Lycurgus

Lycurgus (/laɪˈkɜːrɡəs/; Ancient Greek: Λυκοῦργος Lykourgos) was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta who is credited with creating its eunomia ('good order'). This included political, economic, and social reforms that shaped Sparta into a military-oriented society in accordance with the Delphic oracle. Historical Spartans venerated him as a god.

Almost nothing is known with certainty about Lycurgus as a historical figure, including when he lived or what he actually did. Stories place him in different time periods, and the timing of the political reforms attributed to him, known as the Great Rhetra, remains unclear. Ancient dates range from the early ninth century BC (c. 885 BC) to the early eighth century BC (c. 776 BC), excluding Xenophon's implausibly early dating to the 11th century BC. Modern scholars remain divided on when he lived, with some denying his existence altogether.

The reforms attributed to Lycurgus encompass all aspects of Spartan society: establishing the Spartan constitution (typically after the dual monarchy was in place), creating the Spartan communal mess halls (syssitia), redistributing land equally among citizens, instituting Spartan austerity and frugality, and implementing distinctive wedding and funeral customs. However, none of these reforms can be definitively linked to Lycurgus. Most likely date to the late sixth century BC (shortly before 500 BC), centuries after his supposed lifetime, while some, such as the land redistribution, are considered fictional.

The Lycurgan myth largely stems from Sparta's efforts to justify its customs by attributing them to a divinely sanctioned, ancient origin. This antiquity was flexible, with the myth being reinvented at various times to present new practices as returns to Lycurgus' ideal society. For example, accounts of his land reforms appear only after the reformist Spartan kings Agis IV and Cleomenes III attempted to redistribute Sparta's land. Despite the historical uncertainty, the reforms attributed to Lycurgus have been admired by both ancient and modern commentators, who have projected various moral lessons onto this figure about whom so little can be definitively known.