The same reason people fetishize pirates, astronauts and jedi. They represent a niche symbol that doesn't have a compare. The historical truth of Sparta is impo

The same reason people fetishize pirates, astronauts and jedi. They represent a niche symbol that doesn't have a compare. The historical truth of Sparta is important to know, but the symbol is a separate thing. The spirit of the hold-out warrior who's heroic society succeeds and fails, is interesting in many different ways. I think it's good people know about and integrate the spartan story into their own world view, there's a lot of cautionary tales in there for those that believe you could ever succeed at having such a radical worldview as the Spartans maintained. The unpleasantness of the fan is directly proportional to how much they need to learn the lessons of the past and the folly of that mindset. There are also lessons about aspects of masculinity, femininity and most of life that stories like Sparta can be a useful reflection tool. Sparta is a small moment in a large pantheon of stories that make people better people. Even to the most cynical view, it's better these unpleasant people explore this mindset in art than to carry out the actions in their full in real life.