§5.14ἄλλη, τοῦ παιδὸς αὐτῇ ἀφικομένου ἀπὸ παρατάξεως τετρωμένου τὸν πόδα καὶ σφόδρα ἀλγοῦντος,
ἐὰν τῆς ἀρετῆς,
εἶπε,
μέμνῃ, ὦ τέκνον, καὶ ἄπονος ἔσῃ καὶ θαρρήσεις. §5.15Λάκων τρωθεὶς ἐν πολέμῳ καὶ βαδίζειν μὴ δυνάμενος, τετραποδιστὶ ὥδευεν.
Another, when her son returned to her from the battle-line wounded in his foot and in severe pain, said: "If you remember courage, my child, you will be both painless and of good cheer." A Spartan, wounded in war and unable to walk, went on all fours.
αἰσχυνομένῳ δʼ αὐτῷ εἶναι γελοίῳ ἡ μήτηρ,
καὶ πόσῳ βέλτιον, ὦ τέκνον,
εἶπε,
μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τῇ ἀνδρείᾳ γεγηθέναι ἢ αἰσχύνεσθαι ἐπὶ γέλωτι ἀνοήτῳ; ν §5.16ἄλλη προσαναδιδοῦσα τῷ παιδὶ τὴν ἀσπίδα καὶ παρακελευομένη,
τέκνον,
ἔφη,
ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς. §5.17ἄλλη προϊόντι τῷ υἱῷ ἐπὶ πόλεμον ἀναδιδοῦσα τὴν ἀσπίδα,
ταύτην,
ἔφη,
ὁ πατήρ σοι ἀεὶ ἔσῳζε· καὶ σὺ οὖν ἢ ταύτην σῷζε ἢ μὴ ἔσο. §5.18ἄλλη πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν λέγοντα μικρὸν ἔχειν τὸ ξίφος εἶπε,
καὶ βῆμα πρόσθες. §5.19ἄλλη ἀκούσασα, ὅτι ὁ υἱὸς αὐτῆς ἐν παρατάξει ἀνδραγαθήσας ἀπέθανεν,
ἐμὸς γὰρ ἦν,
εἶπε. περὶ δὲ τοῦ ἑτέρου πυθομένη ὅτι ἀποδειλιάσας σῴζεται,
οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἐμός,
ἔφη. §5.20ἑτέρα ἀκούσασα τεθνάνα τὸν υἱὸν ἐν μάχῃ καθάπερ ἐτέτακτο
κάτθετε αὐτόν,
ἔφη,
ἀναπληρωσάτω δὲ τὴν ἐκείνου τάξιν ὁ ἀδελφός. §5.21ἄλλη πομπὴν τελοῦσα πάνδημον ἤκουσεν ἐπὶ τῆς παρατάξεως νικᾶν τὸν υἱόν, ἐκ δὲ τῶν τραυμάτων πολλῶν γενομένων θνήσκειν.
When he was ashamed of being ridiculous, his mother said: "And how much better it is, my child, to rejoice rather in bravery than to be ashamed of senseless laughter?" Another, handing the shield to her child and exhorting him, said: "My child, either with this, or on this." Another, as her son was going forth to war, handed him his shield and said: "This shield your father always kept safe for you; you, therefore, either keep this safe, or cease to exist." Another, in response to her son saying that his sword was short, said: "Add a step to it." Another, hearing that her son had died acting bravely in the battle-line, said: "For he was mine." But when she inquired about the other and heard that he survived by playing the coward, she said: "For he was not mine." Another, hearing that her son had died in battle in the position assigned to him, said: "Lay him to rest, and let his brother fill his post." Another, while celebrating a public procession, heard that her son was victorious in the battle-line, but was dying from his many wounds.
οὐ περιελομένη οὖν τὸν στέφανον, ἀλλὰ σεμνυνθεῖσα πρὸς τὰς πλησίον εἶπεν,
ὡς πολλῷ κάλλιον, ὦ φίλαι, ἐστὶν ἐν παρατάξει νικῶντα τελευτᾶν ἢ τὰ Ὀλύμπια περιγιγνόμενον ζῆν. §5.22διηγουμένου τινὸς τῇ ἀδελφῇ γενναῖον θάνατον τοῦ παιδὸς αὐτῆς, ἐκείνη εἶπεν ὅτι
ὅσον ἐπʼ ἐκείνῳ γέγηθα, τοσοῦτον ἐπὶ σοὶ ἄχθομαι, ἐναρέτου συνοδίας ἀπολειφθέντι. §5.23Λακαίνῃ τις προσέπεμψεν, εἰ φθορᾷ συνεπινεύει.
She did not take off her crown, but, showing pride, said to those near her: "How much more beautiful it is, my friends, to die victorious in the battle-line than to live winning the Olympic games." When someone was recounting to a sister the noble death of her child, she said: "As much as I rejoice on his account, so much am I grieved on yours, for having been left behind by a virtuous companion." Someone sent a proposal to a Spartan woman, asking if she would consent to seduction.
ἡ δʼ ἔφη,
παῖς μὲν οὖσα ἔμαθον τῷ πατρὶ πείθεσθαι, καὶ τοῦτο ἔπραξα· γυνὴ δὲ γενομένη τῷ ἀνδρί·
She said: "When I was a child I learned to obey my father, and I did so; and when I became a woman, my husband.
εἰ οὖν δίκαιά με παρακαλεῖ, τούτῳ φανερὸν ποιησάτω πρῶτον. §5.24παρθένος πενιχρὰ ἐρωτηθεῖσα τίνα δίδωσι τῷ γαμοῦντι προῖκα,
τὴν πάτριον,
ἔφη,
σωφροσύνην. §5.25Λάκαινα ἐρωτηθεῖσα εἰ τἀνδρὶ προσελήλυθεν,
οὐκ ἐγώ,
εἶπεν,
ἀλλʼ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐμοί. §5.26κρύφα τις διαπαρθενευθεῖσα καὶ διαφθείρασα τὸ βρέφος οὕτως ἐνεκαρτέρησε μηδεμίαν προενεγκαμένη φωνήν, ὥστε καὶ τὸν πατέρα καὶ ἄλλους πλησίον ὄντας λαθεῖν ἀποκυήσασα· τὸ γὰρ μέγεθος τῶν ἀλγηδόνων τῇ εὐσχημοσύνῃ τὸ ἄσχημον προσπεσὸν ἐνίκησε.
If, therefore, your proposal is just, let him make it clear to him first." A poor maiden, being asked what dowry she was giving to her bridegroom, said: "My ancestral modesty." A Spartan woman, being asked if she had approached her husband, said: "Not I, but my husband to me." A girl, having secretly lost her virginity and destroyed her infant, endured it with such fortitude, without uttering a single cry, that her delivery escaped the notice of both her father and others who were nearby; for the magnitude of her pains was overcome by her sense of propriety which encountered the disgrace.
§5.27Λάκαινα πιπρασκομένη καὶ ἐρωτωμένη τί ἐπίσταται, ἔφη,
πιστὰ ἦμεν. §5.28ἄλλη αἰχμαλωτευθεῖσα καὶ ἐρωτωμένη παραπλησίως,
εὖ οἰκεῖν οἶκον,
ἔφη. §5.29ἐρωτηθεῖσά τις ὑπό τινος, εἰ ἔσται ἀγαθή, ἂν αὐτὴν ἀγοράσῃ, εἶπε,
κἂν μὴ ἀγοράσῃς. §5.30ἄλλη πιπρασκομένη, τοῦ κήρυκος πυνθανομένου τί ἐπίσταται,
ἐλευθέρα,
εἶπεν,
ἦμεν. νὡς δὲ ὁ ὠνησάμενος προσέταττέ τινα αὐτῇ οὐχ ἁρμόζοντα ἐλευθέρᾳ, εἰποῦσα,
οἰμώξῃ φθονήσας σεαυτῷ τοιούτου κτήματος,
ἐξήγαγεν ἑαυτήν.
A Spartan woman, being sold as a slave and asked what she knew how to do, said: "To be faithful." Another, having been taken captive and asked in a similar manner, said: "To manage a house well." A woman, being asked by someone if she would be good if he bought her, said: "Even if you do not buy me." Another, being sold, when the herald asked what she knew how to do, said: "To be free." And when the purchaser ordered her to do something not fitting for a free woman, she said: "You will rue having grudged yourself such a possession," and made away with herself.