PLEISTARCHUS¹

[1] Pleistarchus the son of Leonidas, in answer to one who asked him for what reason they did not take their titles from the names of the first kings, said, Because the first kings needed to be absolute monarchs, but those who followed them had no such need.²

[2] When a certain advocate kept making jests, he said, You had better be on your guard, my friend, against jesting all the time, lest you become a jest yourself, just as those who wrestle all the time become wrestlers.

[3] In retort to the man who imitated a nightingale, he said, My friend, I have had more pleasure in hearing the nightingale itself.³

[4] When someone said that a certain evil-speaker was commending him, he said, I wonder whether possibly someone may not have told him that I was dead; for the man can never say a good word of anybody who is alive.⁴

Apophthegmata Laconica. Plutarch. Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1931.

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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).) — 61 focus

Πλειστάρχου

[1] Πλείσταρχος ὁ¹ Λεωνίδου πρὸς τὸν ἐπερωτήσαντα, διὰ τίνα αἰτίαν οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων βασιλέων προσαγορεύονται, ὅτι, ἔφη, ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ἄγαν² βασιλεύειν ἔχρῃζον, οἱ δʼ ἐκείνων ὕστεροι οὐδαμῶς.

[2] Συνηγόρου δέ τινος γελοῖα λέγοντος, οὐ φυλάξῃ, ὦ ξένε, ἔφη, συνεχῶς γελοιάζων, ὅπως μὴ γελοῖος γένῃ, ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ συνεχῶς παλαίοντες παλαισταί;

Πρὸς δὲ τὸν ἀηδόνα μιμούμενον, ἥδιον, ἔφη, ὦ ξένε, αὐτῆς ἄκουσα τῆς ἀηδόνος.

[4] 231d λέγοντος δέ τινος ὅτι κακολόγος τις αὐτὸν ἐπῄνει, θαυμάζω, ἔφη, εἰ μή τις αὐτῷ εἶπεν ὅτι ἀπέθανον· ζῶντα γὰρ ἐκεῖνος οὐδένα καλῶς λέξαι δύναται.

Ἀποφθέγματα Λακωνικά Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol II. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 61 focus

Πλειστάρχου

[1] Πλείσταρχος ὁ Λεωνίδου ¹ πρὸς τὸν ἐπερωτήσαντα, 5 διὰ τίνα αἰτίαν οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων βασιλέων προσαγορεύονται, ὅτι ἔφη ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ² ἄγειν ἢ βασιλεύειν ἔχρῃζον, οἱ δʼ ἐκείνων ὕστεροι οὐδαμῶς.

[2] συνηγόρου δέ τινος γελοῖα λέγοντος, οὐ φυλάξῃ 10 ὦ ξένε ἔφη συνεχῶς γελοιάζων, ὅπως μὴ γελοῖος γένῃ, ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ συνεχῶς παλαίοντες παλαισταί;

[3] πρὸς δὲ τὸν ἀηδόνα μιμούμενον ἥδιον ἔφη ὦ ξένε αὐτῆς ἄκουσα τῆς ἀηδόνος. 15

[4] 231d λέγοντος δέ τινος, ὅτι κακολόγος τις αὐτὸν ἐπῄνει θαυμάζω ἔφη εἰ μή τις αὐτῷ εἶπεν ὅτι ἀπέθανον· ζῶντα γὰρ ἐκεῖνος οὐδένα καλῶς λέξαι δύναται.

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.) — 61 focus

Of Plistarchus.

Plistarchus the son of Leonidas, to one asking him why they did not take their names from the first kings replied, Because the former were rather captains than kings, but the later otherwise. A certain advocate using a thousand little jests in his pleading; Sir, said he, you do not consider that, as those that often wrestle are wrestlers at last, so you by often exciting laughter will become ridiculous yourself. When one told him that an notorious railer spoke well of him; I’ll lay my life, said he, somebody hath told him I am dead, for he can speak well of no man living.

Notes on the current edition

Sayings of Spartans

1. King of Sparta, 480-458 B.C.

2. One of the two lines of the kings of Sparta was called Agids (or Agiads) from Agis, the second of that line, and the other Eurypontids from Eurypon, the third of that line. Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Lycurgus, chap. ii. (40 D); Strabo, viii. 366; Pausanias, iii. 7. 1. Presumably Plutarch means that the later Spartan kings did not wish to perpetuate the memory of any harshness, which would have been suggested by the names of the earlier absolute monarchs.

3. Cf. the note on Moralia, 212 F (58), supra.

4. Cf. the note on Moralia, 224 D (1), supra.

Plutarch Apophthegmata Laconica 61

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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PLEISTARCHUS¹