The Funeral Rite of the Spartan Kings
The Funeral Rite of the Spartan Kings

Summary/Abstract: This article is a historical commentary on Herodotus’ account of the funerals of the Spartan kings. It is an attempt on the author’s part to explain why for centuries the royal funerary ritual continued unchanged despite its being too lavish for ascetic Sparta. The study focuses on the socio-economic composition of the funeral attendees. In the author’s opinion, the participation of representatives of the lower classes – the helots and perioikoi – in the ceremony facilitated the evolvement of elites from both categories of the Spartan subordinate population. The funeral ceremony performed an important ideological and propaganda function serving as a unifying factor for all the social classes and indoctrinating the masses with the belief in the eternal and immutable nature of the royal authority and, by extension, of the Spartan state.

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