Pittacus: Lawmaker

¹ Pittacus was:

• a native of Mitylene
• son of Hyrradius.

But Duris says, that his father was a Thracian.

He, in union with the brothers of Alcæus, put down Melanchrus the tyrant of Lesbos.

In the battle which took place between the Athenians and Mitylenæans on the subject of the district of Achilis, he was the Mitylenæan general; the Athenian commander being Phrynon, a Pancratiast, who had gained the victory at Olympia.

Pittacus agreed to meet him in single combat, and having a net under his shield, he entangled Phrynon without his being aware of it beforehand, and so, having killed him, he preserved the district in dispute to his countrymen.

But Apollodorus, in his Chronicles, says, that subsequently, the Athenians had a trial with the Mitylenæans about the district, and that the cause was submitted to Periander, who decided it in favour of the Athenians.

² Because of this victory, the Mitylenæans:

• held Pittacus in the greatest honour
• committed the supreme power into his hands.

He held it for 10 years. He resigned from government after bringing the city and constitution into good order.

He lived 10 years after that. The Mitylenæans gave him an estate, which he consecrated to the God.

To this day, it is called the Pittacian land.

But Sosicrates says that he cut off a small portion of it, saying that half was more than the whole.

When Crœsus offered him some money he would not accept it, as he said that he had already twice as much as he wanted; for that he had succeeded to the inheritance of his brother, who had died without children.

³ But Pamphila says in book 2 of her Commentaries that he had a son named Tyrrhæus.

• He was killed while sitting in a barber’s shop at Cyma by a brazier who threw an axe at him.
• The Cymæans sent the murderer to Pittacus who dismissed the man, saying: “Pardon is better than repentance.”

But Heraclitus says that the true story is, that he had got Alcæus into his power, and that he released him, saying, “Pardon is better than punishment.”

He was also a lawgiver. He made a law that if a man committed a crime while drunk, he should have double punishment; in the hope of deterring men from getting drunk, as wine was very plentiful in the island.

⁴ He said the following:

• “it is hard to be good”
  • Plato also mentions it in his Protagoras.
• “Even the Gods cannot strive against necessity.”
• “Power shows the man.”
• “The best is to do what one is doing at the moment well.”

Crœsus asked him:

“What is the greatest power?”

“The power of the variegated wood”

meaning the wooden tablets of the laws.

He used to say too, that there were some victories without bloodshed. He said once to a man of Phocæa, who was saying that we ought to seek out a virtuous man, “But if you seek ever so much you will not find one.”

Some people once asked him what thing was very grateful? and he replied, “Time.”—What was uncertain? “The future.”—What was trusty? “The land.”—What was treacherous? “The sea.”

Another saying of his was, that it was the part of wise men, before difficult circumstances arose, to provide for their not arising; but that it was the part of brave men to make the best of existing circumstances. He used to say too, “Do not say before hand what you are going to do; for if you fail, you will be laughed at.” “Do not reproach a man with his misfortunes, fearing lest Nemesis may overtake you.” “If you have received a deposit, restore it.” “Forbear to speak evil not only of your friends, but also of your enemies.” “Practise piety, with temperance.” “Cultivate truth, good faith, experience, cleverness, sociability, and industry.”

⁵ He wrote also some songs, of which the following is the most celebrated one:

The wise will only face the wicked man, With bow in hand well bent, And quiver full of arrows— For such a tongue as his says nothing true, Prompted by a wily heart To utter double speeches.

He also composed six hundred verses in elegiac metre; and[37] he wrote a treatise in prose, on Laws, addressed to his countrymen.

⁶ He flourished about the forty-second Olympiad; and he died when Aristomenes was Archon, in the third year of the fifty-second Olympiad; having lived more than seventy years, being a very old man. And on his tomb is this inscription:

Lesbos who bore him here, with tears doth bury Hyrradius’ worthy son, wise Pittacus.

Another saying of his was, “Watch your opportunity.”

VII. There was also another Pittacus, a lawgiver, as Phavorinus tells us in the first book of his Commentaries; and Demetrius says so too, in his Essay on Men and Things of the same name. And that other Pittacus was called Pittacus the less.

⁸ Callimachus in his Epigrams wrote that a young man asked Pittacus about marriage, and he replied:

Hyrradius’ prudent son, old Pittacus The pride of Mitylene, once was asked By an Atarnean stranger; “Tell me, sage, I have two marriages proposed to me; One maid my equal is in birth and riches; The other’s far above me;—which is best? Advise me now which shall I take to wife?” Thus spoke the stranger; but the aged prince, Raising his old man’s staff before his face, Said, “These will tell you all you want to know;” And pointed to some boys, who with quick lashes Were driving whipping tops along the street. “Follow their steps,” said he; so he went near them And heard them say, “Let each now mind his own.”— So when the stranger heard the boys speak thus, He pondered on their words, and laid aside Ambitious thoughts of an unequal marriage. As then he took to shame the poorer bride, So too do you, O reader, mind thy own.

He may have here spoken from experience, for his own wife was of more noble birth than himself, since she was the sister of Draco, the son of Penthilus; and she gave herself great airs, and tyrannized over him.

⁹ Alcæus calls Pittacus σαράπους and σάραπος, because he was splay-footed, and used to drag his feet in walking, he also called him χειροπόδης, because he had scars on his feet which were called χειράδες.

And γαύρηξ, implying that he gave himself airs without reason. And φύσκων and γάστρων, because he was fat.

He also called him ζοφοδορπίδας, because he had weak eyes, and ἀγάσυρτος, because he was lazy and dirty. He used to grind corn for the sake of exercise, as Clearchus, the philosopher, relates.

¹⁰ There is a letter of his extant, which runs thus:

PITTACUS TO CRŒSUS.

You invite me to come to Lydia in order that I may see your riches; but I, even without seeing them, do not doubt that the son of Alyattes is the richest of monarchs. But I should get no good by going to Sardis; for I do not want gold myself, but what I have is sufficient for myself and my companions. Still, I will come, in order to become acquainted with you as a hospitable man.