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Plutarch · Sayings of the Spartan Women §2.1-2.6

Sayings and Anecdotes of Gorgo Daughter of Cleomenes

Passage 2 of 6 · Greek

Summary

Anecdotes of Gorgo, daughter of King Cleomenes of Sparta, showcasing her sharp wit in rejecting Aristagoras's bribe and her final exchange with her husband Leonidas.

§2.1Γοργὼ βασιλέως Κλεομένους θυγάτηρ, Ἀρισταγόρου τοῦ Μιλησίου παρακαλοῦντος αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸν πρὸς βασιλέα πόλεμον ὑπὲρ Ἰώνων καὶ ὑπισχνουμένου χρημάτων πλῆθος καὶ ὅσῳ ἀντέλεγε πλείονα προστιθέντος, καταφθερεῖ σε, ἔφη, ὦ πάτερ, τὸ ξενύλλιον, ἐὰν μὴ τάχιον αὐτὸν τῆς οἰκίας ἐκβάλῃς. §2.2προστάξαντος δέ ποτε αὐτῇ τοῦ; πατρὸς δοῦναί τινι σῖτον εἰς μισθοῦ λόγον καὶ προστιθέντος, ἐδίδαξε γάρ με τὸν οἶνον χρηστὸν ποιεῖν, οὐκοῦν, ὦ πάτερ, ἔφη, ὃ τʼ οἶνος πλείων ἐκποθήσεται καὶ οἱ πίνοντες θρυπτικώτεροι καὶ χείρονες γενήσονται. ʼ ʼ §2.3τὸν δʼ Ἀρισταγόραν ὑπό τινος τῶν οἰκετῶν ὑποδούμενον θεασαμένη, πάτερ, ἔφη, ὁ ξένος χεῖρας οὐκ ἔχει. §2.4ξένου δέ τινος μαλακῶς καὶ σχολῇ προσαγαγόντος, παρωσαμένη αὐτόν, οὐκ ἄπει ἐντεῦθεν, εἶπεν, οὐδὲ τὰ τῆς γυναικὸς δυνάμενος; ν §2.5ἐρωτηθεῖσα δὲ ὑπό τινος Ἀττικῆς, διὰ τί ὑμεῖς ἄρχετε μόναι τῶν ἀνδρῶν αἱ Λάκαιναι; ὅτι, ἔφη, καὶ τίκτομεν μόναι ἄνδρας. §2.6Προτρεπομένη δὲ τὸν ἄνδρα Λεωνίδαν ἐξιόντα εἰς Θερμοπύλας ἄξιον τῆς Σπάρτης φανῆναι, ἠρώτα τί χρὴ πράττειν ὁ δὲ ἔφη, ἀγαθὸν γαμεῖν καὶ ἀγαθὰ τίκτειν.
Gorgo, the daughter of King Cleomenes, when Aristagoras of Miletus was urging him to make war against the King on behalf of the Ionians, and was promising a large sum of money, adding more the more he objected, said, "Father, the wretched foreigner will corrupt you, if you do not drive him out of the house very quickly." And once, when her father ordered her to give grain to someone by way of payment and added, "For he taught me to make wine good," she said, "Then, Father, more wine will be drunk up, and those who drink it will become more effeminate and worse." Seeing Aristagoras having his shoes put on by one of the servants, she said, "Father, the foreigner has no hands." When a certain foreigner approached softly and slowly, she pushed him aside and said, "Will you not go away from here, since you cannot even do the things of a woman?" Asked by a certain Attic woman, "Why is it that you Spartan women are the only ones who rule over men?" she said, "Because we are also the only ones who give birth to men." Exhorting her husband Leonidas, as he was going out to Thermopylae, to show himself worthy of Sparta, she asked what she should do, and he said, "To marry a good husband and bear good children."

Notes

  1. 2.1ὅσῳ ἀντέλεγε πλείονα προστιθέντος — A subordinate clause (ὅσῳ...) is embedded within a genitive absolute. The subject of ἀντέλεγε (to gainsay) is Cleomenes (the object αὐτόν of the main action), whereas the subject of the genitive participle προστιθέντος (adding) is Aristagoras. The dative relative ὅσῳ expresses measure of difference, correlating with the comparative πλείονα (more [money]) to mean 'adding more in proportion as Cleomenes objected'.
  2. 2.2ὃ τʼ οἶνος — This is a contraction/elision of ὅ τε οἶνος. The correlative construction τε... καί... coordinates two parallel clauses: 'both the wine (will be drunk up...) and (those who drink it...)'.
  3. 2.3ὑποδούμενον — Present middle participle of ὑποδέω (to bind underneath, put shoes on). It functions here with a causative or passive force, meaning 'having one's shoes put on (by someone else)'. The agent of the action is specified by the preceding prepositional phrase ὑπό τινος τῶν οἰκετῶν (by one of the servants).
  4. 2.6ἀγαθὸν γαμεῖν — In classical Greek, the active infinitive γαμεῖν is normally used of a man marrying a woman ('to take a wife'), while the middle γαμέομαι is used of a woman marrying a man. Here, however, Leonidas addresses Gorgo, so the active is used in the sense of 'to marry (a good husband)', reflecting either an intransitive usage ('to marry well') or the blurring of the active/middle distinction in later Greek.

Cite this passage

Plutarch, Sayings of the Spartan Women §2.1-2.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg082b.humanitext-grc3:2.1-2.6

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