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the very deception of the oracles. What need to say how once in the greatest misfortunes, whether of battles against the enemy or of the dangers in bodily sicknesses, they benefited not at all from the aid or healing of the customary gods? And such things always and continually befall them from the oracles, just as the events of ancient history also establish. But since one of the Pythian oracles most talked about among the Greeks was also the one to Lycurgus, to whom as he approached the Pythia proclaimed that famous utterance: You have come, O Lycurgus, to my rich shrine, a friend to Zeus and to all who hold the Olympian halls; I am in doubt whether to prophesy you a god or a man; but I expect still more a god, O Lycurgus. You have come seeking good laws; but I will give them to you and the things said along with these; Come now, let us also examine what sort of refutation the aforementioned has perceived in regard to these things. And he writes thus: 20. CONCERNING LYCURGUS THE LAWGIVER OF THE LACEDAEMONIANS, THAT THEY ARE NOT WORTHY OF A GOD

“But you said that the predecessor and scout of Tyrtaeus, having come to you from hollow Lacedaemon, had come as 'a friend to Zeus and to all who hold the Olympian halls,' and that you were in doubt whether to prophesy him a god or a man, but still more a god, because he came to ask for good laws. And how, if he was a god, did the friend of Zeus and of all the Olympians not yet know political law? But since, I suppose, such things are not found without a god, which have been shown to the most divine of men by the voice from the god, come, let us see the divine voice and what you taught Lycurgus: You have come seeking good laws, but I will give them to you. Give them, I would say; for I have never yet promised such a gift to anyone. So long as you give promises and oaths and judgments to one another and to foreigners by oracles, honoring the elders purely and cleanly, and revering the Tyndaridae, both Menelaus and the other immortal heroes, who are in divine Lacedaemon, thus indeed will far-seeing Zeus spare you. Apollo, what divine teaching and advice! And not a long journey for the sake of these things, not even so far as to Delphi from the Peloponnese, but not even to the Hyperboreans themselves, whence they say the inhabitants of fragrant Delos and its priests came according to an oracle of another prophetess, Asteria. But it seems to me that this Lycurgus had no nurse nor ever sat in the council of elders, from whom and from her he could have heard better and wiser things than these. But perhaps you will add something, if Lycurgus should persist in asking you to say something clear. If some should 'lead' well, and others 'follow,' I will still say this is from the same council, and I will ask Lycurgus not to grow weary if he can take up some political teaching from you and go away to Sparta: There are two roads, very far apart from each other, the one leading to the honored house of freedom, the other to the house of slavery to be shunned by mortals; and the one it is possible to cross through both manhood and sacred concord, which path you indeed lead for the people, but the other they reach through hateful strife and cowardly folly, which indeed you must especially guard against. You command us to be brave; this we have often heard even from cowards. But also to be of one mind; this, not only from the wise, but even now from the seditious themselves. So we release you from this advice. And yet, being a prophet, did you not know that we have often received it from many, who have neither eaten of the laurel nor drunk the water of Castalia, nor ever raised an eyebrow for wisdom? Speak, then, about courage, speak about freedom, speak about concord, in what way these things come to be in a city, and do not command us who do not know to lead the people on the path

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αὐτόθεν τῶν 5.27.6 λογίων ἀπάτης. τί δεῖ λέγειν, ὥς ποτε ἐν ταῖς μεγίσταις συμφοραῖς, ἤτοι τῶν πρὸς τοὺς ἐχθροὺς παρατάξεων ἢ τῶν ἐν ταῖς σωματικαῖς ἀρρωστίαις κινδύνων, τῆς τῶν νενομισμένων θεῶν ἐπικουρίας ἢ θεραπείας 5.27.7 οὐδὲν ὤναντο; τοιαῦτα δὲ ἀεὶ καὶ διὰ παντὸς αὐτοῖς τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν χρη 5.27.8 σμῶν ἐκπίπτει, οἷα καὶ τὰ τῆς παλαιᾶς ἱστορίας συνίστησιν. ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ τῶν μάλιστα παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι θρυλουμένων τοῦ Πυθίου χρησμῶν εἷς τις ἦν καὶ ὁ πρὸς Λυκοῦργον, ᾧ προσιόντι ἡ Πυθία ἐπεφώνησεν τὸ βοώμενον ἐκεῖνο· ἥκεις, ὦ Λυκόεργε, ἐμὸν ποτὶ πίονα νηὸν Ζηνὶ φίλος καὶ πᾶσιν Ὀλύμπια δώματ' ἔχουσι· δίζω ἤ σε θεὸν μαντεύσομαι ἢ ἄνθρωπον· ἀλλ' ἔτι καὶ μᾶλλον θεὸν ἔλπομαι, ὦ Λυκόεργε. ἥκεις εὐνομίην διζήμενος· αὐτὰρ ἐγώ τοι δώσω καὶ τὰ τούτοις συνεπιλεγόμενα· φέρε καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα τίνα ποτὲ συνεῖδεν ὁ προδηλωθεὶς ἔλεγχος ἐποπτεύσωμεν. γράφει δὲ ὧδε· 5.28.1 κʹ. ΤΑ ΠΕΡΙ ΛΥΚΟΥΡΓΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΛΑΚΕ∆ΑΙΜΟΝΙΩΝ ΝΟΜΟΘΕΤΟΥ ΟΤΙ ΜΗ ΘΕΟΥ ΑΞΙΑ

«Ἀλλὰ σὺ τὸν Τυρταίου προκαθηγεμόνα καὶ σκοπὸν ἐλθόντα ποτὲ ὡς σὲ ἥκειν ἔφης ἐκ κοίλης Λακεδαίμονος «Ζηνὶ φίλον καὶ πᾶσιν Ὀλύμπια δώματ' ἔχουσι», δίζησθαί τε ἢ θεὸν αὐτὸν μαντεύσῃ ἢ ἄνθρωπον, ἀλλ' ἔτι καὶ μᾶλλον 5.28.2 θεόν, ὅτι ἦλθεν εὐνομίην αἰτήσων. καὶ πῶς, εἰ θεός, οὐκ ἠπίστατό πω νόμον πολιτικὸν ὁ φίλος τοῦ ∆ιὸς καὶ πάντων τῶν Ὀλυμπίων; ἀλλ' ἐπεί τοι καὶ οὐ δίχα θεοῦ ἴσως τὰ τοιαῦτα εὑρίσκεται, ἃ δέδεικται τῷ θειοτάτῳ ἀνθρώπων τῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ φωνῇ, φέρε ἴδωμεν τὴν θείαν φωνὴν καὶ ἃ ἐδίδαξας τὸν Λυκοῦργον· ἥκεις εὐνομίην διζήμενος, αὐτὰρ ἐγώ τοι δώσω. 5.28.3 δός, εἴποιμι ἂν ἐγώ· οὐδεμίαν γάρ πω δόσιν οὐδενὶ ἐπηγγείλω τοιαύτην. Ἕως ἂν μαντείῃσιν ὑποσχέσιάς τε καὶ ὅρκους καὶ δίκας ἀλλήλοισι καὶ ἀλλοδαποῖσι διδῶτε, ἁγνῶς καὶ καθαρῶς πρεσβηγενέας τιμῶντες, Τυνδαρίδας δ' ἐποπιζόμενοι, Μενέλαν τε καὶ ἄλλους ἀθανάτους ἥρωας, οἳ ἐν Λακεδαίμονι δίῃ, οὕτω δή χ' ὑμῶν περιφείδοιτ' εὐρύοπα Ζεύς. 5.28.4 Ἄπολλον, διδασκαλίας καὶ παρεγγυήσεως θείας! καὶ οὐ μακρὸς ἕνεκα τούτων ὁ στόλος οὐδὲ ὅπως εἰς ∆ελφοὺς ἐκ Πελοποννήσου, ἀλλ' οὐδ' εἰς Ὑπερβορέους αὐτούς, ὅθεν ἀφῖχθαι λέγουσιν κατὰ χρησμὸν Ἀστερίας ἄλλης μάντεως οἰκητὰς ∆ήλοιο θυώδεος ἠδ' ἱερῆας. 5.28.5 δοκεῖ δέ μοι ὁ Λυκοῦργος οὗτος οὐκ ἐσχηκέναι τιτθὴν οὐδ' ἐ<ν> συνθώκῳ πρεσβυτέρων οὐδέποτε κεκαθικέναι, παρ' ὧν καὶ παρ' ἧς εἶχεν καλλίω τού 5.28.6 των ἀκοῦσαι καὶ σοφώτερα. τάχα δέ πού τι προσθήσεις, ἐάν σε λιπαρῇ ὁ Λυκοῦργος εἰπεῖν τι σαφές. εἰ οἱ μὲν εὖ «ἡγοῖντο, οἱ δ' ἕποιντο», ἔτι φήσω τοῦ αὐτοῦ εἶναι συνθώκου τοῦτο καὶ ἀξιώσω τὸν Λυκοῦργον μὴ ἀποκαμεῖν εἴ τι δύναιτο πολιτικὸν παρὰ σοῦ δίδαγμα ἀναλαβὼν ἀπιέναι εἰς τὴν Σπάρτην· 5.28.7 εἰσὶν ὁδοὶ δύο πλεῖστον ἀπ' ἀλλήλων ἀπέχουσαι, ἡ μὲν ἐλευθερίας εἰς τίμιον οἶκον ἄγουσα, ἡ δ' ἐπὶ δουλείας φυκτὸν δόμον ἡμερίοισι· καὶ τὴν μὲν διά τ' ἀνδροσύνης ἱερῆς θ' ὁμονοίας ἔστι περᾶν, ἣν δὴ λαοῖς ἡγεῖσθε κέλευθον, τὴν δὲ διὰ στυγερῆς ἔριδος καὶ ἀνάλκιδος ἄτης εἰσαφικάνουσιν, τὴν δὴ πεφύλαχθε μάλιστα. 5.28.8 ἀνδρείους εἶναι κελεύεις· τοῦτο μὲν καὶ παρὰ τῶν δειλῶν πολλάκις ἠκούσαμεν. ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁμόφρονας· τοῦτο οὐ παρὰ τῶν σοφῶν μόνων, ἀλλ' ἤδη καὶ παρ' αὐτῶν τῶν στασιαζόντων. ὥστε τούτου μὲν τοῦ παρεγγυήματος ἀφίεμέν 5.28.9 σε. καίτοι μάντις ὢν οὐκ ἔγνως ἡμᾶς πολλάκις καὶ παρὰ πολλῶν εἰληφότας αὐτό, οὔτε τῆς δάφνης ἐμφαγόντων οὔτε τὸ Κασταλίας ὕδωρ πιόντων οὐδ' ἐπὶ 5.28.10 σοφίᾳ τὴν ὀφρύν ποτε ἀνασπασάντων; λέγ' οὖν περὶ ἀνδρείας, λέγε περὶ ἐλευθερίας, λέγε περὶ ὁμοφροσύνης, τίνα τρόπον ἐγγίνεται ταῦτα πόλει, καὶ μὴ ἡμᾶς τοὺς οὐκ εἰδότας κέλευε ἡγεῖσθαι τοῖς λαοῖς τῆς κελεύθου