Lycurgus by Plutarch, Mestrius Plutarchus
Lycurgus established harmony, simplicity, and strength in Sparta. This warrior society tamed its youth through systematic education aimed at developing leadership, courage, public spirit, and wisdom.
Lycurgus was descended from Hercules, through eleven generations, and he was the second prince in one of the two royal families of Sparta.2 When his father and older brother died, Lycurgus stood to inherit the kingdom. However, his deceased brother had left a pregnant wife, and her child, if a boy, would be the rightful heir of the kingdom if he survived birth. This woman came to Lycurgus and offered to abort the child if Lycurgus would make her his queen.

Lycurgus pretended to go along with her, and he convinced her not to risk her health by an abortion. Instead, he offered to do away with the child, and he gave strict orders to bring the child to him as soon as one was born. One day, as Lycurgus was feasting with some of the judges of Sparta, a new-born boy was brought in to him. "Men of Sparta," he said, taking it in his arms, "here is a king born to us." Then he laid the boy down in the place of honor and named him Charilaus, which means "joy of the people."

The people of Sparta admired the character of this man who could lay down the supreme power so easily out of respect for justice, so it was easy for Lycurgus to rule the Spartans in his capacity as the guardian of Charilaus. However, the young king's mother, and her relatives, envied and hated Lycurgus. Among other slanders, they accused Lycurgus of plotting the death of Charilaus.

Lycurgus finally decided that the only way that he might avoid blame in case something should happen to the child would be to go travelling until Charilaus had grown up and fathered a son to secure the succession. Therefore, Lycurgus gave up all of his authority and went to the island of Crete. 3

In Crete, Lycurgus met Thales the poet. Thales made his living as a musician at banquets, but in reality Thales was a teacher of civilization. His beautiful songs persuaded men to be fair and to act as brothers to each other. Good men, and the happiness they enjoyed, were what Thales sang about. His listeners would forget about their feuds and become united in a common admiration of virtue. Eventually, Lycurgus persuaded Thales to go to Sparta with his songs to prepare the people for the new way of life that he intended to introduce later.

Lycurgus had carefully studied the forms of government in Crete, and had picked out what might be useful for Sparta. He also travelled to Ionia, to study the difference between the pleasure-loving Ionians and the sober Cretans, as doctors study the difference between the sick and the healthy.

In Ionia, Lycurgus discovered the immortal works of Homer. Lycurgus compiled the scattered fragments of Homer and made sure that the serious lessons of statecraft and morality in Homer's epics became widely known.

The Egyptians claim that Lycurgus visited them too, and that it was from the Egyptians that he got the idea of separating the military from the menial workers, thereby giving Spartan society its refinement and beauty.
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