A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

(Εὔνομος), fifth or sixth king of Sparta in the Proclid line, is described by Pausanias, Plutarch, and others, as the father of Lycurgus and Polydectes. Herodotus, on the contrary, places him in his list after Polydectes, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus gives the name to the nephew in whose stead Lycurgus governed. Simonides, finally, makes Lycurgus and Eunomus the children of Prytanis. In all probability, the name was invented with reference to the Lycurgean Εὐνομία, and Eunomus, if not wholly rejected, must be identified with Polydectes. In the reign of Eunomus and Polydectes, says Pausanias, Sparta was at peace. (Plut. Lyc. 2 ; Paus. 3.7.2; Hdt. 8.131; See Clinton, F. H. p. 143, note z, and p. 325, where the question is fully discussed; compare Müller, Dorians, book 1.7.3, and § 6, note b.)

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