Greatly superstitious and loving of their fellow brothers and beloved erōmenos, Spartans would chant verses of poetry composed by Tyrtaeus to reinforce piety that was the foundation of Spartan morale and the ethos of eumonía. In this hortatory elegy, Tyrtaeus draws Spartans’ attention to the manner in which their well-being depended on the fate of the polís itself: It is a noble thing for a brave man to die, Falling in the front ra...