§5.1ἑτέρα Λάκαινα τὸν υἱὸν λιποτακτήσαντα ὡς ἀνάξιον τῆς πατρίδος ἀνεῖλεν, εἰποῦσα,
οὐκ ἐμὸν τὸ φίτυμα. ἐφʼ ἧς τὸ ἐπίγραμμα τόδε,
"
ἔρρε κακὸν φίτυμα διὰ σκότος, οὗ διὰ μῖσος
Εὐρώτας δειλαῖς μηδʼ ἐλάφοισι ῥέοι.
Another Spartan woman slew her son who had deserted his post, as being unworthy of his country, saying: "Not mine is this offspring." Upon her is this epigram: "Begone, evil offspring, to the darkness, through hatred of whom may the Eurotas flow not even for cowardly deer.
ἀχρεῖον σκυλάκευμα, κακὰ μερίς, ἔρρε ποθʼ Ἅιδαν,
ἔρρε· τὸ μὴ Σπάρτας ἄξιον οὐδʼ ἔτεκον. "
Useless whelp, vile portion, begone to Hades, begone; for that which is unworthy of Sparta, I did not even bear.
§5.2ἄλλη ἀκούσασα τὸν υἱὸν ἐν παρατάξει πεσόντα ἔφη,
"
δειλοὶ κλαιέσθωσαν ἐγὼ δέ σε, τέκνον, ἄδακρυς
θάπτω τὸν καὶ ἐμὸν καὶ Λακεδαιμόνιον. "
"Another, hearing that her son had fallen in the battle-line, said: "Let cowards be wept for; but you, my child, without a tear I bury, who are both mine and a Lacedaemonian.
§5.3ἀκούσασά τις τὸν υἱὸν σεσῳσμένον καὶ πεφευγότα ἐκ τῶν πολεμίων, γράφει αὐτῷ,
κακὰ φάμα τευ κακκέχυται· ἢ ταύταν νῦν ἔκνιψαι ἢ μὴ ἔσο. §5.4ἄλλη, τῶν υἱῶν φυγόντων ἐκ μάχης καὶ παραγενομένων ὡς αὐτήν,
ποῦ,
φησίν,
ἥκετε δραπετεύσαντες, κακὰ ἀνδράποδα;
"A woman, hearing that her son had survived and fled from the enemy, wrote to him: "An evil report of you is spread abroad; either wipe this out now, or cease to exist." Another, when her sons had fled from battle and returned to her, said: "Where have you come, you runaway, evil slaves?
ἢ δεῦρο ὅθεν ἐξέδυτε καταδυσόμενοι; ἀνασυραμένη καὶ ἐπιδείξασα αὐτοῖς.
Or do you mean to creep back down in here whence you came out?" as she pulled up her dress and exposed herself to them.
§5.5προσάγοντά τις τὸν υἱὸν θεασαμένη ἐπύθετο,
τί πράττει ἡ πατρίς; εἰπόντος δέ,
πάντες ἀπολώλασι,
κεραμίδα ἄρασα ἐπαφῆκεν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀνεῖλεν, εἰποῦσα,
σὲ οὖν κακάγγελον ἔπεμψαν ἡμῖν; §5.6διηγουμένου τινὸς τῇ μητρὶ γενναῖον θάνατον τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ,
εἶτʼ οὐκ αἰσχρόν,
εἶπε,
τῆς τοιαύτης συνοδίας ἀποτυχεῖν; §5.7ἐκπέμψασά τις τοὺς υἱοὺς αὑτῆς πέντε ὄντας ἐπὶ πόλεμον, ἐν τοῖς προαστείοις εἱστήκει καραδοκοῦσα τί ἐκ τῆς μάχης ἀποβήσοιτο·
A woman, seeing her son approaching, inquired: "How fares our country?" And when he said: "All have perished," she lifted a tile and threw it at him, killing him, and said: "Did they then send you to us as a bringer of bad news?" When someone was recounting to a mother the noble death of her brother, she said: "Is it not then a shame to have missed such a company?" A woman, having sent out her sons, who were five in number, to war, stood in the suburbs anxiously waiting to see what would come of the battle.
ὡς δὲ παραγενόμενός τις πυθομένῃ ἀπήγγειλε τοὺς παῖδας ἅπαντας τετελευτηκέναι,
ἀλλʼ οὐ τοῦτο ἐπυθόμην,
εἶπε,
κακὸν ἀνδράποδον, ἀλλὰ τί πράττει ἡ πατρίς. φήσαντος δὲ ὅτι νικᾷ,
ἀσμένη τοίνυν,
εἶπε,
δέχομαι καὶ τὸν τῶν παίδων θάνατον. §5.8Θάπτουσά τις τὸν υἱόν, ὡς γραΐδιον εὐτελὲς προσελθὸν αὐτῇ,
ὦ γύναι, τᾶς τύχας,
εἶπε,
νὴ.
When someone arrived and, in answer to her inquiry, reported that all her children had died, she said: "But I did not inquire about this, you evil slave, but how our country fares." And when he said that it was victorious: "Gladly then," she said, "do I accept also the death of my children." As a woman was burying her son, a cheap old woman came up to her and said: "O woman, what ill fortune!" "By the twin gods, but a beautiful one indeed!" she said.
τὼ σιώ ἀλλὰ τᾶς καλᾶς γʼ,
ἔφη· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸν οὗ ἕνεκεν ἔτεκον, ἵνʼ ὑπὲρ τᾶς Σπάρτας ἀποθάνῃ, τοῦτό μοι συνέβη. §5.9Σεμνυνομένης γυναικός τινος Ἰωνικῆς ἐπί τινι τῶν ἑαυτῆς ὑφασμάτων ὄντι πολυτελεῖ, Λάκαινα ἐπιδείξασα τοὺς τέτταρας υἱοὺς ὄντας κοσμιωτάτους, τοιαῦτα, ἔφη, δεῖ εἶναι τὰ τῆς καλῆς καὶ ἀγαθῆς γυναικὸς ἔργα καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐπαίρεσθαι καὶ μεγαλαυχεῖν. §5.10ἄλλη ἀκούσασα περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ, ὡς κακῶς ἐπὶ τῆς ξένης ἀναστρέφοιτο, ἔγραψε,
κακά τευ φάμα κακκέχυται· ταύταν ἀπώθευ ἢ μὴ ἔσο. §5.11παραπλησίως δὲ καὶ Χίων φυγάδες ἐλθόντες εἰς Σπάρτην πολλὰ Παιδαρήτου κατηγόρουν μεταπεμφαμένη δὲ αὐτοὺς ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ Τελευτία καὶ ἀκούσασα ὧν ἐνεκάλουν, ἐπεὶ ἐδόκει αὐτῇ ἁμαρτάνειν ὁ υἱός, ἐπέστειλεν,
ἁ μάτηρ Παιδαρήτῳ· ἢ βελτίονα πρᾶσσε ἢ αὖθι μένε, ἀπογνοὺς τὰν ἐς Σπάρταν σωτηρίαν. §5.12ἑτέρα ἐπʼ ἀδικήματι τῷ παιδὶ κρινομένῳ,
τέκνον,
εἶπεν,
ἢ τᾶς αἰτίας ἢ σεαυτὸν τοῦ ζῆν ἀπόλυσον. §5.13ἄλλη χωλὸν υἱὸν ἐπὶ παράταξιν προπέμπουσα,
τέκνον,
εἶπε,
κατὰ βῆμα τῆς ἀρετῆς μέμνησο.
"For that very thing for which I bore him, that he might die for Sparta, has happened to me." An Ionian woman being proud of one of her own tapestries, which was very costly, a Spartan woman, showing her four sons who were most well-behaved, said: "Such ought to be the works of a good and noble woman, and on these she should be elated and boast." Another, hearing about her son, that he was conducting himself badly in a foreign land, wrote: "An evil report of you is spread abroad; push this away, or cease to exist." In a similar manner, when exiles of Chios came to Sparta and accused Paedaretus of many things, his mother Teleutia sent for them, and having heard their charges, since her son seemed to her to be in the wrong, she wrote: "His mother to Paedaretus: either do better, or stay where you are, giving up hope of safety back to Sparta." Another, when her son was being tried for some offense, said: "My child, either release yourself from the charge, or release yourself from life." Another, sending forth a lame son to the battle-line, said: "My child, at every step remember courage."