Seeing a certain man who was effeminate by nature, but was commended by the citizens for his moderation, he said, People should not praise men who are like to women nor women who are like to men, unless some necessity overtake the woman.

When he was not chosen as one of the three hundred, Cf. Herodotus, viii. 124; Xenophon, , 4. 3. which was rated as the highest honour in the State, he went away cheerful and smiling; but when the Ephors called him back, and asked why he was laughing, he said, Because I congratulate the State for having three hundred citizens better than myself. Cf. the note on , 191 F, supra.

Pleistarchus the son of Leonidas, in answer to one who asked him for what reason they did not take their titles from the names of the first kings, said, Because the first kings needed to be absolute monarchs, but those who followed them had no such need. One of the two lines of the kings of Sparta was called Agids (or Agiads) from Agis, the second of that line, and the other Eurypontids from Eurypon, the third of that line. Cf. Plutarch’s , chap. ii. (40 D); Strabo, viii. 366; Pausanias, iii. 7. 1. Presumably Plutarch means that the later Spartan kings did not wish to perpetuate the memory of any harshness, which would have been suggested by the names of the earlier absolute monarchs.

When a certain advocate kept making jests, he said, You had better be on your guard, my friend, against jesting all the time, lest you become a jest yourself, just as those who wrestle all the time become wrestlers.

In retort to the man who imitated a nightingale, he said, My friend, I have had more pleasure in hearing the nightingale itself. Cf. the note on , 212 F (58), supra.

When someone said that a certain evil-speaker was commending him, he said, I wonder whether possibly someone may not have told him that I was dead; for the man can never say a good word of anybody who is alive. Cf. the note on , 224 D (1), supra.

Pleistoanax, the son of Pausanias, when an Attic orator called the Spartans unlearned, said, You are quite right, for we alone of the Greeks have learned no evil from you. Cf. the note on , 192 B (1), supra.

Polydorus, the son of Alcamenes, when a certain man was continually making threats against his enemies, said, Don’t you see that you are using up the best part of your vengeance?

As he was leading out his army to Messene, someone asked him if he was going to fight against his brothers. He said that he was not, but was merely proceeding to the unassigned portion of the land.

The Argives, after the battle of the three hundred, Herodotus, i. 82. were again overcome, with all their forces, in a set battle, and the allies urged Polydorus not to let slip the opportunity, but to make a descent upon the enemy’s wall and capture their city; for this, they said, would be very easy, since the men had been destroyed and the women only were left. He said in answer to them, To my mind it is honourable, when fighting on even terms, to conquer our opponents, but, after having fought to settle the boundaries of the country, to desire to capture the city I do not regard as just; for I came to recapture territory and not to capture a city.

Being asked why the Spartans risked their lives so bravely in war, he said, Because they have learned to respect their commanders and not to fear them. Cf., 217 A (5), and 227 D (12).

Polycratidas was sent, along with others, as ambassador to the king’s generals, and when these asked whether they were there as private citizens or had been sent as public representatives, he said, If we succeed, public; if not, private. Cf. Plutarch’s , chap. xxv. (55 C).