PELOPIDAS

[1] Pelopidas, the associate of Epameinondas in command, in reply to his friends who told him that he was neglecting a very necessary business, the amassing of money, said, Yes, on my word, money is necessary—for Nicodemus here !¹ as he pointed to a lame and crippled man.

[2] As he was leaving home for the field of battle, his wife begged him to have a care for his life. This advice, said he, should be kept for others, but for a commander and general the advice should be to have a care for the lives of the citizens.²

[3] When one of his soldiers said, We have fallen among the enemy, he said, Why any more than they among us ?³

[4] When he fell a victim to the treachery of Alexander, despot of Pherae, and was put in bonds, he upbraided Alexander; and when the despot said, Are you so eager to die, he replied, Yes, I certainly am, so that the Thebans may become the more exasperated, and you may get your deserts the sooner.⁴

[5] Thebe, the despot’s wife, carne to Pelopidas and said that she was amazed because he was so cheerful in his bonds. Pelopidas replied that he was even more amazed at her because she without being in bonds could abide Alexander. ⁵

[6] After Epameinondas had obtained his general’s release, Pelopidas said that he felt grateful to Alexander; for by actual test he had now found himself more than ever to be of good courage not only in facing war but also in facing death. SAYINGS OF ROMANS

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).) — 72 focus

Πελοπίδου

[1] Πελοπίδας ὁ συστράτηγος Ἐπαμεινώνδου,¹ τῶν φίλων αὐτὸν ἀμελεῖν λεγόντων πράγματος 194d ἀναγκαίου, χρημάτων συναγωγῆς, ἀναγκαῖα τὰ χρήματα νὴ Δία, εἶπε, τούτῳ Νικοδήμῳ,² δείξας χωλὸν καὶ ἀνάπηρον ἄνθρωπον.

[2] τῆς δὲ γυναικός, ἐπὶ μάχην ἐξιόντος αὐτοῦ, δεομένης σῴζειν ἑαυτόν, ἄλλοις ἔφη δεῖν τοῦτο παραινεῖν, ἄρχοντι δὲ καὶ στρατηγῷ σῴζειν τοὺς πολίτας.

[3] εἰπόντος δέ τινος τῶν στρατιωτῶν, ἐμπεπτώκαμεν εἰς τοὺς πολεμίους, τί μᾶλλον, εἶπεν, ἢ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐκεῖνοι;

[4] ἐπεὶ δὲ παρασπονδηθεὶς ὑπὸ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Φεραίων τυράννου καὶ δεθεὶς κακῶς αὐτὸν ἔλεγεν, εἰπόντος ἐκείνου, σπεύδεις ἀποθανεῖν; πάνυ μὲν οὖν, εἶπεν, ἵνα μᾶλλον παροξυνθῶσι Θηβαῖοι, καὶ σὺ δίκην δῷς τάχιον.

[5] Θήβης δὲ τῆς τοῦ τυράννου γυναικὸς ἐλθούσης πρὸς Πελοπίδαν καὶ λεγούσης θαυμάζειν ὅτι οὕτως ἱλαρός ἐστι δεδεμένος, αὐτὸς ἔφη μᾶλλον θαυμάζειν ἐκείνην, ὅτι μὴ δεδεμένη ὑπομένει Ἀλέξανδρον.

[6] 194e Κομισαμένου δʼ αὐτὸν τοῦ Ἐπαμεινώνδου, χάριν εἶπεν ἔχειν Ἀλεξάνδρῳ· πεπειρᾶσθαι³ γὰρ ἑαυτοῦ νῦν μάλιστα οὐ μόνον πρὸς πόλεμον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς θάνατον εὐθαρσῶς ἔχοντος.

Ἀποφθέγματα βασιλέων καὶ στρατηγῶν Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol II. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 72 focus

Πελοπίδου

[1] Πελοπίδας ὁ συστράτηγος Ἐπαμεινώνδᾳ, ¹ τῶν 5 φίλων αὐτὸν ἀμελεῖν λεγόντων πράγματος ἀναγκαίου, χρημάτων συναγωγῆς, ἀναγκαῖα τὰ χρήματα νὴ Δία εἶπε τούτῳ Νικοδήμῳ ² δείξας χωλὸν καὶ ἀνάπηρον ἄνθρωπον.

[2] τῆς δὲ γυναικός, ἐπὶ μάχην ἐξιόντος αὐτοῦ, 10 δεομένης σῴζειν ἑαυτόν, ἄλλοις ἔφη δεῖν τοῦτο παραινεῖν, ἄρχοντι δὲ καὶ στρατηγῷ σῴζειν τοὺς πολίτας.

[3] εἰπόντος δέ τινος τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἐμπεπτώκαμεν εἰς τοὺς πολεμίους, τί μᾶλλον εἶπεν ἢ 15 εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐκεῖνοι;

[4] ἐπεὶ δὲ παρασπονδηθεὶς ὑπὸ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Φεραίων τυράννου καὶ δεθεὶς κακῶς αὐτὸν ἔλεγεν, εἰπόντος ἐκείνου σπεύδεις ἀποθανεῖν; πάνυ μὲν οὖν εἶπεν ἵνα μᾶλλον παροξυνθῶσι Θηβαῖοι, καὶ 20 σὺ δίκην δῷς τάχιον.

[5] Θήβης δὲ τῆς τοῦ τυράννου γυναικὸς ἐλθούσης πρὸς Πελοπίδαν καὶ λεγούσης θαυμάζειν, ὅτι οὕτως ἱλαρός ἐστι δεδεμένος, αὐτὸς ἔφη μᾶλλον θαυμάζειν ἐκείνην, ὅτι μὴ δεδεμένη ὑπομένει Ἀλέξανδρον 194e

κομισαμένου δʼ αὐτὸν τοῦ Ἐπαμεινώνδου, χάριν εἶπεν ἔχειν Ἀλεξάνδρῳ· πεπείραται γὰρ ἑαυτοῦ νῦν μάλιστα οὐ μόνον πρὸς πόλεμον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς θάνατον εὐθαρσῶς ἔχοντος.

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.) — 72 focus

[72] PELOPIDAS. Pelopidas, Epaminondas’s colleague, when his friends told him that he neglected a necessary business, that was the gathering of money, replied: In good deed money is necessary for this Nicomedas, pointing to a lame man that could not go. As he was going out to fight, his wife beseeched him to have a care of himself. To others you may give this advice, said he; but a commander and general you must advise that he should save his countrymen. A soldier told him, We are fallen among the enemies. Said he, How are we fallen among them, more than they among us? When Alexander, the tyrant of Pherae, broke his faith and cast him into prison, he reviled him; and when the other told him he did but hasten his death, That is my design, said he, that the Thebans may be exasperated against you, and be revenged on you the sooner. Thebe, the wife of the tyrant, came to him, and told him she wondered to see him so merry in chains. He answered, he wondered more at her, that she could endure Alexander without being chained. When Epaminondas caused him to be released, he said: I thank Alexander, for I have now found by trial that I have not only courage to fight, but to die.

Notes on the current edition

Sayings of Kings and Commanders

1. Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Pelopidas, chap. iii. (279 C) Aelian, Varia Historia, xi. 9.

2. Cf. the Life of Pelopidas, chap. xix. (288 C).

3. Repeated in the Life of Pelopidas, chap. xvii. (286 D). A similar remark is attributed to Leonidas, Moralia, 225 B, infra, and to an unnamed Spartan, 234 B, infra.

4. Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Pelopidas, chap. xxviii. (293 A).

5. Ibid. (293 B).

Plutarch Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata 72

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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