Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous Next →

ARCHELAUS ¹

[1] When Archelaus, at a convivial gathering, was asked for a golden cup by one of his acquaintances of a type not commendable for character, he bade the servant give it to Euripides; and in answer to the man’s look of astonishment, he said, It is true that you have a right to ask for it, but Euripides has a right to receive it even though he did not ask for it.

[2] When a garrulous barber asked him, How shall I cut your hair ? he said, In silence.²

[3] When Euripides threw his arms around the fair Agathon in the midst of an evening party and kissed him, for all that Agathon was already bearded, Archelaus said to his friends, Do not be astonished; for even the autumn of the fair is fair.³

[4] When Timotheus the harp-player had hopes of receiving a goodly sum, but received less, he plainly showed that he felt resentful towards Archelaus; and, once, as he was singing this brief line: Over the earth-born silver you rave.⁴ he directed it towards Archelaus; whereupon Archelaus retorted upon him with this, That, however, is what you crave.

[5] When somebody had thrown water upon him, and he was incited by his friends against the man, he said, But it was not upon me that he threw it, but upon the man he thought me to be.

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

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

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).) — 25 focus

Ἀρχελάου

[1] Ἀρχέλαος αἰτηθεὶς παρὰ πότον ποτήριον χρυσοῦν ὑπό τινος τῶν συνήθων οὐ μὴν ἐπιεικῶν, ἐκέλευσεν Εὐριπίδῃ τὸν παῖδα δοῦναι· θαυμάσαντος δὲ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, σὺ μὲν γάρ εἶπεν, αἰτεῖν, οὗτος δὲ λαμβάνειν ἄξιός ἐστι καὶ μὴ αἰτῶν.

[2] ἀδολέσχου δὲ κουρέως ἐρωτήσαντος αὐτόν, πῶς σε κείρω; σιωπῶν, ἔφη.

[3] τοῦ δὲ Εὐριπίδου τὸν καλὸν Ἀγάθωνα περιλαμβάνοντος ἐν τῷ συμποσίῳ καὶ καταφιλοῦντος 177b ἤδη γενειῶντα, πρὸς τοὺς φίλους εἶπε, μὴ θαυμάσητε· τῶν γὰρ καλῶν καὶ τὸ μετόπωρον καλόν ἐστιν.

[4] ἐπεὶ δὲ Τιμόθεος ὁ κιθαρῳδὸς ἐλπίσας πλείονα, λαβὼν δὲ ἐλάττονα, δῆλος ἦν ἐγκαλῶν αὐτῷ, καί ποτε ᾄδων τουτὶ τὸ κομμάτιον,

σὺ δὲ τὸν γηγενέταν ἄργυρον αἰνεῖς,

ἀπεσήμαινεν εἰς ἐκεῖνον· ὑπέκρουσεν ὁ Ἀρχέλαος αὐτῷ

σὺ δέ γε αἰτεῖς.

[5] ὕδωρ δέ τινος αὐτοῦ κατασκεδάσαντος, ὑπὸ τῶν φίλων παροξυνόμενος ἐπὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐμοῦ, φησίν, ἀλλʼ ἐκείνου κατεσκέδασεν ὃν ἔδοξεν ἐμὲ εἶναι.

Ἀποφθέγματα βασιλέων καὶ στρατηγῶν Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol II. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 25 focus

Ἀχελάου

[1] Ἀρχέλαος αἰτηθεὶς παρὰ πότον ποτήριον χρυσοῦν 20 ὑπό τινος τῶν συνήθων οὐ μὴν ἐπιεικῶν, ἐκέλευσεν Εὐριπίδῃ τὸν παῖδα δοῦναι· θαυμάσαντος δὲ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, σὺ μὲν γάρ εἶπεν αἰτεῖν, οὗτος δὲ λαμβάνειν ἄξιός ἐστι καὶ μὴ αἰτῶν.

[2] ἀδολέσχου δὲ κουρέως ἐρωτήσαντος αὐτὸν 25 πῶς σε κείρω; σιωπῶν ἔφη.

[3] τοῦ δὲ Εὐριπίδου τὸν καλὸν Ἀγάθωνα περιλαμβάνοντος ἐν τῷ συμποσίῳ καὶ καταφιλοῦντος 177b ἤδη γενειῶντα, πρὸς τοὺς φίλους εἶπε μὴ θαυμάσητε· τῶν γὰρ καλῶν καὶ τὸ μετόπωρον καλόν ἐστιν.

[4] ἐπεὶ δὲ Τιμόθεος ὁ κιθαρῳδὸς ἐλπίσας πλείονα, 5 λαβὼν δὲ ἐλάττονα, δῆλος ἦν ἐγκαλῶν αὐτῷ, καί ποτε ᾄδων τουτὶ τὸ κομμάτιον σὺ δὲ τὸν γηγενέταν ἄργυρον αἰνεῖς ἀπεσήμαινεν εἰς ἐκεῖνον· ὑπέκρουσεν ὁ Ἀρχέλαος αὐτῷ σὺ δέ γε αἰτεῖς.

[5] ὕδωρ δέ τινος αὐτοῦ κατασκεδάσαντος, ὑπὸ 10 τῶν φίλων παροξυνόμενος ἐπὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐμοῦ φησίν ἀλλʼ ἐκείνου κατεσκέδασεν ὃν ἔδοξεν ἐμὲ εἶναι.

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.) — 25 focus

[25] ARCHELAUS. Archelaus, when one of his companions (and none of the best) begged a golden cup of him, bade the boy give it Euripides; and when the man wondered at him, You, said he, are worthy to ask, but he is worthy to receive it without asking. A prating barber asked him how he would be trimmed. He answered, In silence. When Euripides at a banquet embraced fair Agatho and kissed him, although he was no longer beardless, he said, turning to his friends: Do not wonder at it, for the beauty of such as are handsome lasts after autumn.

Timotheus the harper, receiving of him a reward less than his expectation, twitted him for it not obscurely; and once singing the short verse of the chorus, You commend earth-born silver, directed it to him. And Archelaus answered him again singing, But you beg it. When one sprinkled water upon him, and his friends would have had him punish the man, You are mistaken, said he, he did not sprinkle me, but some other person whom he took me to be.

Notes on the current edition

Sayings of Kings and Commanders

1. King of Macedonia, 413-399 B.C.

2. Cf. Moralia, 509 A.

3. Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Alcibiades, chap. i. (192 A); Moralia, 770 C; and Aelian, Varia Historia, xiii. 4. In all three places the remark is attributed to Euripides.

4. Cf. Bergk, Poet. Lyr. Graec. iii. p. 624, Timotheus, No. 14, or Edmonds, Lyra Graeca (in L.C.L.), iii. p. 330, No. 28. Plutarch repeats the story in Moralia, 334 B.

Plutarch Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata 25

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

ARCHELAUS ¹

Current edition Perseus

Ἀρχελάου

Ἀχελάου

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

ARCHELAUS 1

Current edition Perseus

Ἀρχελάου

Ἀχελάου

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

ARCHELAUS ¹