The Spartans 1/15 Video
THE SPARTANS opens at Thermopylae and with the epitaph of the Three Hundred before introducing some of the themes that will be addressed in the programme. After the introduction, we journey to the Dark Ages of Greece, so named because of a lack of sources, the end of the Achaean Age and the coming of the Dorian Greeks to the Peloponnesus and Laconia in a migration from the North.
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Greek legend asserted that the Dorians took possession of the Peloponnesus in an event called the Descent of the Heracleidae. Classical scholars saw in the legend a hypothetically real event they termed the Dorian invasion.
Additional progress in the search for the Dorian invasion came about as a result of the decipherment of Linear B, an early form of Greek written in a syllabary. It became known as Mycenaean Greek. Comparing it with the later Greek dialects scholars could see that a development had taken place. For example, classical Greek anak-s, "king", came from a reconstructed *wanak- and a glance at Linear B turned up wa-na-ka.
The Greek dialects are now widely believed to be the product of contact between Indo-European invaders and the speakers of the indigenous languages of the Balkan peninsula beginning c. 2,000 BCE.
Julius Pokorny derives "Dorian" from dōris, "woodland" (which can also mean upland). The dōri- segment is from the o-grade of Proto-Indo-European *deru-, "tree". Dorian might be translated as "the country people", "the mountain people", "the uplanders", "the people of the woods" or some such appellation. A second popular derivation was given by the Émile Boisacq, from the same root, but from Greek doru, "spear" (which was wood); i.e., "the people of the spear" or "spearmen", emphasising the warrior ferocity of the Dorians.
According to Herodotus: Although the one nation nowhere yet went out, the Lacedaemonian was very much wandering. For, in the time of King Deucalion, it was settled in the land of Phthia, and in the time of Dorus, the son of Hellen, in the country under Ossa and Olympus, the so-called Histiaean. From the Histiaean, after it had been expelled by the Cadmeians, it was settled in Pindus called Macedonian. Thence again it changed its place to the Dryopian land, and from the Dryopian thus it came to Peloponnesus, and was called Doric. (Herodot, Book I, 56.3). Thus, according to Herodotus, the Dorians did not acquire their name until they had reached Peloponnesus.
He further claims that the people they displaced gathered at Athens under a leader Ion and became identified as "Ionians". Most conspicuous among the Dorians as related by Herodotus were the people later known as Lacedaemonians, or Spartans, one of whose archaic legendary kings was named Dōrieus.
The main characteristic of the Doric language was the preservation of Indo-European [aː], long α, which in Attic-Ionic became [ɛː], η. Culturally, in addition to their Doric dialect of Greek, Doric colonies retained their characteristic Doric calendar revolving round a cycle of festivals of which the Hyacinthia and the Carneia were especially important. The Dorian mode in music also was attributed to Doric societies and was associated by classical writers with martial qualities. The Doric order of architecture in the tradition inherited by Vitruvius included the Doric column, noted for its simplicity and strength.
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Moving on with the programme, an effective look at the development of hoplite warfare is presented. Next comes the Messenian conquest, then the establishment of the Spartan social order. The upbringing of Spartan youths is then addressed at length. A good point is made that the sublimation of the individual as practiced by the Spartans can be very liberating the possibility of transcending your limitations as an individual and becoming part of something bigger and better. Spartan institutions are credited for initiating a system of interlocking rights and responsibilities among its citizens centuries before other Greek states conceived of such things.
The finding of the so-called statue of Leonidas in 1925 is used to introduce the Persian Wars, which are then examined in detail. There is much footage of Thermopylae, including the eponymous hot springs, and the commentary explains the Spartans self-sacrifice as an expression of the spiritual beliefs that are the foundation of their social order.
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diutiscfolc: 1:08 Swastika
AnthroWisdom: Only a moron thinks the Swastika starts with Germany in 1933. It's an ancient symbol found all over the world, especially on artifacts from Indo-European speaking cultures from Central Europe to the Indus Valley.
happosai27: today it may seems sick but if you were born into this system you would have accepted it in the same way we accept todays world without question when we are young ^^
DBAViking: ahhh Bettany !! Brilliant and beautiful!
Antiks72: 1:54 nice ass
Testosteron250: Her pronunciation of ancient Greek is funny,to much English in it... Epitaph is not in rhyme,why would you always say it in rhyme,It's not even accurate.
Author: germanicfolc; Uploaded: Aug 25, 2009; Duration: 10:53; Views: 1777
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