Ephebos

This article is about the social group in Classical Greece. For other uses, seeEphebos (disambiguation).

"Ephebe" redirects here. For other uses, seeEphebe (lichen)andEphebos (disambiguation).

TheAgrigento Ephebe,asevere styleGreek sculpture of the 5th century BCE in the museum ofAgrigento,Sicily.

Ephebos(Greek:ἔφηβος;pl.epheboi,Greek:ἔφηβοι), latinized asephebus(pl. ephebi) and anglicised asephebe(pl. ephebes), is a term for a maleadolescentinAncient Greece.The term was particularly used to denote one who was doing military training and preparing to become an adult.From about 335 BC, ephebes fromAthens(aged between 18–20) underwent two years of military training under supervision, during which time they were exempt from civic duties and deprived of most civic rights. During the 3rd century BC, ephebic service ceased to be compulsory and its time was reduced to one year. By the 1st century BC, theephebiabecame an institution reserved for wealthy individuals and, besides military training, it also included philosophic and literary studies.

History

Blond Kouros's Head of the Acropolismuseum inAthens.

Though the wordephebos(fromepi"upon" +hebe"youth", "early manhood") can simply refer to the adolescent age of young men of training age, its main use is for the members, exclusively from that age group, of an official institution (ephebeia) that saw to building them into citizens, but especially to training them as soldiers, sometimes already sent into the field; theGreekcity states(poleis) mainly depended (like theRoman Republic) on itsmilitiaof citizens for defense.

In the time ofAristotle(384–322 BC),Athensengraved the names of the enrolled ephebi on abronzepillar (formerly on wooden tablets) in front of thecouncil-chamber.After admission to the college, the ephebus took theoath of allegiance(as recorded in histories byPolluxandStobaeus—but not in Aristotle) in the temple ofAglaurusand was sent toMunichiaorActeas a member of thegarrison.At the end of the first year of training the ephebi were reviewed; if their performance was satisfactory, the state provided each with a spear and a shield, which, together with thechlamys(cloak) andpetasos(broad-brimmed hat), made up their equipment. In their second year they were transferred to other garrisons inAttica,patrolled the frontiers, and on occasion took an active part in war. During these two years they remained free from taxation, and were generally not allowed to appear in the law courts as plaintiffs or defendants. The ephebi took part in some of the most important Athenian festivals. Thus during theEleusinian Mysteriesthey were sent to fetch the sacred objects fromEleusisand to escort the image ofIacchuson the sacred way. They also performed police duty at the meetings of theecclesia.

Bronze head of an ephebe wearing a winners binding. 1st century AD Roman copy.

After the end of the 4th century BC, the institution underwent a radical change. Enrolment ceased to be obligatory, lasted only for a year, and the limit of age was dispensed with. Inscriptions attest a continually decreasing number of ephebi, and with the admission of foreigners the college lost its representative national character. This was mainly due to the weakening of the military spirit and to the progress of intellectual culture. The military element was no longer all-important, and the ephebia became a sort of university for well-to-do young men of good family, whose social position has been comparedwith that of the Athenian "knights" of earlier times. The institution lasted till the end of the 3rd century AD.

In the Hellenistic and Roman periods, foreigners, including Romans, began to be admitted as ephebes. At this period the college of ephebi was a miniature city, which possessed anarchon,strategos,heraldand other officials, after the model of the city of Athens.

Sculpture

InAncient Greek sculpture,anephebeis a sculptural type depicting a nudeephebos(Archaicexamples of the type are also often known as thekourostype, or kouroi in the plural). This typological name often occurs in the form "theXEphebe",whereXis the collection to which the object belongs or belonged, or the site on which it was found (e.g. theAgrigento Ephebe).

Gallery

• 
  Bust of an ephebe, Roman copy,c. 420-400 BC
• 
  Marble statue of an ephebe (detail),c. 400 BC
• 
  TheMarathon Boy,c. 340-330 BC
• 
  TheAntikythera Ephebe,c. 340-330 BC
• 
  TheVictorious Youth,c. 310 BC

See also

• Bishōnen
• Ephebe, a fictional nation in Terry Pratchett'sDiscworld
• Ephebic oath
• Ephebophilia
• Kóryos
• Kouros
• Pauly-Wissowa

References

• H. Jeanmaire,Couroi et Courètes: Essai sur l'éducation spartiate et sur les rites d'adolescence dans l'Antiquité hellénique,Bibliothèque universitaire, Lille, 1939
• C. Pélékidis,Éphébie: Histoire de l'éphébie attique, des origines à 31 av.J.-C., éd. de Boccard, Paris, 1962
• O. W. Reinmuth,The Ephebic Inscriptions of the Fourth Century B.C.,Leiden Brill, Leyde, 1971
• P. Vidal-Naquet,Le Chasseur noir et l'origine de l'éphébie athénienne,Maspéro, 1981
• P. Vidal-Naquet,Le Chasseur noir. Formes de pensée et formes de société dans le monde grec,Maspéro, 1981
• U. von Wilamowitz-Moellendorf,Aristoteles: Aristoteles und Athen,2 vol., Berlin, 1916

Further reading

• Budin, Stephanie Lynn (2013).Intimate Lives of the Ancient Greeks.Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO.ISBN978-0-31-338572-8.
• Dodd, David; Faraone, Christopher A., eds. (2013).Initiation in Ancient Greek Rituals and Narratives: New Critical Perspectives.London: Routledge.ISBN978-1-13-514365-7.
• Farenga, Vincent (2006).Citizen and Self in Ancient Greece: Individuals Performing Justice and the Law.Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-1-13-945678-4.
• Sage, Michael (2002).Warfare in Ancient Greece: A Sourcebook.London: Routledge.ISBN978-1-13-476331-3.

External links

Media related toEphebesat Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition ofephebosat Wiktionary

• Ephebarchic Law of Amphipolis