GELON ¹

[1] Gelon, the despot, after vanquishing the Carthaginians off Himera, forced them, when he made peace with them, to include in the treaty an agreement to stop sacrificing their children to Cronus, ²

[2] He often led out the Syracusans to plant their fields, as if it had been for a campaign, so that the land should be improved by being worked, and the men should not deteriorate by being idle.

[3] He asked for money from the citizens, and, when they began to murmur, he said that he was asking for it with the intent to repay, and he did repay it when the war was over.

[4] At a party a lyre was passed around, and the others, one after the other, tuned it and sang, but the king ordered his horse to be led in, and nimbly and easily leapt upon its back.³

Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata. Plutarch. Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1931.

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Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Sayings of Kings and Commanders (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).)

Editions (2)

Ἀποφθέγματα βασιλέων καὶ στρατηγῶν Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).) — 19 focus

Γέλωνος

[1] 175a Γέλων ὁ τύραννος, ὅτε Καρχηδονίους πρὸς Ἱμέρᾳ, κατεπολέμησεν, εἰρήνην ποιούμενος πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἠνάγκασεν ἐγγράψαι ταῖς ὁμολογίαις ὅτι καὶ τὰ τέκνα παύσονται τῷ Κρόνῳ καταθύοντες.

[2] ἐξῆγε δὲ τοὺς Συρακουσίους πολλάκις ὡς ἐπὶ στρατείαν κατὰ¹ φυτείαν, ὅπως ἥ τε χώρα βελτίων γένηται γεωργουμένη καὶ μὴ χείρονες αὐτοὶ σχολάζοντες.

[3] αἰτῶν δὲ χρήματα τοὺς πολίτας, ἐπεὶ ἐθορύβησαν, αἰτεῖν εἶπεν ὡς ἀποδώσων, καὶ ἀπέδωκε μετὰ τὸν πόλεμον.

[4] 175b ἐν δὲ συμποσίῳ λύρας περιφερομένης, ἁρμοζομένων τῶν ἄλλων ἐφεξῆς καὶ ᾀδόντων, αὐτὸς τὸν ἵππον εἰσαγαγεῖν κελεύσας ἐλαφρῶς καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἀνεπήδησεν ἐπʼ αὐτόν.

Ἀποφθέγματα βασιλέων καὶ στρατηγῶν Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol II. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 19 focus

Γέλωνος.

175a

Γέλων ὁ τύραννος, ὅτε Καρχηδονίους πρὸς κατεπολέμησεν, εἰρήνην ποιούμενος πρὸς αὐτοὺς 5 ἠνάγκασεν ἐγγράψαι ταῖς ὁμολογίαις ὅτι καὶ τὰ τέκνα παύσονται τῷ καταθύοντες

[2] ἐξῆγε δὲ τοὺς Συρακουσίους πολλάκις ὡς ἐπὶ στρατείαν εἰς ¹ φυτείαν, ὅπως ἥ τε χώρα βελτίων 10 γένηται γεωργουμένη καὶ μὴ χείρονες αὐτοὶ σχολάζοντες.

175b

ἐν δὲ συμποσίῳ λύρας περιφερομένης, ἁρμοζομένων 15 τῶν ἄλλων ἐφεξῆς καὶ ᾀδόντων , αὐτὸς τὸν ἵππον εἰσαγαγεῖν κελεύσας ἐλαφρῶς καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἀνεπήδησεν ἐπʼ αὐτόν.

Translations (1)

The apophthegms or remarkable sayings of kings and great commanders. Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. I. Goodwin, William W., editor; Hinton, Edward, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 19 focus

[19] GELO. Gelo the tyrant, after he had overcome the Carthaginians at Himera, made peace with them, and among other articles compelled them to subscribe this,—that they should no more sacrifice their children to Saturn. He often marched the Syracusans out to plant their fields, as if it had been to war, that the country might be improved by husbandry, and they might not be corrupted by idleness. When he demanded a sum of money of the citizens, and thereupon a tumult was raised, he told them he would but borrow it; and after the war was ended, he restored it to them again. At a feast, when a harp was offered, and others one after another tuned it and played upon it, he sent for his horse, and with an easy agility leaped upon him.

Notes on the current edition

Sayings of Kings and Commanders

1. Ruler of Gela, 491-483, and of Syracuse, 485-478 B.C.

2. Cf. Moralia, 171 (and the note), and 552 A. According to Diodorus, xx. 14, the practice was revived in 310 B.C., even if it had not persisted during the intervening years. Cf. G.F. Moore in the Journal of Biblical Literature, xvi. (1897), p. 161. Cronus is the Semitic El, Moloch, or Baal.

3. Cf. Themistocles’ boast, to which he resorted in self-defence under similarly embarrassing circumstances, in Plutarch’s Life of Themistocles, chap. ii. (112 C).

Plutarch Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata 19

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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