#crypteia

“Man is the cruelest animal”: The Violent Language of Capitalism in PLEDGE

    https://videopress.com/embed/C5VvsIjG?hd=0&autoPlay=0&permalink=0&loop=0

Pledge. 2019. Directed by Daniel Robbins. Screenplay by Zack Weiner. Starring Zachery Byrd, Phillip Andre Botello, Zack Weiner, Aaron Dalla Villa, Cameron Cowperthwaite, Jesse Pimentel, Joe Gallagher, Jean-Louis Droulers, Erica Boozer, & Melanie Rothman. BoulderLight Pictures / Stag Pictures Not Rated. 77 minutes. Horror…

Young Spartan men who had completed their training at the agoge with such success that they were marked out as potential future leaders would be given the opportunity to test their skills and prove themselves worthy of the Spartan military through participation in the krypteia.

Every autumn, according to Plutarch (Life of Lycurgus, 28, 3–7), the Spartan ephors (classical Greek Ἔφοροι) would pro forma declare war on the helot population so that any Spartan citizen could kill a helot without fear of blood guilt. The kryptes were sent out into the countryside with only a knife to survive on their skills and cunning with the instructions to kill any helot they encountered at night and to take any food they needed.

According to Cartledge, Krypteia members stalked the helot villages and surrounding countryside, spying on the servile population. Their mission was to root-out potential sedition. Troublesome helots could be summarily executed. Such brutal oppression of the helots permitted the Spartans to control the agrarian population and devote themselves to military practice. It may also have contributed to the Spartans' reputation for stealth since a boy who got caught was punished by whipping.