The Laconian (),Walter-Herwig Schuchhardt in H. Schrader, ed., Die Archaischen Marmorbildwerke der Akropolis (Frankfurt 1939), pp. 262–264, no. 377. "Es handelt sich um den lakonischen Jagdhund, [...]" also known as the Spartan, is an extinct dog breed from ancient Laconia, in Greece. In antiquity, it was famous for its swiftness and keen sense of smell, and typically used for hunting.
Widely depicted in classical art and literature, the breed was about eighteen inches high at the shoulder, typically tawny or black-and-tan, and highly valued for chasing both larger game (such as deer and wild boar) and smaller prey (like hares).
Multiple names were used for the Laconian breed, though their exact usage and relationships remain debated. Some controversy exists with the nature of the relationship between the term Castorian and Laconian, with some scholars considering Castorians a subtype of Laconian, and others considering it only possibly related. There is also some debate on the relationship of the term Vulpine and the Laconian with most scholars regarding the Vulpine as a legitimate designation for the Laconian, either as a variety of the breed or as a possible predecessor.
Several later sources speculate on the legacy of the Laconian. The modern Hellenic Hound has been suggested as a descendant, and some writers link the breed to the origins of several European hunting breeds. Individual dogs such as Alexander the Great's Peritas and Odysseus's Argos have also been proposed as Laconians, while literary references, including Shakespeare's "out of the Spartan kind," have been interpreted in connection with the breed.
Reputation The Laconian hounds were very swift scent houndsMargariti, Katia. Dogs in Athenian Sculpture and Vase Painting of the Archaic and Classical Periods. Archaeopress, 2023. Laconian hounds p.6-7 that were renowned and highly valued for their hunting skills."From mount Taygetus cometh the Laconian hound, the cleverest creature in chasing the quarry"
p.631 Pindar. Fragments.Hull D.B. (1964), Hounds and Hunting in Ancient Greece p.104Rajewicz, Sebastian (2020-01-01). "Gennaiai kynes. Laconian hounds". Studies on Ancient Sparta, ed. R. Kulesza, N. Sekunda, Gdańsk 2020, 65-84. p.71, p.76 They were depicted in classical sculptures, mosaics, gravestones, coins, vases,Haworth, Marina. The Wolfish Lover : The Dog as a Comic Metaphor in Homoerotic Symposium Pottery. Archimède n°5. 2018 p.14 fig 5, Archéologie et histoire ancienne, 5, pp.7-23. Interior tondo of an Athenian red-figure kylix, c. 480 B.C. Attributed to the Dokimasia Painter. BA 204493*, ARV2 412.11, 1651, Ferrara, Museo Nazionale di Spina T931A. Drawing: Michelle Ranta. and drinking cups.Attic red-figure cup, detail of a Laconian hound scratching his head, by the Euergides Painter, c.500 BC (ceramic), Greek, (6th century BC) / Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, UK / The Bridgeman Art LibraryAn athlete and his dog. (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston acc. No. 01.8038) Kylix interior; Brygos Painter, 500–450.
Contemporary fragments include writers such as classical writers Pindar, Sophocles,Sophocles, Ajax 8 p.43 "Athena: [...] Right well thy sense Hath led thee forth, like some keen hound of Sparta![...]" See also:Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part VII: The Ajax. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1907. Xenophon,Xenophon, Cynegeticus. Translated by Henry Graham Dakyns. "There are two breeds of sporting dogs: the Castorian and the fox-like. (1) "Kastoriai", or Laconian, approaching possibly the harrier type; "alopekides", i.e. vulpocanine, hybrid between fox and dog." Plato,Plato, Parmenides 128C. "You follow the arguments with a scent as keen as a Laconian hound, [...]"
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 9 translated by Harold N. Fowler. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1925. Aristotle,Aristotle, Historia Animalium. "The Project Gutenberg eBook of Aristotle's History of Animals, translated by Richard Cresswell". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved 2025-05-19. Classics MIT editionBook IX, Chapt. I. Book IX, Chpt. XXVII. Book IX, Chpt. XX. Theophrastus,Theophrastus, Characters, book XXI. chapter vii: The Man of Petty Ambition "For himself he will buy nothing, but will make purchases on commission for foreign friends — pickled olives to go to Byzantium, Laconian hounds for Cyzicus, Hymettian honey for Rhodes; and will talk thereof to people at Athens" Nemesianus, as well as later Roman writers such as Virgil, Horace,Horace (circa 66 BCE-9 BCE). Epodes. Original Latin quote: "nam qualis aut Molossus aut fulvos Lacon, amica vis pastoribus" Translated: "For, like a Molossian, or tawny Laconian dog, that is a friendly assistant to shepherds" (alternate location) Plutarch, Petronius,Petronius, Satyricon 2, 40 "We were still at a loss what to expect when a tremendous shout was raised outside the doors, and lo and behold! a pack of Laconian dogs came careering round and round the very table." Pliny The Elder,Pliny the Elder, Historia Naturalis 10
CHAP. 83. (63.) – Generation of All Kinds of Terrestrial Animals.
"There are several kinds of dogs; those of Laconia [...]" Oppian,Oppian, Cynegetica 1, 396 Select quotation: "These among dogs are the most excellent and greatly possess the mind of hunters: [...] Lacedaemonian [...]"; "Such are the dogs which should be arrayed for the swift chase of gazelle and deer and swift-footed hare." and Pollux. Pollux Onomasticon Book 5, Chapter 37.
"And the Kaatorides, the offspring of Kaator, were the gift of Apollo." alternatively see Hull's book's appendices for translation. Late antiquity writer ClaudianClaudian, Stilicho 3, 302
"[...] there follow them dogs of various shape, breed and character; some whose heavy jowls fit them for big game, some swift of foot, some keen of scent; shaggy Cretans bay, splendid Spartans, and Britons that can break the backs of mighty bulls." and Elizabethan playwright Shakespeare also make allusion to the breed.
Characteristics Two principal surviving sources describe the breed: Xenophon (c.350 BC) and Aristotle (c.350 BC).Rajewicz, Sebastian (2020-01-01). "Gennaiai kynes. Laconian hounds". Studies on Ancient Sparta, ed. R. Kulesza, N. Sekunda, Gdańsk 2020, p.66Margariti, Katia. Dogs in Athenian Sculpture and Vase Painting of the Archaic and Classical Periods. Archaeopress Archaeology, 2025. https://doi.org/10.32028/9781803279978. Also available at: https://books.google.ca/books?id=kB5eEQAAQBAJ.
Both sexes gained sexual maturity at eight months old and remained sexually active throughout their lives. Gestation lasted sixty to sixty-three days. Typical litter was of eight pups. Puppies typically opened their eyes after twelve days.Rajewicz, Sebastian (2020-01-01). "Gennaiai kynes. Laconian hounds". Studies on Ancient Sparta, ed. R. Kulesza, N. Sekunda, Gdańsk 2020, p.73 On average, the male lived for ten years and the female twelve.Hull D.B. (1964), Hounds and Hunting in Ancient Greece p.48
Typically either tan with white markings on the face, throat, chest, legs, and stern or black with similarly placed tan markings.Hull D.B. (1964), Hounds and Hunting in Ancient Greece p.32
Based on artistic depictions of the breed, the Laconian was estimated to be about eighteen inches high at the shoulder and weighed between thirty and forty pounds, or roughly the size of a "very large beagle or small harrier."
Hunting traits Oppian's Cynegetica gives the characteristics and habits for dogs best suited for "the swift chase of the gazelle and deer and swift-footed hare".Oὐ μόνον ἡ κυνηγία – on the complexity of the content of Oppian's Kynegetika Graeco-Latina Brunensia. 2014, vol. 19, iss. 1, pp. -40 ISSN 1803-7402 (print); ISSN 2336-4424 (online) Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/130046 Xenophon's Cynegeticus covers technical advice on hunting and contains a detailed description of the Laconian.
Both authors agree that for the best hunting dogs, the head should be light with dark eyes with a long neck; ears should be small and thin with little hair;The Dakyns translation states that the dog should have "ears long and thin". Other translations (Marchant and Bowersock, 1925) translates it as "ears small and thin". Hull describes it as "small, upright, prick ears, more like those of a terrier than those of a hound". Original Greek: "ὦτα μικρά." the chest and shoulder blades should be broad with sloping ribs; the forelegs should be shorter than the hind legs; and the tail should be long, straight and prominent. Both recommend selecting larger dogs over their smaller counterparts.
Appellatives The Laconian is known by several appellatives.Rajewicz, Sebastian. "Gennaiai kynes. Laconian hounds". Studies on Ancient Sparta, ed. R. Kulesza, N. Sekunda, Gdańsk 2020, p.66. There is some scholarly debate over which of the appellatives refer to the Laconian hound.
The term Laconian refers to the region of Laconia in ancient Greece and, when applied to dogs, may denote either a general geographic origin, or, more likely, a specific breed or an "entire family of hounds 'of Laconian pedigree. The most frequent appellatives are variations on Laconian (Spartan, Lacedaemonian), which were used synonymously.
Appellatives derived from the names of Spartan villages such as AmyclaeusLATIN: Virgil. Georgics, Book 3, line 405. ENGLISH: Virgil. The Georgics, Book 3, line 405. Translated by John Dryden, Project Gutenberg, 1995.
Virgil, Georgics.[...] sed una velocis Spartae catulos acremque Molossum pasce sero pingui. Numquam custodibus illis nocturnum stabulis furem incursusque luporum aut impacatos a tergo horrebis Hiberos. [...] but alike Swift Spartan hounds and fierce Molossian feed On fattening whey. Never, with these to watch, Dread nightly thief afold and ravening wolves, Or Spanish desperadoes in the rear.Afer agit, tectumque laremque armaque Amyclaeumque canem [...]The Afric swain bears with him, house and home, Arms, Cretan quiver, and Amyclaean dog;Plutarch, Quaestiones Convivales, 748B. Gregorius N. Bernardakis, Ed. "κύνα Ἀμυκλαίαν" Note: Plutarch did not state the name of the original author of this fragment.Hull D.B. (1964), Hounds and Hunting in Ancient Greece p.33 (from Amyclae) or CynosuranCallimachus, Hymns 3, To Artemis, 93-97. translated by A.W. Mair and G. R. Loeb. "[...] Κυνοσουρίδας [...]" "And he gave thee seven Cynosurian bitches swifter than the winds – that breed which is swiftest to pursue fawns and the hare which closes not his eyes; swiftest too to mark the lair of the stag and where the porcupine hath his burrow, and to lead upon the track of the gazelle." (from Cynosura) may have been used to refer to the same breed but bred in that specific village, or to identify different local variants, though the limited nature of the sources leaves some ambiguity.Rajewicz, Sebastian (2020-01-01). "Gennaiai kynes. Laconian hounds". Studies on Ancient Sparta, ed. R. Kulesza, N. Sekunda, Gdańsk 2020, p.67.
Aristotle describes the Laconian as the result of a cross between a dog and a fox.Hull D.B. (1964), Hounds and Hunting in Ancient Greece p.31 Most scholars agree that Vulpine (Latin for fox-like) is a valid appellative of the Laconian, either as a sub-type of the Laconian breed or to refer to the overall breed of the Laconian.
Castorian & Vulpine In his treatise, Xenophon clearly distinguishes the larger Castorian () and the smaller fox-like Vulpine (). Pollux, echoing Nicander of Colophon, in his 2nd Century AD thesaurus Onomasticon, merges the Castorian and theVulpine. He states that are , since he claims that it was Castor himself who crossed dogs with foxes and thus create a new breed.Rajewicz, Sebastian (2020-01-01). "Gennaiai kynes. Laconian hounds". Studies on Ancient Sparta, ed. R. Kulesza, N. Sekunda, Gdańsk 2020, p.68.