Apophthegmata Laconica

A Spartan, being asked what kind of a man Tyrtaeus the poet was, said, A good man to sharpen the spirit of youth.

Another who had sore trouble with his eyes was going forth to war; and when some said to him, Where are you going in that state, or what do you purpose to do? he said, Even if I accomplish nothing else, I may at least blunt an enemy’s sword.

Bulis and Sperchis of Sparta went as volunteers to Xerxes king of the Persians, to render satisfaction which Sparta owed according to an oracle, because the people had killed the heralds sent to them by the Persian. These men came before Xerxes and bade him make away with them in any manner he desired, as representing the Spartans. But when he, filled with admiration, let them go free, and was insistent that they remain with him, they said, And how should we be able to live here, abandoning our country and laws and those men in whose behalf we made such a long journey to die? And when Indarnes [*](Hydarnes in Herodotus, vii. 135.) the general besought them at greater length, and said that they would receive equal honour with the friends of the king who stood highest in

Because a friend with whom a Spartan was intending to stay dodged him on the first day, and on the next day, having borrowed bedding, received him sumptuously, the Spartan jumped on the bedding and trod it under foot, remarking that it was because of this that yesterday he had not had even straw to sleep on.

Another, on going to Athens, saw that the Athenians were hawking salt fish and dainties, collecting taxes, keeping public brothels, and following other unseemly pursuits, and holding none of them to be shameful. When he returned to his own country, his fellow-citizens asked how things were in Athens, and he said, Everything fair and lovely, speaking sarcastically and conveying the idea that .among the Athenians everything is considered fair and lovely, and nothing shameful.

Another, being asked a question, answered No. And when the questioner said, You lie, the other said, You see, then, that it is silly of you to ask questions to which you know the answer!

Once upon a time, ambassadors from Sparta arrived at the court of Lygdamis the despot. But as he tried to put them off and repeatedly postponed the interview, and, to crown all, it was asserted that he was in a delicate condition, the Spartans said, Tell him, in God’s name, that we have not come to wrestle with him, but to have a talk with him.

When someone, initiating a Spartan into the Mysteries, asked him what his conscience told him [*]( )

Another, passing by a tomb at night, and imagining that he saw a ghost, ran at it with uplifted spear, and, as he thrust at it, he exclaimed, Where are you fleeing from me, you soul that shall die twice?

Another, having vowed to throw himself from the Leucadian cliff, went up and came down again after seeing the height. Being jeered at for this, he said, I did na think my vow needed anither greater vow to dae it!

Another, in the thick of the fight, was about to bring down his sword on an enemy when the recall sounded, and he checked the blow. When someone inquired why, when he had his enemy in his power, he did not kill him, he said, Because it is better to obey one’s commander than to slay an enemy. [*](Cf.Moralia, 273 F; Plutarch’s Comparison of Pelopidas and Marcellus, chap. iii. (317 D); Epictetus, ii. 6. The source is doubtless Xenophon, Cyropaedia, iv. 1. 3, and Chrysantas is the man’s name.)

Someone said to a Spartan who was defeated at Olympia, Spartan, your opponent proved himself the better man. No, said he, not that, but more upsetting! [*](For a similar sentiment, see Moralia, 233 E (27), supra. )