There is an ancient proverb, Polycrates,A friend of Plutarch, not otherwise known, to whom he thus dedicates this . See the note on the , i. 1. which the philosopher Chrysippus puts not as it really is, but as he thought better:— Who will praise a father, except happy sons? But Dionysodorus of Troezen corrects him, and restores the true form thus:— Who will praise a father, except unhappy sons?