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The Lacedaemonians say (but no poet agrees) that it was Aristodemus son of Aristomachus son of Cleodaeus son of Hyllus, and not his sons, who led them to that land which they now possess.
The Lacedaemonians say (but no poet agrees) that it was Aristodemus son of Aristomachus son of Cleodaeus son of Hyllus, and not his sons, who led them to that land which they now possess.
[2] After no long time
Aristodemus' wife, whose name was
Argeia, bore him offspring; they say she was daughter of
Autesion son of
Tisamenus son of
Thersander son of
Polynices; she bore him twins;
Aristodemus lived to see the children, then died of a sickness.
[3] The
Lacedaemonians of that day planned to follow their custom and make the eldest of the children king. But the children were identical in all respects, so the
Lacedaemonians did not know which to choose; when they could not judge between them, or perhaps even before this, they asked the mother.
[4] She said she knew no better than the
Lacedaemonians which was the elder; she knew perfectly well, but she said this because she desired that by some means both might be made kings. The
Lacedaemonians were at a loss, so they sent to
Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi to inquire how they should deal with the matter.
[5] The priestess bade them make both children kings but give greater honor to the elder. When the priestess gave this response, the
Lacedaemonians knew no better than before how to discover the elder child, and a man of
+Nomos Messinias [21.833,37.25] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Messenia, whose name was
Panites, gave them advice:
[6] he advised them to watch the mother and see which of the children she washed and fed before the other; if she was seen to do this always in the same order, they would then have all that they sought and desired to discover; but if she changed her practice haphazardly, then it would be manifest to the
Lacedaemonians that she know no more than they did, and they must have recourse to some other means.
[7] Then the
Spartans did as the
Messenian advised; as they watched the mother of
Aristodemus' children, they found her always preferring the elder when she fed and washed them, since she did not know why she was being watched. So they took the child that was preferred by its mother and brought it up at public expense as the first-born; and they called it
Eurysthenes, and the other
Procles.
[8] They say that when these two brothers grew to manhood, they feuded with each other as long as they lived, and their descendants continued to do likewise.
Histories. Herodotus. ed. A.D. Godley. Cambridge. 1920-1925.
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