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Plutarch · Sayings of the Spartan Women §4.1

Damatria's Slaying of Her Cowardly Son and the Epigram

Passage 4 of 6 · Greek

Summary

Damatria kills her cowardly son upon his return, and the epigram commemorating her action is recorded.

§4.1Δαματρία τὸν υἱὸν δειλὸν καὶ ἀνάξιον ἑαυτῆς ἀκούσασα, παραγενόμενον ἀνεῖλε·
Damatria, having heard that her son was a coward and unworthy of her, slew him when he returned.
τὸ δʼ ἐπίγραμμα ἐπʼ αὐτῆς τόδε, " τὸν παραβάντα νόμους Δαμάτριον ἔκτανε μάτηρ ἁ Λακεδαιμονία τὸν Λακεδαιμόνιον.
And this epigram is inscribed upon her: "Damatrios, who transgressed the laws, his mother slew, the Lacedaemonian mother her Lacedaemonian son.
"
"

Notes

  1. §4.1ἀκούσασα — The participle ἀκούσασα takes the accusative direct object τὸν υἱὸν and the predicative adjectives δειλὸν καὶ ἀνάξιον to mean 'having heard that her son was a coward and...'.
  2. §4.1παραγενόμενον — An aorist participle modifying the implied object (him) of the verb ἀνεῖλε, functioning temporally ('when he returned').
  3. §4.1ἁ Λακεδαιμονία ... τὸν Λακεδαιμόνιον — The poem is in the Doric dialect, where Attic η appears as ᾱ (ἁ = ἡ, μάτηρ = μήτηρ). The juxtaposition of the nominative ἁ Λακεδαιμονία (the Lacedaemonian [mother]) and the accusative τὸν Λακεδαιμόνιον (the Lacedaemonian [son]) heightens the tragic severity of Spartan custom.

Cite this passage

Plutarch, Sayings of the Spartan Women §4.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg082b.humanitext-grc3:4.1

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