himself (and not the sons of Aristodemos) to this land which they now possess. Then after no long time the wife of Aristodemos, whose name was Argeia—she was the daughter, they say, of Autesion, the son of Tisamenes, the son of Thersander, the son of Polyneikes—she, it is said, brought forth twins; and Aristodemos lived but to see his children and then ended his life by sickness. So the Lacedaemonians of that time resolved according to established custom to make the elder of the children their king; but they did not know which of them they should take, because they were like one another and of equal size; and when they were not able to make out, or even before this, they inquired of their mother; and she said that even she herself did not know one from the other. She said this, although she knew in truth very well, because she desired that by some means both might be made kings. The Lacedaemonians then were in a strait; and being in a strait they sent to Delphi to inquire what they should do in the matter. And the Pythian prophetess bade them regard both children as their kings, but honour most the first in age. The prophetess, they say, thus gave answer to them; and when the Lacedaemonians were at a loss none the less how to find out the elder of them, a Messenian whose name was Panites made a suggestion to them: this Panites, I say, suggested to the Lacedaemonians that they should watch the mother and see which of the children she washed and fed before the other; and if she was seen to do this always in the same order, then they would have all that they were seeking and desiring to find out, but if she too was uncertain and did it in a different order at different times, it would be plain to them that even she had no more knowledge than any other, and they must turn to some other way. Then the Spartans following the suggestion of the Messenian watched the mother of the sons of Aristodemos and found that she gave honour thus to the firstborn both in feeding and in washing;
Table of Contents
Book VI
526