Lycurgus (; ; 820 BC) was the quasi-legendary lawgiver of Sparta who established the military-oriented reformation of Spartan society in accordance with the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. All his reforms promoted the three Spartan virtues: equality (among citizens), military fitness, and austerity. He is referred to by ancient historians and philosophers Herodotus, Xenophon, Plato, Polybius, Plutarch, and Epictetus. It is not clear if Lycurgus was an actual historical figure; however, many ancient historians believed that he instituted the communalistic and militaristic reforms – most notably the Great Rhetra – which transformed Spartan society. Biography Early life Most information about Lycurgus comes from Plutarch's "Life of Lycurgus" (part of Parallel Lives), which is more of an anecdotal collection than a real biography. Plutarch himself remarks that nothing can be known for certain about Lycurgus, since different authors give different accounts of almost everything about him. The actual person Lycurgus may or may not have existed – it is possible that "Lycourgos" was an epithet of the god Apollo as he was worshiped in very early Sparta, and that later legend transformed this aspect of the god into a wise human lawgiver – but as a symbolic founder of the Spartan state he was looked to as the initiator of many of its social and political institutions; much, therefore, of Plutarch's account is concerned with finding the "origin" of contemporary Spartan practices. It was believed by some that Lycurgus was alive around the same time as Iphitos of Elis and reinstated the Olympic Games with him in 776 BC. It was also thought that he lived around the same time as Homer, and that they personally knew each other. However, this could have been another man named Lycurgus who lived before the legislator. The dates of Lycurgus have been given by ancient and modern authorities as being as early as the 10th century BC and as late as the 6th century BC. Some scholars think the most plausible date is indicated by Thucydides, who said that in his time the Spartan constitution was over four hundred years old; this would imply a date for Lycurgus, or at least for the reforms attributed to him, of the last quarter of the 9th century BC. It is said that Lycurgus rose to power when his older brother, the king, died. His father deceased, he was offered the throne. Lycurgus' brother, however, had died