Overpowered by a Single Woman: The Spartans vs. The Courage of Telesilla

Name: Michele Marullo Tarchaniota Date: 1330 – 1408 CE Region:   Constantinople [modern Turkey] / Volterra [modern Italy] Citation:  Epith. Telesillae; Contantinopalitani Epigrammaton,  Book 4

 If you ask where she’s from,

Her homeland was Argos.

If you ask what her name was

Her noble name was Telesilla.

If you want to know her skillset or her courage

I’m embarrassed to tell you.

The Muse can tell you about her skills,

The Spartans can tell you about her courage.

For it’s embarrassing to say that Sparta

Was overcome by  single woman

Even though it’s Spartan custom

To always tell the truth.  

Si patriam, patria est Argos. Si nomina quaeris

Scire, Telesillae nobile nomen erat,

At si artes animosque, vetat pudor hiscere de me.

Musa sed has dicent hos lacedaemonii.

Nam quis pudeat Sparten cessisse puellae

Vera tamen fari mos Lacedaemoniis.

 

Michele Marullo Tarcaniota [1458 – 1500 CE, Constantinople, modern Turkey / Volterra, modern Italy] was a famous scholar and author known for his Greco-Roman mythology-themed poetry.

Honoring Women Veterans: Telesilla of Argos, Plutarch, Virtutes Mulierum 245c-d

Challenging Gender Roles: Telesilla, Warrior Poet

Name:    Plutarch Date:      46 – 119 CE Region:    Chaeronea [modern Greece]   Citation:     The Valor of Women, 245c – e

There is no better example of women working on behalf of their community than what they did in defense of Argos against Cleomenes’ assault, under the leadership of the poet Telesilla.

They say that Telesilla was born from a noble family, but was sent to the temple of the gods to cure her ill health. There she received a prophecy to worship the Muses, and so she obeyed the god’s command and studied poetry and song. She was healed of her illness and her art was the object of wonder among women.

When Cleomenes, the King of Sparta, killed a large amount of Argive soldiers—but not, as the rumor holds, 7,777 of them—he marched against the city with death on his mind. A bold wave of courage beset the young women, hoping to fight against the enemy in defense of their homeland. At the head of this counteroffensive was Telesilla,  who took up weapons and, standing on the town’s battlements,  manned completely the circuit of defensive walls, and completely shocked the enemy by this sight.

They fended off Cleomenes’ attack, taking down many of his soldiers in the process. The other Spartan king, Demaratus, who according to Socates was able to broach the city walls and gain possession of the Pamphyliacum, was also routed.  And so they saved their city. The women who fell in battle were buried on the road into town, and the women veterans were granted a monument to Ares in honor of their valor.

οὐδενὸς δ᾽ ἧττον ἔνδοξόν ἐστι τῶν κοινῇ διαπεπραγμένων γυναιξὶν ἔργων ὁ πρὸς Κλεομένη περὶ Ἄργους ἀγών, ὃν ἠγωνίσαντο, Τελεσίλλης τῆς ποιητρίας προτρεψαμένης. ταύτην δέ φασιν οἰκίας οὖσαν ἐνδόξου τῷ δὲ σώματι νοσηματικὴν εἰς θεοῦ πέμψαι περὶ ὑγιείας: καὶ χρησθὲν αὐτῇ Μούσας θεραπεύειν, πειθομένην τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐπιθεμένην ἐν ᾠδῇ καὶ ἁρμονίᾳ τοῦ τε πάθους ἀπαλλαγῆναι ταχὺ καὶ θαυμάζεσθαι διὰ ποιητικὴν ὑπὸ τῶν γυναικῶν. ἐπεὶ δὲ Κλεομένης ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Σπαρτιατῶν πολλοὺς ἀποκτείνας οὐ μήν, ὡς ἔνιοι μυθολογοῦσιν, ἑπτὰ καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ ἑπτακοσίους πρὸς ἑπτακισχιλίοις ἐβάδιζε πρὸς τὴν πόλιν, ὁρμὴ καὶ τόλμα δαιμόνιος παρέστη ταῖς ἀκμαζούσαις τῶν γυναικῶν ἀμύνεσθαι τοὺς πολεμίους ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος. ἡγουμένης δὲ τῆς Τελεσίλλης, ὅπλα λαμβάνουσι καὶ παρ᾽ ἔπαλξιν ἱστάμεναι κύκλῳ τὰτείχη περιέστεψαν, ὥστε θαυμάζειν τοὺς πολεμίους.  τὸν μὲν οὖν Κλεομένη πολλῶν πεσόντων ἀπεκρούσαντο: τὸν δ᾽ ἕτερον βασιλέα Δημάρατον, ὡς Σωκράτης φησίν, ἐντὸς γενόμενον καὶ κατασχόντα τὸ Παμφυλιακὸν ἐξέωσαν, οὕτω δὲ τῆς πόλεως περιγενομένης, τὰς μὲν πεσούσας ἐν τῇ μάχῃ τῶν γυναικῶν ἐπὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς Ἀργείας ἔθαψαν, ταῖς δὲ σωθείσαις ὑπόμνημα τῆς ἀριστείας ἔδοσαν ἱδρύσασθαι τὸν Ἐνυάλιον.

Inter res a feminis communiter gestas nulla nobiliior praelio est cum Cleomene ad Argos ab eis commisso Telesilla conciente poetria. Hanc ferunt illustri natam domo, cum valetudinaria esset deos de recipienda sanitate consuluisse: responso dato, ut Musas coleret, eae consilium secutam carminibus se et harmoniae dedisse: ita morbo cito levatam, et ob artem poeticam apud mulieres in honore fuisse. Cum autem Lacedaemoniorum rex Cleomenes multis necatis, non tamen, ut quidam fabulantur, septem millibus septingentis septuaginta septem, infestis signis urbem peteret: ardor & audacia incessit feminas aetate florentes incredibilis, ut adversus hostem pro patria propugnarent. Duce Telesilla arma capiunt, in pinnaculisque, stantes muros corona cingunt attonitis miraculo hostibus. Cleomenem multis amissis repellunt. Alterum regem, ut tradit Socrates, qui iam urbem evaserat, tenebatque, Pamphyliacum, Demaratum expellunt. Hac ratione cu mconservata urbs esset: mulieres, quae pugnantes ceciderant, via Argiva humaverunt. Incolumibus concessum, ut virtutis monimentum Marti signum ponerent.  Translated into Latin by Hermann Cruserius

Plutarch [46 – 119 CE, modern Greece] was a Greek author from Chaeronea, and Roman citizen who lived during the 1st century CE. He had minor governmental and religious administrative roles during his lifetime, but he is best known for his writings. He has numerous philosophical and historical works still extant, including the Parallel Lives, in which he compares the lives of a Roman and Greek statesman for moralistic purposes.

Spartan Women: Accius, fr. 31-32

Spartan Women Don’t Care About Babies

Name: Accius  Date:   170 – 86 BCE Region:   Umbria [modern Italy] Citation:  [quoted in Cicero, Tuscan Debates 2.36]

Often, authors will use depictions of other nations as a mirror for their own society. Here, Spartan women are stereotyped as a foil for Roman gender roles for their rejection of motherhood.

There’s nothing like this among the Spartan women.

For them, exercise and sunshine and dust and hard work

And military training are more important

Than common pregnancy.  

Spartan Women Don’t Care About Babies

Nihil horum similest apud Lacaenas virgines,

Quibus magis palaestra Eurota sol pulvis labor

Militia studio est quam fertilitas barbara.

Accius [Lucius Accius; 170 – 86 BCE, modern Italy]  was a freeborn child of a freedman parent. He was born in Pisaurum, Umbria [modern Italy] but later moved to Rome. He wrote several tragedies based on Greek myths, but only fragments remain of them.

M/M: The Army of Theban Lovers, Maximus of Tyre, Diss. 8

The Army of Theban Lovers

Name: Maximus of Tyre [Cassius Maximus Tyrius] Date:   2nd century CE Region:   Tyre [modern Lebanon] Citation:    Dissertation 18.2.f-k

Epamonidas liberated Thebes from Sparta’s control by weaponizing love. In Thebes there were many young soldiers in love.  Epamonidas put weapons in their hands, and created a squadron of lovers who had incredible valor and were undefeatable. Whether in battle formation or in melee they easily repelled the enemy’s assault, the likes of which have never been seen, not even under the skillful leadership of the Trojan War hero Nestor, nor in the descendants of Heracles in the Peloponnesian campaign,  nor in the Peloponnesian campaign against Athens.

The reason for this was that each man had to prove themselves to their lover, either to fight well in their lover’s eyes, or out of necessity, since each man had to defend his own sweetheart. And in turn, a rivalry spurred on their bravery, so they could perform equally as well as their lover, just as the puppies of hunting dogs follow the bigger dogs in the pack.  

Ἐλευθεροῖ τὰς Θήβας Ἐπαμεινώνδας ἀπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων σρατηγήματι ἐρωτικῷ. Μειρακίων πολλῶν καλῶν ἐρασταὶ ἤσαν Θήβησιν πολλοὶ νεανίαι. ὅπλα δους Ἐπαμεινώνδας τοῖς ἐρασταῖς καὶ τοῖς ἐρωμένοις συνέταξεν λόχον ἱερὸν του ἔρωτος. δεινὸν καὶ ἄμαχον καὶ συνασπίζοντα ἀκριβῶς καὶ ἄῤῥηκτον οἷον ουτε ὁ Νέστωρ περὶ τὸ Iλιον συνεστήσατο ὁ δεινότατος τῶν σρατηγών, οὔτε Ἡρακλείδαι περὶ Πελοπόννησον ουτε Πελοποννήσιοι περὶ τὴν Ἀττικὴν. ἔδει γὰρ ἕκασον τῶν ἐραστῶν ἀριστεύειν, καὶ διὰ φιλοτιμίαν ἐν ὄψει τῶν παιδικῶν μαχόμενον καὶ δὶ ἀνάγκην ὑπερμαχούντα τῶν φιλτάτων. ἦν δὲ καὶ τὰ μειράκια ἐφάμιλλα ταῖς ἀρεταῖς τοῖς ἐραςταῖς, ὥσπερ ἐν θήρᾳ σκύλακες συμπαραθέοντες τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις τῶν κυνῶν.

Epamonidas amatorio stratagemate Thebas in liberatem a Lacedaemoniis vindicavit. Erant Thebis multi pulchri adolescentuli qui amabantur, multi pulchri iuvenes qui amabant. Utrisque arma in manum Epamonidas dat, et utrisque cohortem instruit amatoriam, quae mirae virtutis planeque inexpugnabilis cum esset, conferto simul agmine facile hostium impetum sustinuit. Qualem neque imperatorum solertissimus Nestor, in Troiano agro, neque in Peloponnesiaco Heraclidae, neque in Attico instruxere Peloponnesii Necesse enim fuit amatores singulos, vel existimationis suae causa, quod in oculis adolescentulorum pugnarent, vel necessitatis, quod singuli amicissimum defenderent, strenue rem gerere. Vehemens rursus aemulatio adolescentulos pungebat, ut cum amatoribus sibi suis paria facerent: sicut in venatione catuli, qui maiores canes sequuntur.  Translated into Latin by Claudius Larjot

Maximus of Tyre [2nd century CE, modern Lebanon] was listed as one of the most influential people in the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius’ life. He spent most of his life in scholarly pursuits; his Dissertations were a collection of philosophical treatises based on the works of Plato.

Challenging Gender Roles: The Women of Sparta, Propertius, Eleg. 3.14

Name:  Propertius Date:  50 – 15 BCE Region:   Assisium [modern Italy] Citation:    Elegies 3.14

Sparta, I admire your customs, but most of all,
I like the benefits of your ladies' gyms.
Because it's not a problem for a lady to exercise her naked body
in front of wrestling men.
She can reach out her arms to catch a flying ball
(whether she can catch it or not),
she can clang that basketball hoop when contact is made.
A woman can stand, sweaty, at the end of a racetrack
or bruise up her pretty little face in the boxing ring.
She can bind up her hands with her favorite pair of boxing gloves,
or twist her curves to send forth a discus,
or whiten her hair with dewy frost by chasing
her family's hunting dogs over the vast Taygetan lands.
She can train her horses to barrel race,
She can gird her snow-white midriff with a sword
or protect her pretty little face with an iron helmet,
the kind that the race of the Amazons would wear
when they would bathe--topless!--in the Thermodon River.
Just like Castor and Pollux would do,
the one about to be victorious in the ring,
the other about to be victorious on horseback,
and, arm-in-arm with her godly brothers,
Helen herself (it is said) fought by their side,
topless and unashamed.
And Spartan law forbids lovers to be kept apart.
They can remain side-by-side in public,
There's no curfew or forbidden dates for a girl,
She won't be "grounded" by a harsh father or husband.
You don't need to call ahead, you don't need anyone's permission:
You can date whomever you wish; there's no delay or wasted time.
Women don't wear Tyrian purple, they don't deceive you with what their clothes are hiding,
they don't doll up their hair with too much hairspray or perfume.
But here in Rome, my girl is surrounded by her adoring public
and I can't even reach her with a fingertip.
I can't catch a glimpse of her face,
I can't even ask her to spend a minute to speak with me,
a lover's path is blocked and blind.
So Rome, if you could change your ways
and imitate Sparta--you'd really help me out.



Multa tuae, Sparte, miramur iura palaestrae,
    sed mage virginei tot bona gymnasii,
quod non infamis exercet corpore ludos
    inter luctantis nuda puella viros,
cum pila velocis fallit per bracchia iactus,
    increpat et versi clavis adunca trochi,
pulverulentaque ad extremas stat femina metas,
    et patitur duro vulnera pancratio:
nunc ligat ad caestum gaudentia bracchia loris,
    missile nunc disci pondus in orbe rotat,
et modo Taygeti, crinis aspersa pruina,
    sectatur patrios per iuga longa canes:
gyrum pulsat equis, niveum latus ense revincit,
    virgineumque cavo protegit aere caput,
qualis Amazonidum nudatis bellica mammis
    Thermodontiacis turba lavatur aquis;
qualis et Eurotae Pollux et Castor harenis,
    hic victor pugnis, ille futurus equis,
inter quos Helene nudis capere arma papillis
    fertur nec fratres erubuisse deos.
lex igitur Spartana vetat secedere amantes,
    et licet in triviis ad latus esse suae,
nec timor aut ullast clausae tutela puellae,
    nec gravis austeri poena cavenda viri.
nullo praemisso de rebus tute loquaris
    ipse tuis: longae nulla repulsa morae.
nec Tyriae vestes errantia lumina fallunt,
    est neque odoratae cura molesta comae.
at nostra ingenti vadit circumdata turba,
    nec digitum angustast inseruisse via;
nec quae sit facies nec quae sint verba rogandi
    invenias: caecum versat amator iter.
quod si iura fores pugnasque imitata Laconum,     

carior hoc esses tu mihi, Roma, bono.

Propertius [Sextus Propertius; 50-15 BCE, modern Italy] was an Italian-born Roman lyric poet whose love poetry provides insight into the customs of Augustan Rome. Like Catullus and Tibullus, Propertius used a pseudonym for the object of his attention; many of his love poems were addressed to “Cynthia.”