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The Crypteia, also referred to as Krypteia or Krupteia ( Greek: κρυπτεία ''krupteía'' from κρυπτός ''kruptós'', "hidden, secret"), was an ancient Spartan state institution involving young Spartan men. It was an exclusive element of Sparta's state-sponsored child-rearing system in which participation afforded its members, known as ''kryptai'' (κρύπται, members of the Krypteia), the opportunity to test their skills further and to prove themselves worthy of the Spartan polity. As an organisation, the Crypteia's mandate and practices are still debated by historians.


Overview

The Crypteia had young Spartan men, probably between the ages of 21 and 30, who were described as "those judged to have the most intelligence." The men were known as ''hêbôntes'', one of the many social categories that preceded full Spartiate citizenship, and had completed their rearing at the
agoge The ( grc-gre, ἀγωγή in Attic Greek, or , in Doric Greek) was the rigorous education and training program mandated for all male Spartan citizens, with the exception of the firstborn son in the ruling houses, Eurypontid and Agiad. The ...
with such success that they were marked out as potential future leaders by Spartan officials. The training ''kryptai'' endured was undoubtedly harsh, but the way in which their training was conducted is debated. According to Plato, the ''kryptai'' did not use footwear during the winter and slept without shelter. He also describes them as being unsupervised and as depending on themselves alone for survival. Plato's description might seem to imply that the ''kryptai'' were forced to be independent, but some scholars think that they may have had attendants at certain times to watch over them. The duration of service to the Crypteia is also largely unknown, but it has been suggested that one year of service may have been all that was required of the men. Some scholars, such as
Henri-Alexandre Wallon Henri-Alexandre Wallon (23 December 1812 – 13 November 1904) was a French historian and statesman whose decisive contribution to the creation of the Third Republic led him to be called the "Father of the Republic". He was the grandfather of psy ...
, consider the Crypteia to be a kind of
secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic ...
and state security force that was organised by the
ruling class In sociology, the ruling class of a society is the social class who set and decide the political and economic agenda of society. In Marxist philosophy, the ruling class are the capitalist social class who own the means of production and by ex ...
of Sparta to patrol the Laconian countryside and to terrorise the
helots The helots (; el, εἵλωτες, ''heílotes'') were a subjugated population that constituted a majority of the population of Laconia and Messenia – the territories ruled by Sparta. There has been controversy since antiquity as to their ...
. Others, including
Hermann Köchly Hermann Köchly (born Leipzig, 5 August 1815; died Trieste, 3 December 1876) was a German philologist and educational reformer. Biography He studied at Leipzig, taught at the Saalfeld Progymnasium (1837) and at the Dresden Kreuzschule (1840). In F ...
and Wilhelm Wachsmuth, believe it to be a form of military training that was similar to the Athenian '' ephebia.'' Much of the debate surrounding the Crypteia comes from the differing accounts provided by Plutarch and
Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
. In Plutarch's ''Life of Lycurgus'', he describes the brutal killing of helots on behalf of the Crypteia, but in
Laws
', Plato makes no mention of such killings.


History and function

According to
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...
, the Crypteia were established by the legendary Spartan lawgiver
Lycurgus Lycurgus or Lykourgos () may refer to: People * Lycurgus (king of Sparta) (third century BC) * Lycurgus (lawgiver) (eighth century BC), creator of constitution of Sparta * Lycurgus of Athens (fourth century BC), one of the 'ten notable orators' ...
. There is no known date associated with its establishment, however. Every autumn, Spartan ephors would declare war on the
helot The helots (; el, εἵλωτες, ''heílotes'') were a subjugated population that constituted a majority of the population of Laconia and Messenia – the territories ruled by Sparta. There has been controversy since antiquity as to their ...
population which would allow them to kill a helot without fear of punishment. The chosen ''kryptai'' were then sent out into the countryside armed with daggers with the instructions to kill any helot they encountered travelling the roads and tending to fields they deemed too plentiful. They were specifically told to kill the strongest and to take any food they needed. The reason for adopting that practice may have been to reduce the repressed aggression of the hêbôntes. However, it is most commonly thought to have been adopted to prevent the threat of a helot rebellion and to keep their population in check. According to some sources, ''kryptai'' would stalk the helot villages and surrounding countryside, spying on the servile population.Paul Cartledge, ''Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History 1300-362 BC'', 2nd Edition, Routledge, 2001 Their mission was to prevent and to suppress unrest and rebellion. Another point of contestation is the time of day at which the Crypteia operated. Plato described their movement as travelling in both day and night. On the contrary, Plutarch states that they would hide during the day and would travel by night, then aiming to kill any helots who they came across. That suggests that helots may have had to comply with curfew laws put into place by the Spartans. Troublesome helots could be summarily executed. Such brutal repression of the helots permitted the Spartan elite to successfully control the servile agrarian population and devote themselves to military practice. It may also have contributed to the Spartans' reputation for stealth since a ''kryptēs'' (κρύπτης) who got caught was punished by whipping. Aristotle's account, however, is debated even among ancient historians. Plutarch, who provides much of what is known of Aristotle's account, was not convinced that Lykourgos would have included such harsh customs within the Spartan constitution and instead thought that the Crypteia had been introduced, if at all, only after the helot revolt, brought on by an earthquake in Sparta in the mid-460s BCE. In events preceding the ten-year conflict between the Spartans and the Messenians that resulted from the helot revolt, the Spartan leadership had two thousand helots killed who had participated in the war. It is thought that the Crypteia were the primary perpetrators of the massacre or were at least somehow involved in carrying it out.


Military affiliation

In ''Cleomenes'', Plutarch describes the Crypteia as being a unit of the Spartan army. The Crypteia did not act in a similar fashion to hoplite soldiers, however. Hoplite soldiers were armored and acted as a part of a phalanx while members of the Crypteia acted on their own, often rested during the day, and were most likely naked and armed with only a dagger. During the Battle of Sellasia, the Spartan king
Cleomenes III Cleomenes III ( grc, Κλεομένης) was one of the two kings of Sparta from 235 to 222 BC. He was a member of the Agiad dynasty and succeeded his father, Leonidas II. He is known for his attempts to reform the Spartan state. From 229 to ...
"called Damoteles, the commander of the Crypteia, and ordered him to observe and find out how matters stood in the rear and on the flanks of his army."Brandon D. Ross Krypteia: A Form of Ancient Guerrilla Warfare
/ref> Various scholars have speculated function of the Crypteia as a part of the army because Plutarch's account provides a completely different understanding of their role when compared to the accounts provided by Aristotle and Plato. Plutarch's account has led to the Cryptiea being described as a reconnaissance, special operations or even military police force. However, Jean Ducat argues that source should no longer be associated with the understanding of the Crypteia as known from Aristotle and Plato. He proposes that the understanding of the Crypteia as part of the army is just that, a separate understanding that defines the Crypteia as a corps in the Spartan army. Plutarch's account of the Crypteia describes the organisation as a military unit that has a commander, which differs from Aristotle and Plato's interpretation since the Crypteia is described as being independent and without overseers. Ducat also takes up query with the task of observation that the Crypteia are given in Plutarch's account. Again, that differs from Aristotle and Plato's interpretation in the fact that the Crypteia's mandate was not to observe or provide intelligence but to seek out purposely and kill helots. Unlike its unknown origins, the Battle of Sellasia is considered to provide a potential date for the disbandment of the Crypteia. With the Spartan revolution in jeopardy, Cleomenes III began to emancipate helots in exchange for money and then military service. With the emancipation of many helots and Spartan's subsequent defeat at Sellasia, helotage ceased to exist, and without a helot population, by mandate, the Crypteia should have ceased to exist as well. The Crypteia's disbanding after that battle, however, is only speculation.


Ritualistic activity

The French historian Henri Jeanmaire points out that the unstructured and covert activities of the Crypteia are unlike the disciplined and well-ordered communal life of the Spartan hoplites (see
Homonoia Homonoia ( gr, Ὁμόνοια) is the concept of order and unity, ''being of one mind together'' or ''union of hearts''. It was used by the Greeks to create unity in the politics of classical Greece. It saw widespread use when Alexander the G ...
). Jeanmaire suggests that the Crypteia was a
rite of passage A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of social status, status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisat ...
, possibly predating the classical military organization, and may have been preserved through Sparta's legendary religious conservatism. He draws comparison with the initiation rituals of some African secret societies (wolf-men and leopard men).Henri Jeanmaire, ''La cryptie lacédémonienne'', Revue des études grecques, 26, 1913 Members of the Crypteia may have not shared the commonality with Spartan hoplites that Jeanmaire describes during their service as apart of the institution, but they eventually returned to their communities and were integrated back into the complex Spartan social system.


Modern reception


In popular culture

The Crypteia (as The Krypteia) are key to the indie horror film ''
Pledge Pledge may refer to: Promises * a solemn promise * Abstinence pledge, a commitment to practice abstinence, usually teetotalism or chastity * The Pledge (New Hampshire), a promise about taxes by New Hampshire politicians * Pledge of Allegianc ...
'', which brings the Greek secret society to the modern world fronting as a fraternity preying on new freshman pledges. The Crypteia are briefly mentioned in the comic book series '' Three'' by Kieron Gillen. They make their first appearance in issue one of ''Three'' and are depicted naked, armed with only daggers, attacking a group of unsuspecting helots as they tend to their crops. Gillien used the Crypteia to highlight the harshness of the Spartan system and describes their function as "a rite of passage to life where all vocations are barred, bar one. Once a year, the masters declare war on the helots. If they bloody their hands, they are not polluted. So they are free to do whatever is required to keep the helots on their knees. And so they do." One of Sparta's leadings historians, Stephen Hodkinson, is noted as being the historical consultant employed by Gillen throughout the series. Hodkinson describes Gillien's depiction of the Crypteia as a "perfect amalgam" of the information available in the two source traditions; those being Plato's ''Laws'' and Plutarch's ''Life of Lycurgus.'' The reason for this, according to Hokinson, is that these two sources portray the Crypteia in different, almost contradictory, ways. Aristotle's account, which is taken from Plutarch, depicts ''kryptai'' hunting helots, while Plato's account does not mention the killing of helots and views the Crypteia as a mode of endurance training. Hodkinson claims that the differing accounts have led modern scholars to adopt a "composite" understanding of the Crypteia. The Krypteia are also mentioned in the book ''Gates of Fire''. They are described as being a "secret society among the peers(full citizens)." They also are described as being assassins and being "pitiless as iron." The author also mentions that they are the youngest and the strongest of the Spartan military.


Spartan Race

Spartan Race Spartan Race is a series of obstacle races of varying distance and difficulty ranging from 3 miles to marathon distances. These races are held in the United States and have been franchised to 30 countries, including Canada, South Korea, Austra ...
, the obstacle course racing series, calls their event leaders the "Krypteia".


Golden Dawn

Maniot leaders of the far-right Greek political party,
Golden Dawn Golden Dawn or The Golden Dawn may refer to: Organizations * Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a nineteenth century magical order based in Britain ** The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc., a modern revival founded in 1977 ** Open Source ...
, reinstituted the Crypteia as a part of their adoption of Spartan ideologies.


See also

*
Agoge The ( grc-gre, ἀγωγή in Attic Greek, or , in Doric Greek) was the rigorous education and training program mandated for all male Spartan citizens, with the exception of the firstborn son in the ruling houses, Eurypontid and Agiad. The ...
* Kóryos


References

{{reflist *


External links

* Wallon (1850) i
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Spartan military training Secret police