Plutarchus, Agesilaus 20.1: the victories of Cynisca of Sparta
Title
Plutarchus, Agesilaus 20.1: the victories of Cynisca of Sparta
Date
46 - after 120 CE
Type
Biography
Source Type
Literary source
Commentary
On Cynisca see also Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 3.8.1-2; 3.15.1; 5.12.5; 6.1.6; Plutarchus, Moralia 212b; Xenophon, Agesilaus 9.6; IG V,1 1564a (cf. IvO 160; CEG 820; Anthologia Palatina 13.16).
The dates for Cynisca's two Olympian victories in the four-horse chariot race given by Moretti 1957, no. 373, (396 and 392 BCE) are widley accepted, but not certain.
The dates for Cynisca's two Olympian victories in the four-horse chariot race given by Moretti 1957, no. 373, (396 and 392 BCE) are widley accepted, but not certain.
Translation
However, on seeing that some of the citizens esteemed themselves highly and were greatly lifted up because they bred racing horses, he (Agesilaos) persuaded his sister Cynisca to enter a chariot in the contests at Olympia, wishing to shew the Greeks that the victory there was not a mark of any great excellence, but simply of wealth and lavish outlay.
Translation used
Bernadotte Perrin, Plutarch's Lives, vol. 5 (= Loeb Classical Library; 87), Cambridge/London 1917.
Text
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ ὁρῶν ἐνίους τῶν πολιτῶν ἀπὸ ἱπποτροφίας δοκοῦντας εἶναι τινας καὶ μέγα1 φρονοῦντας, ἔπεισε τὴν ἀδελφὴν Κυνίσκαν ἅρμα καθεῖσαν Ὀλυμπίασιν ἀγωνίσασθαι, βουλόμενος ἐνδείξασθαι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ὡς οὐδεμιᾶς ἐστιν ἀρετῆς, ἀλλὰ πλούτου καὶ δαπάνης ἡ νίκη.
Edition used
Bernadotte Perrin (ed.), Plutarch's Lives, vol. 5 (= Loeb Classical Library; 87) Cambridge, MA/London 1917.
Bibliography
W. Dittenberger, K. Purgold (eds.), Die Inschriften von Olympia, Berlin 1896. (= IvO)
P.A. Hansen (ed.), Carmina epigraphica Graeca saeculi IV a.Chr.n. (CEG 2) (Texte und Kommentare 15), Berlin 1989. (= CEG)
W. Kolbe (ed.), Inscriptiones Graecae, V,1: Inscriptiones Laconiae et Messeniae, Berlin 1913. (= IG V,1)
L. Moretti, Olympionikai: i vincitori negli antichi agoni olimpici, Rome 1957.
P.A. Hansen (ed.), Carmina epigraphica Graeca saeculi IV a.Chr.n. (CEG 2) (Texte und Kommentare 15), Berlin 1989. (= CEG)
W. Kolbe (ed.), Inscriptiones Graecae, V,1: Inscriptiones Laconiae et Messeniae, Berlin 1913. (= IG V,1)
L. Moretti, Olympionikai: i vincitori negli antichi agoni olimpici, Rome 1957.
Collection
Citation
Plutarchus, “Plutarchus, Agesilaus 20.1: the victories of Cynisca of Sparta,” Cynisca: Documenting Women and Girls in Ancient Greek Sports, accessed December 22, 2024, https://fdz.bib.uni-mannheim.de/cynisca/items/show/57.