21.3
In this matter Agesilaüs declared that the Argives had brought down upon themselves the charge of great cowardice, since they regarded the conduct of the games as so great and august a privilege, and yet had not the courage to fight for it. He himself thought that moderation ought to be observed in all these matters, and sought to improve the local choirs and games. These he always attended, full of ambitious ardour, and was absent from no contest in which either boys or girls competed. Those things, however, for which he saw the rest of the world filled with admiration, he appeared not even to recognize.
21.4
Once upon a time Callipides the tragic actor, who had a name and fame among the Greeks and was eagerly courted by all, first met him and addressed him, then pompously thrust himself into his company of attendants, showing plainly that he expected the king to make him some friendly overtures, and finally said: Dost thou not recognize me, O King? The king fixed his eyes upon him and said: Yea, art thou not Callipides the buffoon? For this is how the Lacedaemonians describe actors. And again, when he was invited to hear the man who imitated the nightingale, he declined, saying: I have heard the bird herself.Cf. the Lycurgus, xx. 5.
21.5
Again, Menecrates the physician, who, for his success in certain desperate cases, had received the surname of Zeus, and had the had taste to employ the appellation, actually dared to write the king a letter beginning thus: Menecrates Zeus, to King Agesilaüs, greeting. To this Agesilaüs replied: King Agesilaüs, to Menecrates, health and sanity.
