Lycurgus (/laɪˈkɜːrɡəs/; Greek: ΛυκοῦργοςLykourgos) was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta, credited with the formation of its eunomia ("good order"),[1] involving political, economic, and social reforms. He is credited with establishing the military-oriented reformation of Spartan society in accordance with the Delphic oracle. The Spartans in the historical period honoured him as god.[2]
As a historical figure, almost nothing is known for certain about him, including when he lived and what he did in life. The stories of him place him at multiple times. Nor is it clear when the political reforms attributed to him, called the Great Rhetra, occurred. Ancient dates range from, putting aside the implausibly early Xenophonic 11th century BC, the early ninth century (c. 885 BC) to as late as early eighth century (c. 776 BC). There remains no consensus as to when he lived; some modern scholars deny that he existed at all.
The reforms at various times attributed to him touch all aspects of Spartan society. They included the creation of the Spartan constitution (in most traditions after the dual monarchy), the imposition of the Spartan mess halls called syssitia, the redistribution of land to each citizen by head, Spartan austerity and frugality, and Sparta's unique wedding and funerary customs. None of these reforms can be concretely attributed to Lycurgus. Most of the reforms likely date to the late sixth century BC (shortly before 500 BC), postdating his supposed life by centuries; some of the reforms, such as for the redistribution of land, are fictitious.
The extent of the Lycurgan myth emerges from Sparta's self-justification, seeking to endow its customs with timeless and divinely sanctioned antiquity. That antiquity was also malleable, reinvented at various times to justify the new as a return to Lycurgus' ideal society: his land reforms, for example, are attested only after the reformist Spartan monarchs Agis IV and Cleomenes III who sought to redistribute Sparta's land. The reforms attributed to Lycurgus, however, have been praised by ancients and moderns alike, seeing at various times different morals projected on a figure of which so little concrete can be known.
claimed to be a return to Lycurgus' laws. In the earlier legends of Lycurgus, namely in the accounts of the Great Rhetra, Lycurgus is not credited with a...
and father of a son whose name was also Dryas. Lycurgus banned the cult of Dionysus. When Lycurgus heard that Dionysus was in his kingdom, he imprisoned...
The Lycurgus Cup is a Roman glass 4th-century cage cup made of a dichroic glass, which shows a different colour depending on whether or not light is passing...
lawgiver of the same name. Lycurgus was born before 384 BC, probably around 390 BC. His father was Lycophron, son of Lycurgus, who belonged to the noble...
mythology, Lycurgus (/laɪˈkɜːrɡəs/; Ancient Greek: Λυκοῦργος Lykoûrgos, /lykôrɡos/), also Lykurgos or Lykourgos, was a king of Tegea in Arcadia. Lycurgus was...
verbose a response to a teacher's question. A witticism attributed to Lycurgus, the possibly legendary lawgiver of Sparta, was a response to a proposal...
and birth, by regulating their marriages. Plutarch. Parallel Lives, Lycurgus. Lycurgus was of another mind; he would not have masters bought out of the market...
Calydonian Boar hunt, in which he met his end. Ancaeus was the son of King Lycurgus of Arcadia either by Cleophyle or Eurynome or Antinoe. Ancaeus married...
controlled by conservative missionaries, fined Lycurgus for selling liquor at his resort. Lycurgus hired a band of Hawaiians who played music honoring...
Griffiths, the owner of a shirt-collar factory in the fictional city of Lycurgus, New York. Samuel, feeling guilt for neglecting his poor relations, offers...
house located near Lake Village, Arkansas. It was built around 1859 by Lycurgus Johnson with the profits of slave labor. The house was restored between...
to Xenophon, it was introduced by the semi-mythical Spartan law-giver Lycurgus, and modern scholars have dated its inception to the 7th or 6th century...
Cisseis – one of the maenads who tried to kill Lycurgus. Clite – one of the maenads who tried to kill Lycurgus. Codone – a follower of Dionysus in the Indian...
king, commander at the Battle of Thermopylae Lycurgus (quasi-mythical, century unclear) — lawgiver Lycurgus (king of Sparta) (3rd century BC) — abolished...
along the shores of Lake Chicot in the Arkansas Delta. Lycurgus eight siblings. Lycurgus's paternal grandfather, Robert Johnson, was a surveyor in Kentucky...
Lycurgus J. Conner (November 17, 1909 – May 28, 1963) was a lawyer, judge, and state legislator. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Conner received his bachelor...
delivered to Lycurgus, the semi-legendary Spartan lawgiver (fl. 8th century BC). According to the report by Herodotus (Histories A.65, 2–4), Lycurgus visited...
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