31
for all the rest are under the protection of the aforesaid cities, and fly for refuge, when they are alarmed, to one or other of these powers, and they all draw upon them for succor. So that if you can persuade four cities only to take a sane view of things, you will deliver the others also from many evils.
32
Now you will realize that it is not becoming in you to disregard any of these cities if you will review their conduct in relation to your ancestors; for you will find that each one of them is to be credited with great friendship and important services to your house: Argos is the land of your fathers,Perdiccas I., the founder of the Argive dynasty in Macedonia, was, according to Hdt. 8.137, a descendant of the Argive hero Temenus. See also Hdt. 5.22 and Grote, Hist. iii. p. 432. and is entitled to as much consideration at your hands as are your own ancestors; the Thebans honor the founderHeracles. See General Introd. p. xli. of your race, both by processionals and by sacrifices,At the “Festival of Heracles.” Xen. Hell. 6.4.7; Dio. Sic. 15.53. beyond all the other gods;
33
the Lacedaemonians have conferred upon his descendants the kingship and the power of commandSee Isoc. 4.62 and note. for all time; and as for our city, we are informed by those whom we credit in matters of ancient history that she aided Heracles to win his immortalityAccording to Dio. Sic. 4.39 the Athenians were the first to offer sacrifices to Heracles as a god.(in what way you can easily learn at another time; it would be unseasonable for me to relate it now), and that she aided his children to preserve their lives.For this statement and the following paragraph see Isoc. 4.56-62.
