9.2
He brought them all up to be brave in arms and fiery, and he whetted them for this from their very birth. It is said, for instance, that when he was asked by one of them, who was still a boy, to whom he would leave his kingdom, he replied: To that one of you who keeps his sword the sharpest. This, however, meant nothing less than the famous curse of Oedipus in the tragedy; Euripides, Phoenissae, 68. that with whetted sword, and not by lot, the brothers should divide the house. So savage and ferocious is the nature of rapacity.
10.1
After this battle Pyrrhus returned to his home rejoicing in the splendour which his fame and lofty spirit had brought him; and when he was given the surname of Eagle by the Epeirots, Through you, he said, am I an eagle; why, pray, should I not be? It is by your arms that I am borne aloft as by swift pinions. But a little while after, learning that Demetrius was dangerously sick, he suddenly threw an army into Macedonia, intending merely to overrun and plunder some parts of it.
10.2
Yet he came within a little of mastering the whole country and getting the kingdom without a battle; for he marched on as far as Edessa without opposition from anyone, and many actually joined his forces and shared his expedition. And now Demetrius himself was roused by the peril to act beyond his strength, while his friends and commanders in a short time collected many soldiers and set out with zeal and vigour against Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus, however, had come more for plunder than anything else, and would not stand his ground, but fled, losing a part of his army on the march, under the attacks of the Macedonians.
