PART 3 SAYINGS Served Among His Moralia
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SAYINGS 107 sets of such material should have been attributed to him and pre- PART 3 SAYINGS served among his Moralia. The two most immediately relevant to this volume are what editors have called Sayings of Spartans and Sayings of Spartan Women. The second of these is much the shorter, as well as being separated from the first by a brief compilation of material outlining Spartan customs. In addition, considerable dupli- cation occurs between Sayings ifSpartans and the Spartan section of a further collection called -Sayings of Kings and Generals. Sayings of Spartans preserves something over 340 sayings of 68 INTRODUCTION named Spartiates arranged in (Greek) alphabetical order, followed'. by 72 anonymous sayings. 'Saying' here admits no strict definition. As Plutarch explained and illustrated at som~ length in hi:. Life ~f Most are indeed pointed remarks, but wide variations remain in- Lyeurgus, to develop 'the techniq.ue of expressmg a range ot ld~as l~ their length and in the explanation of their context. Other sayings .' t few spare words' was an Important part of every Spartiate s JUS a , . f h are in fact anecdotes of notable exploits or attitudes on the part of upbringing. Such Spartan 'sayings' caught the imagmanon 0 ot er Spartiates. The spread of material among named Spartiates is very Greeks and featured in written accounts as early as ~hat of.He~odotus uneven. While as many as 69 sayings are, attributed to Agesilaus, • in the fifth century. By the late fourth century Anstotle m. hIS R~et- next in order is Lycurgus withj I, then Agis son of Archidamus and ode can mention 'Laconic sayings' as a distinct type of maxim whl~h Cleomenes son of Anaxandridas with 18 each; at the other end of an orator will find useful. At the same period such sa~ings ~ls,o ca~~ the scale the majority have no more than one or two sayings attri- to have special appeal for Diogenes and his ~ollowers m th~Ir Cynic buted to them. In Sayings of Spartan Women a mere ten sayings are way of'life, which spumed materi~l p,os:e~slOns and questlo~ed con- attributed to four named women (even the last name beginning with ventions of every kind. The Cynics vision of S~artan sO~lety a?d no more than the fourth letter of the alphabet), followed by 30 traditional Spartan attitudes so tremendously stirred theIr· ad~u- anonymous sayings. ation that they were active in developing - or perhaps even. estabh:h- Sufficient accounts of Sparta and Spartan history survive to prove ing - collections of Spartan sayings which continued to enjoy a WIde how the sayings in these collections derive from a wide variety of popularity for centuries.. _" . sources followed with varying degrees of conscientiousness. His':' Plutarch's interest in the sayings of Spartans and othe.rs de~lves ~o torical accuracy, however, was considered much less important than a marked extent from his concern for the character of hIS subjects m sharp, attractive presentation: occasionally even the Doric forms of the Lives. Thus he acknowledges his failure to give a full account of Greek, which Spartans would have used, are introduced for the sake the careers of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, and goes on to of 'authenticity'. Attribution of versions of the same saying to two excuse it in the following terms: or more Spartans (legendary figures among them!).is commonplace, but again unimportant to their inventors. The same applies to the For neither is it histories we are writing, but lives, nor is there by any confusion and anachronism which can occur in historical details. means display of merit or vice in the most outstanding actions, but o~ten a How different sayings were formulated and- embroidered over the trivial matter as well as a remark and some joke have o~ered a better. illus- centuries can no longer be traced. tration of character than clashes with countless casualties and the biggest From all this it follows that the sayings are to be relied upon as battalions and sieges of cities. historical sources only with the greatest caution. The sayings are Elsewhere Plutarch mentions that he made a practice of colle<;~ing mostly intended to reflect what were considered excellent features of anecdotes and sayings, and it is entirely understandable that vanous the Spartan character, and their value-lies rather in the demonstration �--------------------- 108 PLUTARCH ON SPARTA SAYINGS 1°9 they offer of how Sparta's admirers from the fourth century onwards (Plutarch among them) liked to dream of her citizens in Sayings of Spartans bygone days - bold, wise, just, free, unworldly. In Sayings of Spar- tans the correspondences with material in Plutarch's Lives are particularly close, so that this collection at any rate is most likely to have achieved its final form around his own time or soon afterwards. What part, if any, he played himself in its compilation or in that of AGASICLES ' Sayings of Spartan Women cannot be established, but the likelihood (Sixth-century Eurypontid king) must be that it was a small one at best. I. Agasicles, king of the Spartans, despite his fondness for intellec- tual discourse, would not entertain the sophist Philophanes. Whe~ -208Ii This translation omits those sayings attributed to Lycurgus which someone expressed surprise at. this, he declared: 'I want to be the largely duplicate what is to be found in Plutarch's Life. Since most student of men whose son I should like to be as well. ' of the Sayings of Unnamed Spartans likewise repeat what may be found elsewhere in this volume, they are omitted also. A few other 2. When asked how anyone could rule the citizens 'safely without sayings are omitted because the text is in too poor a condition to having a bodyguard, he said: 'By ruling them in the way that fathers . render them comprehensible. do their sons.' AGESILAUS (Eurypontid king, 400-360) I. When the great Agesilaus was once chosen by lot to preside at a drinking session, and the cupbearer asked him how much to serve each man, his answer was: 'If plenty of wine has been provided, then as much as each requests; but if there is only a little, then give everyone an equal amount.' ) 2. When some criminal submitted calmly to torture, he remarked: 'What an exceptionally wicked man he is to apply such endurance and fortitude to evil and disreputable ends. ' 3: When somebody was praising an orator for his ability to mag- mfy small points, he said: 'In my opinion it's not a good cobbler who fits large shoes on small feet. ' 4· When somebody once said to him, 'You did agree,' and fre- quently repeated the point, he responded: 'Yes, by Zeus, I did, if it's right to; if not, though I spoke the words, I did not agree.' When the other added: 'But surely kings should fulfil "whate'er they assent to with a nod of the head"," he replied: 'No more than those who I. ·A reference to Homer, Iliad, 1.527 (Penguin, p. 37). 110 PLUTARCH ON SPARTA SAYINGS III approach kings should make proper requests and statements, aiming . his question like this: 'Apollo; is your opinion the same as your both for the right moment and for something appropriate to kings." father's?' When Apollo concurred, Agesilaus was selected and thus .did go on the campaign. 5. Whenever he heard people being critical or complimentary, he considered it just as important to establish the characters of those II. From fear of Agesilaus, Tissaphernes' initially concluded a talking as of those being talked about. truce with an undertaking that at his request the Greek cities would 6. When he was still a boy, at a celebration of the Gymnopaediae be given their independence. But meanwhile he called up a substan- the choral director put him in an inconspicuous position. Even tial army from the Great King' and threatened Agesilauswith war unless he would leave Asia, Agesilaus welcomed this reversal of though he was already in line to become king, I he complied, and remarked: 'That's fine, for I shall show that it isn't positions which policy and advanced as if making for Caria. Once Tissaphernes had. lend men distinction, but men who enhance positions. ' concentrated his forces there, he set outand invaded Phrygia. When he had captured very many cities and a wealth ofloot, he said to his 7. : When some doctor prescribed for him a rather elaborate and friends that it was impious to inflict injury after concluding a truce, complicated course of treatment, he declared; 'By the two gods," I whereas outwitting the enemy was not only fair and honourable, surely have no prospect of remaining alive if I have to put up with but also enjoyable and lucrative. all that.' 12. Since he was inferior in cavalry he withdrew to Ephesus and 8. Once he was standing sacrificing an ox at the altar of Athena of commanded the rich each to furnish a horse and a man as substitutes the Bronze House and a louse bit him, but he was not upset. Quite to release themselves from service. This way suitable horses and openly in front. of everybody he caught and killed it, with the men were quickly collected in place of wealthy cowards. And Agesi- remark: 'By the gods, what a pleasure to eliminate the conspirator laus said he was copying Agamemnon, who had in fact accepted a even at the altar.' fine mare and exempted a wealthy but worthless man from service.