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Is Plutarch a Trustworthy Source for Archaic Sparta?

Thorsten Kahl, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe-Universitaet, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Journal of Unsolved Questions, 2, 2, Open Questions, 7, 2012 (Received 21.03.2012, accepted 07.05.2012, published online 21.06.2012)

This open question emerged from a footnote I wrote questioning the Spartan civil and political rights in archaic times. Plutarch’s biography of Lykurgos soon became my main source because he describes details about archaic Sparta which can barely be found in other authors’ works. This makes Plutarch indispensable for me. But it is also a problem in source of criticism because we cannot verify or falsify Plutarch’s Life of Lykurgos by comparing it to contemporary, archaic sources – there are none. …

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