In the south of the Peloponnese peninsula, the Taiget Mountains stretch for 75 kilometers. Today it is just a beautiful landscape, and once, in the time of ancient Sparta, according to some historical sources, weak and sick babies were brought here to be thrown into apophets (a place of refusal). One of such apophets was the Keadas gorge. However, modern archeology has proven that this is nothing more than fiction.
Place of execution
The word "Sparta" we habitually associate with a harsh Spartan upbringing, military art and iron discipline. And, of course, with the cruelty associated with the targeted destruction of innocent babies who are unlucky enough to be born healthy. One could believe the last statement if one did not know that criminals, apostates and prisoners were also thrown into the abyss. Such a death was considered a shame. In addition, the Spartans believed that the souls of those executed in this way would never find rest, since their bodies were not buried. This punishment existed not only in Sparta with its Queadas. In Athens, there was the same place of execution and it was called "the abyss" or "pit", and in Thessaly - Korakes.
What was Queadas, where the Spartans, according to the myth, threw criminals, lepers, crippled and weak babies?
Judging by the descriptions of Plutarch, Pausanias and the more modern French explorer O. Rayet, who visited these places at the end of the 18th century, ancient Queadas is an abyss 10 kilometers north-west of Sparta, not far from the village of Tripi. This gorge with a depth of 600 meters still exists. Written sources have survived, which mentions that Queadas became a grave for the leader of the Messenians, the hero of the Second Messenian War, Aristomenes and his 50 associates. But Tsar Pausanias, punished for high treason, was thrown into the gorge, already dead. Then what do babies have to do with it?
How the myth was born
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Modern researchers, after analyzing historical sources, concluded that the father of the myth of the slain Spartan babies was Plato, who in his work "The State" proposed in this way to solve the problem of improving the human breed in Athens.
Plutarch presented unfulfilled plans as reality, and the myth began to grow into details. The great historian moved the scene to Sparta.
And then, it seems, Plutarch presented the unfulfilled plans as reality, and the myth began to acquire details. The great historian moved the place of action to Sparta, and in his description of the life of the ancient Spartan legislator Lycurgus named the place where the Spartans dumped newborns - Keadas. In addition, he wrote that when a child was born, the parents were obliged to bring it to the elders. They carefully examined the baby and decided whether to live or not. Healthy children were sent to foster care, and those who had congenital deformities were thrown into the gorge so that in the future the disabled would not create problems for the state. The fate of artificial selection awaited not only inferior babies, but also those born from unwanted pregnancies. As for the latter, it is precisely so, according to Plutarch,the ancient Spartans planned a family - by infanticide, reducing the number of unnecessary eaters.
It seems that Plutarch turned out everything smoothly and logically. However, scientists have found some "buts". So, some famous Spartan personalities suffered from one or another mutilation. For example, the king of Sparta Agesilaus had a congenital limp. And during the Second Messenian War, the lame poet Tirtaeus composed songs that raised the military spirit of the Spartans, glorified the Spartan phalanx and admired the soldiers who died for their homeland. The chronicle words of one lame Spartan who went to war and, being ridiculed there, sounded convincingly, ironically declared: "The war needs people who will stay in place, and not those who rely on their feet and run."
As a result, the researchers of Sparta had serious doubts that needed to be resolved and get to the bottom of the truth.
Archeology to help
The results of the research of the first archaeological expedition, which visited the region of Keadasa in 1904, shocked the world. In the process of excavation, scientists have found human bones, the size of the infant. That is, the myth of the cruel morals of the Spartans has found material evidence.
But 50 years later, in 1956, when science made great strides, it became possible to conduct carbon analysis of the finds. It turned out that the bones belonged to adults, and only 15% of them were the bones of adolescents. In addition, fracture marks were not everywhere.
From 1980 to 2000, the Sparta area was visited by many archaeologists, cavers and climbers. They descended into the gorge, mined artifacts … But I must say that history is silent about whether any of them reached the very bottom of Keadas. Indeed, over the centuries that have passed since Spartan times, many strong earthquakes have occurred in this area, the most powerful of which was in 464 BC. e. During natural disasters, the bottom of the Keadas could be littered with huge stones, which buried a lot of interesting things under them. And what the researchers found lay on the surface. Well, anyway, all the bones found in Queadas in the last century belonged to adults between 18 and 35 years old or adolescents from 14 to 17 years old.
In addition to bones, arrowheads and spearheads, lanterns and iron shackles were found in the gorge. And on the tip of one of the arrows is a stuck fragment of a skull. This allowed scientists to conclude that dead bodies were thrown into the gorge.
In total, fragments of the skeletons of 46 people were raised to the surface, all of them date back to the 6th and 5th centuries BC. e.
The studies of Keadas proved the validity of the assumption that the Spartans sent not only adults, but also teenagers to war. However, no one was able to find traces of the mass death of infants and even children under 10 years of age. The only exception was the child's only skeleton, and even then, most likely, the baby fell into the abyss by accident.
As a result, the Athenian anthropologist Theodoros Pitsios made the following statement to the press: “Remains were found here, but they do not belong to babies. This is most likely a myth. There is little historical information about such a monstrous rite practiced by the Spartans, they are inaccurate and refer to later times."
The myth of the slain babies has been dispelled.
Galina Belysheva
War as a rest
As soon as the Spartan boys turned 7 years old, they were taken from the family and transferred to the state for education. There were special camps where children learned to live in a team. At the head of each detachment was a leader who was chosen according to his quick wit and athletic training, the rest were supposed to take an example from him. The elders looked after the children, cultivating obedience, endurance, and the ability to win at all costs. To arouse a competitive spirit in the pupils, teachers in every possible way provoked quarrels between them. Competition was striking in its brutality in Sparta. The boys were flogged with a whip on the altar of Artemis, this execution lasted all day. Many could not stand it and died. But this did not prevent the others from proudly continuing the competition (diamastigosis), which consisted inwho will last longer and more dignified. But the winner got laurels, and he instantly became famous.
The food in the camps was meager, teaching children to starve. The boys had to get food on their own or by cunning, which was encouraged in every possible way. Of course, everything they brought to the camp was stolen. It was believed that if you managed to steal from adults, it means that you are brave, and if you burst, you earned a spanking like an awkward thief. The children did not have shoes or clothes. Only from the age of 13 they were given one raincoat a year. They slept on beds of reeds, which they themselves tore up with their bare hands. Thus, ideal soldiers were raised in Sparta and, I must say, they succeeded in this. Military campaigns for the young Spartans were a respite from the camps. As Plutarch wrote, "on the whole earth for the Spartans alone, war was a rest from preparing for it."