Zenobius 3.91

For the necessary

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English

Proverb

For the necessary

Explanation

Pericles, they say, gave money to Pleistoanax, king of the Lacedaemonians, and thus persuaded him to withdraw from Attica when he was advancing in war. Afterwards, rendering account of the money to the Athenians, and unwilling to give an open reckoning, he said: "I expended so many talents on what was necessary."

Greek

Proverb

Εἰς τὸ δέον

Explanation

Περικλῆς, ὥς φασιν, ἔδωκε χρήματα τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων Πλειστοάνακτι, καὶ συνέπεισεν αὐτὸν ἀναχωρῆσαι ἐκ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐπὶ πολέμῳ προαχθέντα. Διδοὺς οὖν λόγον τῶν χρημάτων μετὰ ταῦτα τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, καὶ μὴ θελήσας φανερῶς λογίσασθαι, εἶπεν, Εἰς τὸ δέον ἀνήλωσα τοσάδε τάλαντα.

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0098.tlg001.1st1K-grc1:3.91