Plutarch, Instituta Laconia, Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator), 40

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[40] The boys in Sparta were lashed with whips during the entire day at the altar of Artemis Orthia, frequently to the point of death, and they bravely endured this, cheerful and proud, vying with one another for the supremacy as to which one of them could endure being beaten for the longer time and the greater number of blows. And the one who was victorious was held in especial repute. This competition is called The Flagellation, and it takes place each year.¹

Instituta Laconia. Plutarch. Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1931.

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Current edition Perseus

The Ancient Customs of the Spartans (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).)

Editions (2)

Τὰ παλαιὰ τῶν Λακεδαινίων ἐπιτηδεύματα Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).) — 40 focus

[40] οἱ παῖδες παρʼ αὐτοῖς ξαινόμενοι μάστιξι 239d διʼ ὅλης τῆς ἡμέρας ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ τῆς Ὀρθίας Ἀρτέμιδος μέχρι θανάτου πολλάκις διακαρτεροῦσιν ἱλαροὶ καὶ γαῦροι, ἁμιλλώμενοι περὶ νίκης πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ὅστις αὐτῶν ἐπὶ πλέον τε καὶ μᾶλλον καρτερήσειε τυπτόμενος· καὶ ὁ περιγενόμενος ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα ἐπίδοξός ἐστι. καλεῖται δὲ ἡ ἅμιλλα διαμαστίγωσις γίγνεται δὲ καθʼ ἕκαστον ἔτος.

Τὰ παλαιὰ τῶν Λακεδαινίων ἐπιτηδεύματα Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol IΙ. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 40 focus

[40] οἱ παῖδες παρʼ αὐτοῖς ξαινόμενοι μάστιξι, 239d διʼ ὅλης τῆς ἡμέρας ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ τῆς Ὀρθίας Ἀρτέμιδος μέχρι θανάτου πολλάκις διακαρτεροῦσιν ἱλαροὶ καὶ γαῦροι, ἁμιλλώμενοι περὶ νίκης πρὸς ἀλλήλους, 20 ὅστις αὐτῶν ἐπὶ πλέον τε καὶ μᾶλλον καρτερήσειε τυπτόμενος· καὶ ὁ περιγενόμενος ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα ἐπίδοξός; ἐστι. καλεῖται δὲ ἡ ἅμιλλα διαμαστίγωσις· γίνεται δὲ καθʼ ἕκαστον ἔτος

Notes on the current edition

Instituta Laconica

1. There are many references to this practice, which seems to have been kept up even in Plutarch’s time according to his Life of Lycurgus, chap. xviii. (51 b). Cf. also his Life of Aristeides, chap. xvii. (329 d); Xenophon, Constitution of Sparta, 2. 9; Müller, Frag. Hist. Graec. iii. p. 458 (Nicolaus Damasc., Frag. 114); Lucian, Anacharsis, 38; Philostratus, Apollonius, vi. 20, who explains the custom as originating in earlier human sacrifice, but on this see J. G. Frazer in his commentary on Pausanias, iii. 16. 10. Among Latin writers Cf., for example, Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, ii. 14 (34).

Plutarch Instituta Laconia 40

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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