages]], or even earlier. He flourished in the 35th [[Olympiad]] (640–637 BC). He wrote a constitution for the Lacedaemonians, precepts in elegiac verse, and war songs, in five books.<ref name="suda">Suda [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/tyrtaeus-testimonia/1999/pb_LCL258.25.xml iv.610.5 (Adler)], cited by {{harvp|Gerber|1999|p=25}}.</ref>|author=|title=|source=}}
The second entry states that the Spartans took him as their general from among the Athenians in response to an oracle.

{{Blockquote|Tyrtaeus. The Lacedaemonians swore that they would either capture Messene or die, and when the god gave them an oracle to take a general from the Athenians, they took the poet Tyrtaeus, a man who was lame. By exhorting them to valour he captured Messene in the 20th year. They razed it and grouped the prisoners among the helots.<ref name="suda"/>|author=|title=|source=}}

Traditional accounts of his life were almost entirely deduced from his poetry or were simply fiction,{{Sfnp|Gerber|1999|p=102}} such as the account by [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] (2nd century AD) of his supposed transformation from a lame and stupid school teacher in Athens to the mastermind of Spartan victories against the [[Messenians]].<ref name="Paus-4.15.6" /> Variations on his Athenian origin and deformity are found in numerous ancient sources. This includes philosopher [[Diogenes Laërtius]] (3rd century AD), who said that the Athenians regarded him as deranged,<ref>Diogenes Laërtius 2.43, cited by {{harvp|Gerber|1999|p=31 n. 1}}.</ref> and [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] (3rd century AD), who labelled him "one-eyed."<ref>Porphyry in Horace ''A.P.'' 402, cited by {{harvp|Gerber|1999|p=31 n. 2}}.</ref> Finally, historian [[Junianus Justinus|Justin]] (2nd century AD) believed that he was sent to the Spartans by the Athenians as a deliberate insult.<ref>Justin 3.5, cited by {{harvp|Gerber|1999|p=31 n. 1}}.</ref>

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the picture of Tyrtaeus' life has been complicated by doubts about the authenticity of many of his verses, which were dated by various scholars to the 5th or 4th century BC.{{Sfnp|Gerber|1997|p=104}} The theory that Tyrtaeus was in fact a 5th-century Athenian poet was even posited by [[Eduard Schwartz]] in 1899.<ref>E. Schwartz, "Tyrtaios", ''Hermes'' 34 (1899), cited by {{harvp|Campbell|1982|p=171}}. See also Macan in ''Classical Review'' (February 1897); H. Weil, ''Études sur l'antiquité grecque'' (1900), and C. Giarratani, ''Tirteo e i suoi carmi'' (1905).</ref> According to Douglas E. Gerber (1997), however, "that skepticism has now largely disappeared". Disagreements among scholars now essentially revolve around the version of fragment 4 that should be accepted as genuine (Plutarch's or Diodorus' version, or a combination of the two), and some doubts remain about the dating of fragment 12, which some critics have assigned to the time of [[Xenophanes]] (c.&nbsp;570 – c.&nbsp;475 BC) or shortly before 498 BC.<ref>{{Harvp|Gerber|1997|p=104 (see also n. 5)|ps=; p. 105 n. 8}}. Gerber states that "most critics have been convinced" by Jaeger's defence of fr. 12 as Tyrtaeus' work (''Five Essays.'' 1966 [1932]. pp. 103–42), but that Fränkel (EGPP. pp. 337–39) assigns it "to the time of Xenophanes" and G. Tarditi ("Parenesi e arete nel corpus tirtaico". 1982. RFIC 110. pp. 257–276) to shortly before Pindar's Pythian 10 (498).</ref>

===Sparta at the time of Tyrtaeus===
[[File:Spartan swordman.jpg|right|thumb|Spartan swordsman in bronze, applique. Originally part of a relief decorating a piece of furniture, 550–25 BCE.]]

The conquest of Messenia in the 8th century BC, by the grandfathers of Tyrtaeus's generation, provided the foundation for a sophisticated and cultivated lifestyle. Foreign poets like the Lesbian [[Terpander]] and Cretan [[Thaletas]] were welcome guests. Ivory and gold ornaments, bronze vessels of ornate workmanship, fine pottery and the odes of Alcman all testify to refined tastes, continuing even into the sixth century. The continuance of those luxuries was "dearly purchased" in blood and toil by Tyrtaeus's generation when the Messenians revolted, and the ensuing war and civil strife inspired his entire poetic work.{{sfnp|Barron|Easterling|1985|p=130}} The crisis was mentioned by [[Aristotle]] for its instructive power:
{{Blockquote|Moreover, factions arise whenever some (aristocrats) are extremely poor and others are well off. And this happens especially during wars; it happened too in Sparta in the course of the Messenian War, as is clear from the poem of Tyrtaeus called ''Eunomia''. For some, hard pressed because of the war, demanded a redistribution of the land.{{emdash}}Aristotle<ref>Aristotle ''Politics'' 5.6.1306b36, cited by {{harvp|Gerber|1999|p=37}}.</ref>}}

His verses seem to mark a critical point in Spartan history, when Spartans began to turn from their flourishing arts and crafts and from the lighter verses of poets like [[Alcman]] (roughly his contemporary), to embrace a regime of military austerity:{{sfnp|Gerber|1999|p=4}} "life in Sparta became spartan".{{sfnp|Campbell|1982|p=169}} Some modern scholars believe that Tyrtaeus helped to precipitate and formulate this transition,<ref>e.g. Jaeger and Tigerstedt, cited by {{harvp|Irwin|2005|pp=21, 23–24}}</ref> but others see no real evidence for this.{{sfnp|Campbell|1982|p=171, 177}}

Tyrtaeus in his poetry urged the Spartans to remain loyal to the state and he reminded them of a constitution based on divine providence, requiring co-operation of kings, elders and the people.<ref group="nb">"After listening to Phoebus, they brought home from Pytho the god's oracles and sure predictions. The divinely honoured kings, in whose care is Sparta's lovely city, and the aged elders are to initiate counsel; and the men of the people, responding with straight utterances, are to speak fair words, act justly in everything, and not give the city (crooked?) counsel. Victory and power are to accompany the mass of the people. For so was Phoebus' revelation about this to the city."{{emdash}}adapted into prose from Plutarch, ''Life of Lycurgus'' 6, and Diodorus Siculus ''World History'' 7.12.5–6, by {{harvp|Gerber|1999|p=41}}.</ref> He sought to inspire them in battle by celebrating the example of their grandfathers' generation, when Messenia was first captured, in the rule of King Theopompus,<ref group="nb">"...our king Theopompus dear to the gods, through whom we captured spacious Messene, Messene good to plough and good to plant. For nineteen years the spearmen fathers of our fathers fought unceasingly over it, displaying steadfast courage in their hearts, and in the twentieth year the enemy fled from the high mountain range of Ithome, abandoning their rich farmlands."{{emdash}}adapted into prose from three sources (Pausanias 4.6.5, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/tyrtaeus-testimonia/1999/pb_LCL258.27.xml schol. ad loc. (p. 301 Greene)] on Plato's ''Laws'', Strabo 6.3.3) by {{harvp|Gerber|1999|p=45}}.</ref> and he gave practical advice on weapons, armour and tactics (see for example the verses [[Tyrtaeus#Poetic style|below]]). Some modern scholars however think his advice shows more familiarity with the schoolroom than with the battlefield, appearing to feature obsolete armour and tactics typical of Homeric rather than [[hoplite]] warfare.<ref>H. L. Lorimer, "The Hoplite Phalanx" ''A.B.S.A.'' 42 (1947), pages 122ff</ref> Others have argued that the Spartans at that time were still developing hoplite tactics,{{sfnp|Adkins|1977|pp=80, 90}} or that they were adapting hoplite tactics to encounter Messenian guerillas.<ref>N.G.L.Hammond, "The Lycurgean Reform at Sparta", ''J.H.S.'' 70 (1950), n. 50, page 51</ref>

{{blockquote|His poems are the martial hymn-book of that discipline and devotion to the state which held Spartan ranks steady in the face of certain death at Thermopylae and became one of the enduring legends of western history.|Barron and P. Easterling{{sfnp|Barron|Easterling|1985|p=133}}}}

Tyrtaeus's poetry is almost always interpreted teleologically, for signs of its subsequent impact on Spartan society. The similarities in meter and phrasing between Homeric epic and early elegy have encouraged this tendency, sometimes leading to dramatic conclusions about Tyrtaeus's significance. He has been called, for example, "the first poet of the Greek city state" and, in a similar vein, "he has recast the Homeric ideal of the single champion's ''arete'' (excellence) into the ''arete'' of the patriot".<ref>Tigerstedt (1965) p. 50, and Jaeger (1966) p. 103, cited and quoted by {{harvp|Irwin|2005|pp=23–24}}</ref> For some scholars, this is to credit Tyrtaeus with too much: his use of ''arete'' was not an advance on Homer's use of it but can still be interpreted as signifying "virtue" in the [[Archaic Greece|archaic]] sense of an ''individual's power to achieve something'' rather than as an anticipation of the [[Classical Greece|classical]] sense of ''moral excellence'', familiar to Plato and others.{{sfnp|Campbell|1982|pp=177–178}}

[[Athenaeus]], [[Strabo]] and the second entry of the ''Suda'' claim that Tyrtaeus was a Spartan general.<ref>Athenaeus [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/tyrtaeus-testimonia/1999/pb_LCL258.33.xml 14.630f] and Strabo 8.4.10; cited by {{harvp|Gerber|1999|pp=33 and 49}}.</ref> Some modern scholars, such as F. Rossi (1967–68), maintain that Tyrtaeus held a high military position,<ref>Rossi, F. (1967–68). "La 'strategie' di Tirteo". ''AIV.'' '''126'''. pp. 343–375.</ref> but Gerber (1997) contends that this is a speculative surmise: "[i]t may have been assumed that only a military commander could give military admonitions and instructions, but it is an unnecessary assumption."<ref>{{harvp|Gerber|1997|p=102 n. 1}}.</ref>