Their dance was a military movement. In the "Pyrrhic" the dancers were
armed and imitated all the movements of a battle; they made the
gestures of striking, of parrying, of retreating, and of throwing the
javelin.
=Heroism of the Women.=--The women stimulated the men to combat; their
exhibitions of courage were celebrated in Greece, so much so that
collections of stories of them were made.[64] A Spartan mother, seeing
her son fleeing from battle, killed him with her own hand, saying;
"The Eurotas does not flow for deer." Another, learning that her five
sons had perished, said, "This is not what I wish to know; does
victory belong to Sparta?" "Yes." "Then let us render thanks to the
gods."
THE INSTITUTIONS OF SPARTA
=The Kings and the Council.=--The Spartiates had at first, like the
other Greeks, an assembly of the people. All these institutions were
preserved, but only in form. The kings, descendants of the god
Herakles, were loaded with honors; they were given the first place at
the feasts and were served with a double portion; when they died all
the inhabitants made lamentation for them.
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