Agesilaus of Sparta and the Origins of the Ruler Cult

Classical Quarterly 38 (1):123-134 (1988)
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Abstract

Plutarch, in hisApophthegmata Laconica(Ages. 25 =mor.210d), records that the Thasians made an offer of divine honours to king Agesilaus, and that Agesilaus ostentatiously refused them. In the past, most scholars who have had occasion to comment on this anecdote have not doubted the veracity either of the report or of the language in which it is expressed. The situation, however, has now reversed itself. The currentcommunis opiniois the contention of Chr. Habicht that the story is an invention of the Hellenistic or early imperial period and was intended to be a criticism of contemporary practices. The purpose of this note is threefold: to demonstrate that the anecdote derives from Theopompus'Hellenica, that it has a basis in historical fact, and that the incident thus narrated had far-reaching social and political consequences.

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References found in this work

Sparta and Samos: a Special Relationship?L. H. Jeffery & Paul Cartledge - 1982 - Classical Quarterly 32 (02):243-.
The Imperialism of Thrasybulus.G. L. Cawkwell - 1976 - Classical Quarterly 26 (02):270-.
Sparta and Samos: a Special Relationship?L. H. Jeffery & Paul Cartledge - 1982 - Classical Quarterly 32 (2):243-265.
The Imperialism of Thrasybulus.G. L. Cawkwell - 1976 - Classical Quarterly 26 (2):270-277.

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