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Seriously? LOL

http://all-that-is-interesting.com/unusual-rites-passage/2

warning, graphic ancient vase.

“In The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta Paul Rahe aims to restore the Herodotean balance. Without downplaying the Athenian contribution he begins with Sparta. The Spartan political system was one of checks and balances: two royal families, five annually rotating elected officials (ephors), a senate (gerousia) of men over sixty and a popular assembly of all citizens (Homoioi or “equals”). Their way of life enforced a military commitment to the state over individual achievement or family life. Men spent the years from seven to 45 with their military unit while contacts with birth family and married family were discouraged in favor of relationships between older and younger men we might call “male bonding.” Rahe prefers the franker term “pederasty.” “

http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/03/an-ancient-clash-of-civilizations

E. Christian Kopff teaches ancient Greek literature and the Bible in the Honors Program of the University of Colorado Boulder.

I learned about it in world history.

“Abstract
Dorian Crete and Thebes are conventionally seen by ancient sources as the originators of pederasty; modern historians see support for this view in Dorian male-centered militarism and sexual segregation in upbringing. Here athletic culture, including training, nudism, and competition, is argued to be a chief ‘trigger’ for the emergence of pederasty in Sparta and its relatively rapid spread to other Greek states in the seventh to sixth centuries BC. Athletic nudity, in particular, was not a device to enforce civic egalitarianism, as some have argued, but is a persistently erotic incentive that reinforces hegemonic maleness and advertises the individual’s virtuous exercise of restraint. In particular, Sparta is found to be the likely source of generalized athletic nudity combined with open pederasty in the early seventh century BC. Nudism in Greek art is erotically charged and not, as others argue, simply a gender marker in the seventh century. Generalized athletic nudity spread to other Greek states emulating the successful Spartan model by the ‘athletic revolution’ of the early sixth century. With athletic nudity, open pederasty, again following Sparta, was fostered.”

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J082v49n03_03

missed this tab...

“Cartledge brings us up to date on what is known about the most important and intriguing aspects of Sparta: its military development, questions of gender and sexuality, and the difficult problem of artistic and literary aspects of Sparta. We learn about the institutions that distinguished Sparta from other city-states, including its religion, education process, degree of literacy, secret service, unusual system of servitude, and institutionalized pederasty. Throughout, Cartledge also makes important comparisons with Athens, helping us grasp what is really striking about Sparta.

Cartledge’s writing is clear and engaging as he draws from myriad sources both ancient and modern, as well as from political and cultural theory. These essays, together with their magisterial bibliography, demonstrate his remarkable scholarly and intellectual range. Spartan Reflections will be an important source on the most significant issues in Sparta scholarship today as well as a fascinating look at this culture for general readers.

A Selection of the History Book Club

http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520231245

300 was a very popular movie but left out that I believe it portrays the wrath of God...