ἀνὴρ πένης Σκέδασος τοὔνομα κατῴκει Λεῦκτρα· ἔστι δὲ κώμιον τῆς τῶν Θεσπιέων χώρας. τούτῳ θυγατέρες γίνονται δύο· ἐκαλοῦντο δʼ Ἱππὼ καὶ Μιλητία, ἤ, ὥς τινες, Θεανὼ καὶ Εὐξίππη. ἦν δὲ χρηστὸς ὁ Σκέδασος καὶ τοῖς ξένοις ἐπιτήδειος, καίπερ οὐ πολλὰ κεκτημένος. ἀφικομένους οὖν πρὸς αὐτὸν δύο Σπαρτιάτας; νεανίας ὑπεδέξατο προθύμως· οἱ δὲ τῶν παρθένων ἡττώμενοι διεκωλύοντο πρὸς τὴν τόλμαν ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ Σκεδάσου χρηστότητος. τῇ δʼ ὑστεραίᾳ Πυθώδε ἀπῄεσαν αὕτη γὰρ αὐτοῖς προὔκειτο ἡ ὁδός· καὶ τῷ θεῷ χρησάμενοι περὶ ὧν ἐδέοντο, πάλιν ἐπανῄεσαν οἴκαδε, καὶ χωροῦντες διὰ τῆς Βοιωτίας ἐπέστησαν πάλιν τῇ τοῦ Σκεδάσου οἰκίᾳ; ὁ δʼ ἐτύγχανεν οὐκ ἐπιδημῶν τοῖς Λεύκτροις, ἀλλʼ αἱ θυγατέρες αὐτοῦ ὑπὸ τῆς συνήθους ἀγωγῆς τοὺς ξένους ὑπεδέξαντο. οἱ δὲ καταλαβόντες ἐρήμους; τὰς κόρας βιάζονται ὁρῶντες δʼ αὐτὰς καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν τῇ ὕβρει χαλεπαινούσας ἀπέκτειναν, καὶ ἐμβαλόντες ἔς τι φρέαρ ἀπηλλάγησαν. ἐπανελθὼν δʼ ὁ Σκέδασος τὰς μὲν κόρας οὐχ ἑώρα, πάντα δὲ τὰ καταλειφθέντα εὑρίσκει σῷα καὶ τῷ πράγματι ἠπόρει, ἕως τῆς κυνὸς κνυζωμένης καὶ πολλάκις μὲν προστρεχούσης πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπὸ δʼ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ φρέαρ ἐπανιούσης, εἴκασεν ὅπερ ἦν, καὶ τῶν θυγατέρων τὰ νεκρὰ οὕτως ἀνιμήσατο. πυθόμενος δὲ παρὰ τῶν γειτόνων, ὅτι ἴδοιεν τῇ χθὲς ἡμέρᾳ τοὺς καὶ πρῴην καταχθέντας ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους εἰσιόντας, συνεβάλετο τὴν πρᾶξιν ἐκείνων, ὅτι καὶ πρῴην συνεχῶς ἐπῄνουν τὰς κόρας, μακαρίζοντες τοὺς γαμήσοντας. ἀπῄει εἰς Λακεδαίμονα, τοῖς ἐφόροις ἐντευξόμενος· γενόμενος δʼ ἐν τῇ Ἀργολικῇ, νυκτὸς καταλαμβανούσης, εἰς πανδοκεῖόν τι κατήχθη κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ δὲ καὶ πρεσβύτης τις ἕτερος τὸ γένος ἐξ Ὠρεοῦ· πόλεως τῆς Ἑστιαιάτιδος· οὗ στενάξαντος καὶ κατὰ Λακεδαιμονίων ἀρὰς ποιουμένου ἀκούσας ὁ Σκέδασος ἐπυνθάνετο τί κακὸν ὑπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων πεπονθὼς εἴη. ὁ δὲ διηγεῖτο, ὡς ὑπήκοος μέν ἐστι τῆς Σπάρτης, πεμφθεὶς δʼ εἰς Ὠρεὸν Ἀριστόδημος ἁρμοστὴς παρὰ Λακεδαιμονίων ὠμότητα καὶ παρανομίαν ἐπιδείξαιτο πολλήν. ἐρασθεὶς γάρ ἔφη τοῦ ἐμοῦ παιδός, ἐπειδὴ πείθειν ἀδύνατος ἦν, ἐπεχείρει βιάσασθαι καὶ ἀπάγειν αὐτὸν τῆς παλαίστρας· κωλύοντος δὲ τοῦ παιδοτρίβου καὶ νεανίσκων πολλῶν ἐκβοηθούντων, παραχρῆμα ὁ Ἀριστόδημος ἀπεχώρησε· τῇ δʼ ὑστεραίᾳ πληρώσας τριήρη συνήρπασε τὸ μειράκιον, καὶ ἐξ Ὠρεοῦ διαπλεύσας εἰς τὴν περαίαν ἐπεχείρει ὑβρίσαι, οὐ συγχωροῦντα δʼ αὐτὸν ἀπέσφαξεν. ἐπανελθὼν δʼ εἰς τὴν Ὠρεὸν εὐωχεῖτο. ἐγὼ δʼ ἔφη τὸ πραχθὲν πυθόμενος καὶ τὸ σῶμα κηδεύσας παρεγενόμην εἰς τὴν Σπάρτην καὶ τοῖς ἐφόροις ἐνετύγχανον· οἱ δὲ λόγον οὐκ ἐποιοῦντο Σκέδασος δὲ ταῦτα ἀκούων ἀθύμως διέκειτο, ὑπολαμβάνων ὅτι οὐδʼ αὐτοῦ λόγον τινὰ ποιήσονται οἱ Σπαρτιᾶται ἐν μέρει τε τὴν οἰκείαν διηγήσατο συμφορὰν τῷ ξένῳ· ὁ δὲ παρεκάλει αὐτὸν μηδʼ ἐντυχεῖν τοῖς ἐφόροις, ἀλλʼ ὑποστρέψαντα εἰς τὴν Βοιωτίαν κτίσαι τῶν θυγατέρων τὸν τάφον. οὐκ ἐπείθετο δʼ ὅμως ὁ Σκέδασος, ἀλλʼ εἰς τὴν Σπάρτην ἀφικόμενος; τοῖς ἐφόροις ἐντυγχάνει ὧν μηδὲν προσεχόντων, ἐπὶ τοὺς βασιλέας ἵεται καὶ ἀπὸ τούτων ἑκάστῳ τῶν δημοτῶν προσιὼν ὠδύρετο. μηδὲν δὲ πλέον ἀνύων ἔθει διὰ μέσης τῆς πόλεως, ἀνατείνων πρὸς ἣλιον τὼ χεῖρε, αὖθις δὲ τὴν γῆν τύπτων ἀνεκαλεῖτο τὰς Ἐρινύας καὶ τέλος αὑτὸν τοῦ ζῆν μετέστησεν. ὑστέρῳ γε μὴν χρόνῳ δίκας ἔδοσαν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἁπάντων ἦρχον καὶ τὰς πόλεις φρουραῖς κατειλήφεσαν, Ἐπαμεινώνδας ὁ Θηβαῖος πρῶτον μὲν τὴν παρʼ αὑτῷ φρουρὰν ἀπέσφαξε Λακεδαιμονίων τῶν δʼ ἐπὶ τούτῳ πόλεμον ἐξενεγκάντων, ἀπήντων οἱ Θηβαῖοι ἐπὶ τὰ Λεῦκτρα, αἰσιούμενοι τὸ χωρίον, ὅτι καὶ πρότερον ἐνταῦθα ἠλευθερώθησαν, ὅτε Ἀμφιτρύων ὑπὸ Σθενέλου φυγὰς ἐλαθεὶς εἰς τὴν Θηβαίων ἀφίκετο πόλιν καὶ Χαλκιδεῦσιν ὑποφόρους λαβὼν ἔπαυσε τὸν δασμόν, Χαλκώδοντα τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Εὐβοέων ἀποκτείνας. συνέβη δὲ Λακεδαιμονίων ἧτταν παντελῆ γενέσθαι περὶ αὐτὸ τὸ μνῆμα τῶν Σκεδάσου θυγατέρων. φασὶ δὲ πρὸ τῆς μάχης Πελοπίδᾳ, ἑνὶ τῶν στρατηγῶν τοῦ θηβαϊκοῦ στρατεύματος, ἐπὶ σημείοις τισὶν οὐ καλοῖς κρινομένοις θορυβουμένῳ Σκέδασον ἐπιστῆναι κατὰ τοὺς ὕπνους, θαρρεῖν κελεύοντα· παραγίνεσθαι γὰρ εἰς Λεῦκτρα Λακεδαιμονίους, αὐτῷ τε καὶ ταῖς θυγατράσι δώσοντας δίκας· πρὸ μιᾶς δʼ ἡμέρας ἢ συμβαλεῖν τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις, πῶλον ἐκέλευεν ἵππου λευκὸν ἕτοιμον παρὰ τῷ τάφῳ τῶν παρθένων σφαγιάσασθαι. τὸν δὲ Πελοπίδαν, ἔτι τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων στρατευομένων ἐν Τεγέᾳ, εἰς Λεῦκτρα πέμψαι τοὺς ἐξετάσοντας περὶ τοῦ τάφου τούτου, καὶ πυθόμενον παρὰ τῶν ἐγχωρίων θαρροῦντα τὴν στρατιὰν ἐξαγαγεῖν καὶ νικῆσαι.
A certain poor man, Scedasus by name, lived at Leuctra, a small village in the territory of the Thespians, and had two daughters, Hippo and Miletia, or as others say, Theano and Euxippe. This Scedasus was a very good man, and, to the extent of his fortune, very hospitable to strangers. This was the reason that most readily and gladly he entertained two young gentlemen of Sparta, that came to lodge at his house; who, falling in love with the virgins, were yet so overawed by the kindness that Scedasus had showed them, that they durst not make any rude attempt for that time. The next morning therefore they went directly to the city of Delphi, whither they were journeying, where after they had consulted the oracle touching such questions as they had to put, they returned homeward, and travelling through Boeotia, stopped again at Scedasus’s house, who happened at that time not to be at Leuctra. However, his daughters, according to that education to which their father had accustomed them, gave the same entertainment to the strangers as if their father had been at home. But such was the perfidious ingratitude of these guests, that finding the virgins alone, they ravished and by force deflowered the damsels; and, which was worse, perceiving them lamenting to excess the undeserved injury they had received, the ravishers murdered them, and after they had thrown their bodies into a well, went their ways. Soon after Scedasus, returning home, missed both his daughters, but all things else he found safe and in order, as he left them; which put him into such a quandary, that he knew not what to say or do, till instructed by a little bitch, that several times in a day came whining and fawning upon him and then returned to the well, he began to suspect what he found to be true; and so he drew up the dead bodies of his daughters. Moreover, being then informed by his neighbors, that they had seen the two Lacedaemonian gentlemen which he had entertained some time before go into his house, he guessed them to be the persons who had committed the fact, for that they would be always praising the virgins when they lodged there before, and telling their father what happy men they would be that should have the good fortune to marry them. Thereupon away he went to Lacedaemon, with a resolution to make his complaint to the Ephori; but being benighted in the territory of Argos, he put into a public house, where he found another old man of the city of Oreus, in the province of Histiaea; whom when he heard sighing and cursing the Lacedaemonians, Scedasus asked him what injury the Lacedaemonians had done him. In answer to which, the old man gave him this account: I am, said he, a subject to the Lacedaemonians, by whom Aristodemus was sent to Oreus to be governor of that place, where he committed several outrages and savage enormities. Among the rest, being fallen in love with my son, when he could by no fair means procure his consent, he endeavored to carry him away by main force out of the wrestling-place. But the president of the exercises opposing him, with the assistance of several of the young men, Aristodemus was constrained to retire; but the next day, having provided a galley to be in readiness, he ravished away my son, and sailing from Oreus to the opposite continent, endeavored, when he had the boy there, to abuse his body; and because the lad refused to submit to his lust, cut the child’s throat. Upon his return he made a great feast at Oreus, to which he invited all his friends. In the mean while, I being soon informed of the sad accident, presently went and interred the body; and having so done, I made haste to Sparta, and preferred my complain to the Ephori, but they gave no answer, nor took any notice of the matter.
Scedasus, having heard this relation, remained very much dejected, believing he should have no better success. However, in his turn, he gave an account to the stranger of his own sad mischance; which when he had done, the stranger advised him not to complain to the Ephori, but to return to his own country, and erect a monument for his two daughters. But Scedasus, not liking this advice, went to Sparta, made his case known to the Ephori, and demanded justice; who taking no notice of his complaint, away he went to the Kings; but they as little regarding him, he applied himself to every particular citizen, and. recommended to them the sadness of his condition. At length, when he saw nothing would do, he ran through the city, stretching forth his hands to the sun and stamping on the ground with his feet, and called upon the Furies to revenge his cause; and when he had done all he could, in the last place slew himself. But afterwards the Lacedaemonians dearly paid for their injustice. For being at that time lords of all Greece, while all the chiefest cities of that spacious region were curbed by their garrisons, Epaminondas the Theban was the first that threw off their yoke, and cut the throats of the garrison that lay in Thebes. Upon which, the Lacedaemonians making war upon the revolters, the Thebans met them at Leuctra, confident of success from the name of the place; for that formerly they had been there delivered from slavery, at what time Amphictyon, being driven into exile by Sthenelus, came to the city of Thebes, and finding them tributaries to the Chalcidians, after he had slain Chalcodon king of the Euboeans, eased them altogether of that burthen. In like manner it happened that the Lacedaemonians were vanquished not far from the monument of Scedasus’s daughters. It is reported also, that before the fight, Pelopidas being then one of the Theban generals, and troubled by reason of some certain signs that seemed to portend some ill event in the battle, Scedasus appeared to him in a dream and bade him be of good courage, for that the Lacedaemonians were come to Leuctra, to receive the just vengeance which they deserved from him and his daughters; only the ghost advised him, the day before he encountered the Lacedaemonians, to sacrifice a white colt, which he should find ready for him close by his daughters’ sepulchre. Whereupon Pelopidas, while the Lacedaemonians yet lay encamped at Tegea, sent certain persons to examine the truth of the matter; and finding by the inhabitants thereabouts that every thing agreed with his dream, he advanced with his army boldly forward, and won the field.
Φῶκος Βοιώτιος μὲν ἦν τῷ γένει, ἦν γὰρ ἐκ Γλίσαντος, πατὴρ δὲ Καλλιρρόης κάλλει τε καὶ σωφροσύνῃ διαφερούσης. ταύτην ἐμνηστεύοντο νεανίαι τριάκοντα εὐδοκιμώτατοι ἐν Βοιωτίᾳ· ὁ δὲ Φῶκος ἄλλας ἐξ ἄλλων ἀναβολὰς τῶν γάμων ἐποιεῖτο, φοβούμενος μὴ βιασθείη, τέλος δὲ λιπαρούντων ἐκείνων, ἠξίου ἐπὶ τῷ Πυθίῳ ποιήσασθαι τὴν αἵρεσιν. οἱ δὲ πρὸς τὸν λόγον ἐχαλέπηναν καὶ ὁρμήσαντες ἀπέκτειναν τὸν Φῶκον ἐν δὲ τῷ θορύβῳ ἡ κόρη φυγοῦσα ἵετο διὰ τῆς χώρας· ἐδίωκον δʼ αὐτὴν οἱ νεανίαι. ἡ δʼ ἐντυχοῦσα γεωργοῖς ἅλω συντιθεῖσι σωτηρίας ἔτυχε παρʼ αὐτῶν· ἀπέκρυψαν γὰρ αὐτὴν οἱ γεωργοὶ ἐν τῷ σίτῳ καὶ οὕτω παρῇξαν μὲν οἱ διώκοντες· ἡ δὲ διασωθεῖσα ἐφύλαξε τὴν τῶν Παμβοιωτίων ἑορτήν, καὶ τότε εἰς Κορώνειαν ἐλθοῦσα ἱκέτις καθέζεται ἐπὶ τῷ βωμῷ τῆς Ἰτωνίας Ἀθηνᾶς καὶ τῶν μνηστήρων τὴν παρανομίαν διηγεῖτο, τό τε ἑκάστου ὄνομα καὶ τὴν πατρίδα σημαίνουσα. ἠλέουν οὖν οἱ Βοιωτοὶ τὴν παῖδα καὶ τοῖς νεανίαις ἠγανάκτουν οἱ δὲ ταῦτα πυθόμενοι εἰς Ὀρχομενὸν καταφεύγουσιν. οὐ δεξαμένων δʼ αὐτοὺς τῶν Ὀρχομενίων πρὸς Ἱππότας εἰσώρμησαν κώμη δʼ ἦν παρὰ τῷ Ἑλικῶνι κειμένη μεταξὺ Θίσβης καὶ Κορωνείας· οἱ δʼ ὑποδέχονται αὐτούς. εἶτα πέμπουσι Θηβαῖοι ἐξαιτοῦντες τοὺς Φώκου φονεῖς· τῶν δʼ οὐ διδόντων, ἐστράτευσαν μὲν μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων Βοιωτῶν, στρατηγοῦντος Φοίδου, ὃς τότε τὴν ἀρχὴν τῶν Θηβαίων διεῖπε· πολιορκήσαντες δὲ τὴν κώμην ὀχυρὰν οὖσαν, δίψει δὲ τῶν ἔνδον κρατηθέντων, τοὺς μὲν φονεῖς ληφθέντας κατέλευσαν, τοὺς δʼ ἐν τῇ κώμῃ ἐξηνδραποδίσαντο κατασκάψαντες δὲ τὰ τείχη καὶ τὰς οἰκίας διένειμαν τὴν χώραν Θισβεῦσι τε καὶ Κορωνεῦσι. φασὶ δὲ νυκτός, πρὸ τῆς ἁλώσεως τῶν Ἱπποτῶν, φωνὴν ἐκ τοῦ Ἑλικῶνος πολλάκις ἀκουσθῆναι λέγοντός τινος πάρειμι· τοὺς δὲ μνηστῆρας τοὺς τριάκοντα τόδε τὸ φώνημα γνωρίζειν, ὅτι Φώκου εἴη. ᾗ δʼ ἡμέρᾳ κατελεύσθησαν, τὸ ἐν Γλίσαντι μνῆμα τοῦ γέροντος κρόκῳ φασὶ ῥεῦσαι Φοίδῳ δέ, τῷ Θηβαίων ἄρχοντι καὶ στρατηγῷ, ἐκ τῆς μάχης ἐπανιόντι ἀγγελθῆναι θυγατέρα γεγενημένην, ἣν αἰσιούμενον προσαγορεῦσαι Νικοστράτην.
Phocus was a Boeotian by birth (for he was born in the city of Clisas), the father of Callirrhoe, who was a virgin of matchless beauty and modesty, and courted by thirty young gentlemen, the prime of the Boeotian nobility. Phocus therefore, seeing so many suitors about her, still pretended one excuse or other to put off her marriage, afraid lest some force or other should be put upon her. At length, when he could hold out no longer, the gentlemen being offended at his dilatory answers, he desired them to refer it to the Pythian Deity to make the choice. But this the gentlemen took so heinously, that they fell upon Phocus and slew him. In this combustion and tumult, the virgin making her escape fled into the country, and was as soon pursued by the young sparks; but lighting upon certain country people that were piling up their wheat in a barn, by their assistance she saved herself. For the countrymen hid her in the corn, so that they who were in chase of her passed her by. The virgin thus preserved kept herself close till the general assembly of all the Boeotians; and then coming to Coronea, she there sat as a suppliant before the altar of Itonian Minerva, and there gave a full relation of the villany and murder committed by her several suitors, discovering withal the names of the persons, and places of their abode. The Boeotians commiserating the virgin were no less incensed against the young gentlemen; who, having notice of what had passed, fled to Orchomenus, but being shut out by the citizens, made their escape to Hippotae, a village near to Helicon, seated between Thebes and Coronea, where they were received and protected. Thither the Thebans sent to have the murderers of Phocus delivered up; which the inhabitants refusing to do, they marched against the town with a good force of other Boeotians under the leading of Phoedus, then the chief ruler of Thebes. And laying siege to it (for it was a strong place), at last they took it for want of water; and in the first place having apprehended all the murderers, they stoned them to death; then they condemned the inhabitants to perpetual slavery, broke down the walls, ruined the houses, and divided the land between the Thebans and Coroneans. The report goes, that the night before Hippotae was taken, there was a voice heard from Helicon several times uttering these words, I am come; and that when the thirty rivals heard it, they knew it to be the voice of Phocus. It was said, moreover, that the very day the rivals were stoned, the monument of the old man which was erected in Clisas was covered with drops of saffron. And as Phoedus, the governor and general of the Thebans, was upon his march homeward from the siege, news was brought him that his wife had brought him a daughter, which for the good omen’s sake he called by the name of Nicostrate.
Ἄλκιππος τὸ μὲν γένος Λακεδαιμόνιος ἦν· γήμας δὲ Δαμοκρίταν πατὴρ θυγατέρων γίνεται δύο· συμβουλεύων τε τῇ πόλει κράτιστα τε καὶ πράττων ὅτου δέοιντο Λακεδαιμόνιοι, ἐφθονήθη ὑπὸ τῶν ἀντιπολιτευομένων, οἳ τοὺς ἐφόρους ψευδέσι λόγοις παραγαγόντες, ὡς τοῦ Ἀλκίππου βουλομένου τοὺς νόμους καταλῦσαι, φυγῇ περιέβαλον τὸν ἄνδρα. καὶ ὁ μὲν ὑπεξῆλθε τῆς Σπάρτης, Δαμοκρίταν δὲ τὴν γυναῖκα μετὰ τῶν θυγατέρων βουλομένην ἕπεσθαι τἀνδρὶ ἐκώλυον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ ἐδήμευσαν, ἵνα μὴ εὐπορῶσι προικὸς αἱ παρθένοι. ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ὣς ἐμνηστεύοντό τινες τὰς παῖδας διὰ τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς ἀρετήν, ἐκώλυσαν οἱ ἐχθροὶ διὰ ψηφίσματος μνηστεύεσθαί τινας τὰς κόρας, λέγοντες ὡς ἡ μήτηρ αὐτῶν Δαμοκρίτα πολλάκις εὔξατο τὰς θυγατέρας ταχέως γεννῆσαι παῖδας τιμωροὺς τῷ πατρὶ γενησομένους. πανταχόθεν δʼ ἡ Δαμοκρίτα περιελαυνομένη ἐτήρησέ τινα πάνδημον ἑορτήν, ἐν ᾗ γυναῖκες; ἅμα παρθένοις καὶ οἰκείοις καὶ νηπίοις ἑώρταζον, αἱ δὲ τῶν ἐν τέλει καθʼ ἑαυτὰς ἐν ἀνδρῶνι μεγάλῳ διεπαννύχιζον ξίφος τε ὑποζωσαμένη καὶ τὰς κόρας λαβοῦσα νυκτὸς ἦλθεν εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν καιρὸν παραφυλάξασα, ἐν ᾧ πᾶσαι τὸ μυστήριον ἐπετέλουν ἐν τῷ ἀνδρῶνι καὶ κεκλεισμένων τῶν εἰσόδων, ξύλα ταῖς θύραις πολλὰ προσνήσασα ταῦτα δʼ ἦν εἰς τὴν τῆς ἑορτῆς θυσίαν ὑπʼ ἐκείνων παρεσκευασμένα, πῦρ ἐνῆκε. συνθεόντων δὲ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐπὶ τὴν βοήθειαν, ἡ Δαμοκρίτα τὰς θυγατέρας ἀπέσφαξε καὶ ἐπʼ ἐκείναις ἑαυτήν. οὐκ ἔχοντες δʼ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, ὅπη τὸν θυμὸν ἀπερείσωνται, ἐκτὸς ὅρων ἔρριψαν τῆς τε Δαμοκρίτας καὶ τῶν θυγατέρων τὰ σώματα. ἐφʼ ᾧ μηνίσαντος τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν μέγαν ἱστοροῦσι Λακεδαιμονίοις σεισμὸν ἐπιγενέσθαι.
Alcippus was a Lacedaemonian by birth, who marrying Damocrita became the father of two daughters. This Alcippus, being a person that always advised the city for the best, and one that was always ready to serve his countrymen upon all occasions, was envied by a contrary faction, that continually accused him to the Ephori as one that endeavored to subvert the ancient laws and constitutions of the city. At length the Ephori banished the husband, who being condemned forsook the city; but when Damocrita and his daughters would fain have followed him, they would not permit them to stir. Moreover, they confiscated his estate, to deprive his daughters of their portions. Nay, more than this, when there were some that courted the daughters for the sake of their father’s virtue, his enemies obtained a decree whereby it was forbid that any man should make love to the young ladies, cunningly alleging that the mother had often prayed to the Gods to favor her daughters with speedy wedlock, to the end they might the sooner bring forth children to be revenged of the injury done their father. Damocrita thus beset, and in a strait on every side, stayed till the general festival, when the women, together with their daughters, servants, and little children, feast in public together; on which day, the wives of the magistrates and persons in dignity feast all night in a spacious hall by themselves. But then it was that Damocrita, with a sword girt about her, and taking her daughters with her, went in the night-time to the temple; and watching her opportunity, when the women were all busy in the great hall performing the mysteries of the solemnity, after all the ways and passages were stopped up, she fetched the wood that was ready prepared for the sacrifices appertaining to the festival, and piled it against the doors of the room, and so set fire to it. All was then in a hurry, and the men came crowding in vain to help their wives; but then it was that Damocrita slew her daughters, and upon their dead bodies herself. Thus the Lacedaemonians, not knowing upon whom to wreak their anger, were forced to be contented with only throwing the dead bodies of the mother and the daughters without the confines of their territories. For which barbarous act of theirs, the Deity being highly offended plagued the Lacedaemonians, as their histories record, with that most dreadful earthquake so remarkable to posterity.
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