NICANDER¹

[1] Nicander, when someone said that the Argives were speaking ill of him, said, Well then, they are paying the penalty for speaking ill of the good!²

[2] When someone inquired why the Spartans wore their hair long and cultivated beards, he said, Because for a man his own adornment is the very best and cheapest.³

[3] When one of the Athenians said, Nicander, you Spartans insist too much on your principle of doing no work, he said, Quite true; we do not make work of this thing or that thing in your haphazard fashion.⁴

Apophthegmata Laconica. 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 Spartans (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).)

Editions (2)

Ἀποφθέγματα Λακωνικά Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).) — 56 focus

Νικάνδρου

[1] Νίκανδρος, εἰπόντος τινὸς ὅτι κακῶς αὐτὸν λέγουσιν Ἀργεῖοι, οὐκοῦν, ἔφη, δίκην τίνουσι τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς κακῶς λέγοντες.

[2] πυθομένου δέ τινος διὰ τί κομῶσι καὶ πωγωνοτροφοῦσιν, ὅτι, ἔφη, πάντων κάλλιστος καὶ ἀδαπανώτατος ἀνδρὶ ὁ ἴδιος κόσμος.

[3] τῶν Ἀθηναίων δὲ εἰπόντος τινός, λίαν ἀντέχεσθε, ὦ Νίκανδρε, τοῦ σχολάζειν, ἀληθίζῃ, ἔφη,. ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὥσπερ ὑμεῖς ὅπως τύχοι σπουδάζομεν.

Ἀποφθέγματα Λακωνικά Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol II. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 56 focus

Νικάνδρου

[1] Νίκανδρος, εἰπόντος τινὸς ὅτι κακῶς αὐτὸν λέγουσιν Ἀργεῖοι, οὐκοῦν ἔφη δίκην τίνουσι τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς κακῶς λέγοντες.

[2] πυθομένου δέ τινος διὰ τί κομῶσι καὶ πωγωνοτροφοῦσιν, ὅτι ἔφη πάντων κάλλιστος καὶ ἀδαπανώτατος ἀνδρὶ ὁ ἴδιος κόσμος.

[3] τῶν Ἀθηναίων δὲ εἰπόντος τινὸς λίαν ἀντέχεσθε, 5 ὦ Νίκανδρε, τοῦ σχολάζειν , ἀληθίζῃ ἔφη ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὥσπερ ὑμεῖς ὅπως τύχοι ¹ σπουδάζομεν. 230c

Translations (1)

Laconic Apophthegms; or Remarkable Sayings of the Spartans. Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. I. Goodwin, William W., editor; unknown, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 56 focus

Of Nicander.

Nicander, when one told him that the Argives spake very ill of him, said, Well, they suffer for speaking ill of good men. And to one that enquired why they wore long hair and long beards, he answered, Because man’s natural ornaments are the handsomest and the cheapest. An Athenian saying, Nicander, you Spartans are extremely idle; You say true, he answered, but we do not busy ourselves like you in every trifle.

Notes on the current edition

Sayings of Spartans

1. An early Spartan king, perhaps circa 809-770 B.C. He was the son of Charillus ( Moralia, 189 F, supra.).

2. He was invading Argolis and laying waste the country; see Pausanias, iii. 7. 4.

3. Cf. the note on Moralia, 189 F (3), supra.

4. Cf. Moralia, 348 F and 710 F; Plato, Laws, 803 C-D. See also the note on Moralia, 221 C, supra.

Plutarch Apophthegmata Laconica 56

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

NICANDER¹

Current edition Perseus

Νικάνδρου

Νικάνδρου

Of Nicander.

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

NICANDER 1

Current edition Perseus

Νικάνδρου

Νικάνδρου

Of Nicander.

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

NICANDER¹