82 ARZSTOTLE 'S POLITZCS.hand he favours the traditional date; for he connects the name of
Charillus an ancient king with that of Lycurgus c. 10. 0 z : and on
the other hand it is very possible that he may not have known, or
may not have remembered the date of the Messenian Wars.
Grote (p. 2. c. 6, p. 516, n. 3) defends the Spartan women against
the charges of Aristotle and Plato (the $rhohdxov) Laws vii. p. 806,
reiterated by Plutarch (Ages. c. 31), and even supposes that 'their
demonstration on that trying occasion (Le. the invasion of Laconia)
may have arisen quite as much from the agony of wounded honour
as from fear.' Yet surely Aristotle writing not forty years after-
wards, who is to a certain extent supported by the contemporary
Xenophon (,vi. 5, 28 see above), could hardly have been mistaken
about a matter which was likely to have been notorious in Hellas.
- alrh ptv 04u flub ahar r;v yfvopc'vou.
Sc. the \Yomen:* or ' thesz are the causes' (aha1 by attraction for
ralra). The first way of taking the words gives more point to the
clause which follows.
- alrh ptv 04u flub ahar r;v yfvopc'vou.
0, I 2. riur 6s; uvyyuipqw ;,yew.
' We have not to consider whether we are to blame Lycurgus, or
to blame the women ; but whether such a state of things is right.'
- I 3.^06 pdwou 67rpinrtdw nva nurfiv rijs noXtrrias rap ah+.
ah+ KaB' uiirrjv must agree with 7roXirslav understood in 67ip&tth
Tiva norriu 76s mXirriaE, tlirse words being equivalent to dlrprni 7roifiu
riu 7roXirriau : or aI+, xhich appears to have been the reading of
the old translator (ipsius), may be adopted instead of ah+.
g. 13. perti yAp TA UCU ii@ura rois nrpl T$W dvopaX;au rijs Kr$uras hi-
I)* The mention of avarice? or 2) the mention of women
naturally leads Xristotle to speak of the inequality of property.
The connexion is either r) that avarice tends to inequality or 2)
that inequality is produced by the great number of heiresses.p~ufrfu Su T1E.g. r4. Plutarch (Xgis, c. 5) apparently ascribes to the Ephor Epitadeus
the law which enabled a Spartan to give or bequeath his propert)'
2s he pleased. Either Xrirtotlt. has followed a different tradition.