The First Woman to Win an Olympic Event Was From Sparta
Totalitarian egalitarians or just politics
If I asked you to picture a Spartan, what would you think of?
You’d probably imagine muscle-clad soldiers, holding spears, and forming some kind of shield wall. The immediate idea of a warrior is what most would think of — ideally the helmet above sitting on their head as they prepared to smash through an army.
As a totalitarian society built around warfare, it would be a somewhat accurate depiction of their own making. Furthermore, you’d expect this society to be pretty rigid, the furthest thing from egalitarian.
Now, what if I told you this same society broke Greek traditions by having the first female winner at an ancient Olympics? It might sound bizarre coming from a group of rough people called Lacedaemonians that give us the term laconic, meaning a short, blunt, and possibly rude comment. Think more Clint Eastwood cowboy than genteel and cultured.
However, this society not only did it but it also created statues and shrines to the woman who won. A statue bearing her likeness erected at Olympia even had a somewhat laconic phrase etched underneath it:
“I, Kyniska, victorious at the chariot race with her swift-footed horses, erected this statue. I…
